嘉　宾： Hyeokkoo Eric KWON  Associate Professor  Nanyang Technological University

主持人：房思含 助理教授  上海交通大学安泰经济与管理学院

时　 间：2025年9月17日（周三）10:00-11:30

地　 点：上海交通大学徐汇校区安泰楼A507

内容简介:

Facing rapid user churn, game developers are turning to an age-old remedy: paying players to play. Play-to-Earn (P2E) introduces sustained cryptocurrency rewards into gaming environments typically driven by enjoyment rather than monetary gain. Prior research on financial incentives has largely examined activities with low intrinsic appeal, such as exercise or studying, and found two consistent patterns: incentives raise engagement while offered but trigger an even steeper decline once removed, and they are costly to sustain. P2E differs in two important ways. First, because rewards are in cryptocurrency rather than real currency, they can be provided indefinitely without budgetary constraints—raising the question of whether perpetual incentives can avoid the post-removal backfire effect. Second, P2E applies incentives to an activity that is already highly intrinsically motivating, like gaming—prompting the question of whether such incentives amplify engagement or instead crowd out the enjoyment that drives it. We address these questions through a natural experiment in a global mobile game that added P2E mechanics for a subset of players while leaving the original design intact for others. Using a three-year panel of behavioral data, we estimate the causal effect of sustained incentives. The results are striking: although a small group of players who actively used P2E rewards increased their engagement, the vast majority—who were merely exposed to but did not utilize these rewards—played less, spent less, and churned earlier. These negative effects outweighed the gains among active P2E participants. Granular behavioral analysis reveals a motivational shift: even without claiming rewards, exposure to P2E reoriented players’ focus from hedonic enjoyment to extrinsic, gain-oriented goals. Players prioritized efficient progression (e.g., leveling, quest completion) over exploratory, social, and competitive play. This shift reduced retention, as gain-oriented motivation—tied to delayed and uncertain rewards—felt psychologically distant compared to the immediate gratification of play for fun. This study extends financial incentive theory by showing that even sustained rewards can crowd out strong intrinsic motivation in hedonic settings. The findings offer practical guidance for digital platforms: incentive structures that work for utilitarian tasks may undermine long-term engagement in hedonic services.

演讲人简介：

Dr. Hyeokkoo Eric Kwon (권혁구, 權赫九) is an Associate Professor with Tenure in the Department of Information Technology and Operations Management at Nanyang Business School (NBS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. He is the Director of the Double Degree in Business and Computing program and serves on the Senate Committee on Research & Innovation. Prior to joining NBS in 2018, he earned a Ph.D. in Management Engineering with a specialization in Information Systems, as well as a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering, both from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).

His research interests primarily encompass mobile analytics for FinTech, digital healthcare, AdTech, and platforms and extend into broader domains such as artificial intelligence (AI) and digital innovation. He has been closely working with a number of leading companies across a broad spectrum of industries—ranging from mobile marketing and telecom to banking, consumer/market research, healthcare, retail, CRM, and F&B—for business analytics-related projects and consulting work. Additionally, he serves as an advisor for the MUST Accelerator, a prominent Google-partnered tech startup accelerator in Korea, fostering connections between the innovation ecosystems of Singapore and Korea.

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