Drivers of consumer group participation in an online shopping event: Alibaba's singles’ day

Singles’ Day, an online shopping event (OSE), is a dynamic digital experience with consumer incentives, hedonic presence, and social gamification designed to encourage active social interaction. Based upon Activity theory, we identified intrinsic motivation, platform synergy, hedonic presence, and social gamification as key factors affecting consumer group participation during an OSE. Using 614 valid responses collected from an OSE, we reveal: (1) intrinsic motivation, platform synergy, and hedonic presence had direct effects on social gamification, which in turn affected consumer group participation, and (2) social gamification exerted significant mediating impacts on the influencing relationships between intrinsic motivation, platform synergy, hedonic presence, and group participation. These findings provide a nuanced understanding of the interplay between tools and group behavioural outcomes in OSEs. This study contributes a crucial extension of the in-depth understanding of the mechanisms by which elements of Activity theory and IT-enabled platforms individually and jointly enhance consumer group participation.