Reconciling Immersion and Complexity in Gamified Green Consumption: The Moderating Role of Task Completion Strategy

Despite the growing application of gamification in green consumption, limited research is available on how different layers of gamification design interact to affect user behavior. Addressing this gap, this study develops a theoretical model based on the SOR framework and examines the impact of gamification immersion and complexity on users’ psychological states (i.e., enjoyment and emotional exhaustion) and subsequent green consumption behavior. Using data from 502 Ant Forest users, structural equation modeling shows that gamification immersion increases enjoyment and reduces emotional exhaustion, while gamification complexity exerts the opposite effects. Additionally, the task completion strategy mitigates the adverse effects of complexity but attenuates the positive effects of immersion. This study extends green consumption research by identifying dual psychological pathways through which gamification affects green consumption behavior. It also introduces an innovative task completion strategy as a boundary condition that mitigates the negative effects of complexity, offering refined guidance for gamification design.