Effort justification for fun activities? The effect of location-based mobile coupons using games

Based on the effort justification explanation, this study tested whether consumers perceive the value of mobile coupons differently depending on how they received them. A 3 (activities to receive a coupon: none vs. online survey vs. game) x 2 (product type: hedonic vs. utilitarian) between-subject design experiment (N = 200) was conducted. Findings suggested that game condition, compared to others, resulted in a higher perceived coupon value. A significant conditional indirect effect was found such that games enhance positive affect especially when the product type was utilitarian, and enhanced positive affect results in further boosting the perceived coupon value.