When playing ceases to be fun: Exploring Gamification from the Paradoxical lens and Understanding users’ coping mechanisms in online retailing

Gamification, an approach that enhances motivation and improves user experience by rendering reality more game-like, is complicated, and online retailers appear to face challenges in its effective implementation and use. Applying Paradox theory and employing a qualitative research methodology, this study challenges the dichotomous 'either-or' utilization of game mechanics. It emphasizes 'both-and' thinking by recognizing the paradoxical tensions that users of online gamified platforms encounter and the coping mechanisms they adopt in this regard. First, our research indicates four paradoxical tensions encountered by users of gamified online retail platforms: fulfilment vs creation of needs, customizing game mechanics vs maintaining uniformity, control vs chaos, and voluntary vs mandatory fun. Secondly, the findings enrich our understanding of how users may utilize either resolution or acceptance techniques to overcome these paradoxical tensions. By emphasizing coping strategies, we underscore the central practices that can enable online retailers to balance and reconcile contradictory demands.