Peer power over hierarchy: why knowledge sharing outperforms transformational leadership in gamification adoption in education

Purpose Despite gamification's potential to catalyze student engagement, faculty adoption remains stagnant at 11.3%. This study investigates the impact of transformational leadership (TL) and knowledge sharing (KS) on instructors' intentions to adopt gamified pedagogy in Vietnamese higher education through the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Design/methodology/approach Using a quantitative, time-lagged design (N = 204), validated scales for TL, KS, and TAM were analyzed via hierarchical regression and Hayes' PROCESS Model 80 to test serial mediation through perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEOU), and attitude. Findings Knowledge sharing emerged as a robust direct predictor of intentions, operating through both PU and PEOU pathways. Transformational leadership demonstrated no significant direct effect in the parsimonious model but exerted significant indirect influence via the PU to attitude path. These results reveal that “peer power”, collaborative knowledge exchange, is a more potent driver of innovation than hierarchical mandates in autonomous academic environments. Originality/value Addressing a lacuna, where only 9% of research examines adoption antecedents, this study provides a theoretically grounded framework for understanding faculty decision-making. Institutions should treat peer-learning communities as a complement to, rather than a substitute for, leadership-driven strategies, incentivizing collaborative practice as the most effective mechanism for narrowing the gamification adoption gap.