Date of Award

Summer 2025

Document Type

Open Access Dissertation

Department

School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management

First Advisor

Scott Taylor, Jr.

Abstract

The use of gamification in orientation training has gained attention in organizational settings, yet questions remain regarding how different gamified training designs influence new employees’ emotional commitment, willingness to participate in future training, and long-term aspirations. Drawing on Stimulus–Organism–Response (SO-R) theory, Achievement Goal Theory, and Ecological Systems Theory, this dissertation investigates how game type (individual vs. team) and trainer involvement (active vs. passive) shape these outcomes.

Two experimental studies using vignette-based scenarios were conducted. Study 1 tested the direct effects of game type on emotional commitment and willingness to participate. Study 2 employed a 2 (game type) × 2 (trainer involvement) factorial design to examine main and interaction effects (Study 2A), demographic moderation by generation and gender (Study 2B), and a moderated mediation model using Hayes’ PROCESS macro (Study 2C), which tested whether motivation to learn moderated indirect effects on employee aspirations.

Findings highlight the importance of both training design and participant characteristics. In Study 1, team games led to higher emotional commitment and willingness to participate than individual games. Study 2A revealed that active trainer involvement enhanced all outcomes regardless of game type, while under passive involvement, team games were more effective than individual games. Study 2B showed that men benefited most from active trainer involvement, whereas women preferred active trainer involvement in individual games but responded better to passive trainer involvement in team settings. Gen Z favored team games with passive trainer involvement, Millennials preferred individual games with active trainer involvement, and Gen X responded best to individual games with passive trainer involvement. Study 2C demonstrated that motivation to learn significantly moderated the indirect effects of game type on employee aspirations. Specifically, team games under passive trainer involvement improved emotional commitment and willingness to participate but only when motivation was high.

Theoretically, this research extends the stimulus component of the S-O-R framework by examining how trainer involvement and game type interact to shape emotional and behavioral responses. Practically, organizations may enhance training impact by tailoring gamified content and facilitation to maximize psychological involvement and commitment.

Rights

© 2025, Damla Sonmez

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