The serious gaming randomness in dual-purposed systems: the effect of aleatory uncertainty from the perspective of information deprivation

Purpose Randomness is prevalent in systems with hedonic features but can lead to information deprivation, which is often undesirable in serious tasks. Inappropriate levels of randomness may create feelings of unfairness among users. This paper explores the cognitive mechanisms by which randomness influences usage intention in various pre-usage states. Design/methodology/approach Adopting the perspective of information deprivation, we conducted a study with university students in a classroom setting using a serious game and collected both quantitative and qualitative data for analysis. Findings The quantitative analysis reveals that randomness negatively affects the intention to use, with this effect being mediated by perceived control and curiosity. We also show that individuals who have a strong pre-usage arousal-avoidance state are less susceptible to the negative effects of randomness. The qualitative analysis further supports these findings. Combining both analyses, we suggest that the traditional conception of a system on a utilitarian-hedonic dichotomy is not a good boundary condition for randomness-related cognitive models compared to the pre-usage arousal-avoidance state. Originality/value This study is one of the first to explore the effects of randomness in systems at various pre-usage states of users. We introduce measurement entropy to quantify randomness in system environments. It is distinctive from previous metrics because it captures only aleatory uncertainty.