Investigation on the concept of affordances and its relationship with gamification for consumer engagement (Oral Presentation)

Abstract

The idea of affordance has been applied in different disciplines beyond psychology such as human-computer interaction and information systems. Affordance provides clues to how we can operate things. Like earphones should be put in the ear to aid listening. Designers create objects to conform to users’ needs in the design process. The theory of affordances focuses on the investigation of how designers use different elements to achieve different users’ needs. This research establishes the concept of affordances from ontological perspectives and the aim is to examine its relationship in online activities for positive user behaviour outcomes (user engagement).

The ontology of affordance theory includes five aspects, environment, artefact, agent, perception and goal/abilities. The notion of affordance refers to not only the action possibilities by users on artefact in a certain environment but also the relationship between users and their individual perceptions of a certain environment. It also provides a structure for researchers to find out: (1) the users’ capabilities to take actions; (2) the affordances influence users’ responses; and (3) the users’ attitudes, goals on certain affordances in activities. However, the theory is criticized because it mainly emphasizes the analysis of the perception of objects. The use of technology should also be considered as it reflects users’ behaviors in online activities.