Journal of Business Research 134 (2021) 316–328 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Business Research journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres Apart we ride together: The motivations behind users of mixed-reality sports Daniel Westmattelmann a,*, Jan-Gerrit Grotenhermen a, Marius Sprenger a, William Rand b, Gerhard Schewe a a Center for Management, Chair of Business Administration - Organization, Personnel and Innovation, University of Münster, Universitatsstra¨ ße 14-16, 48143 Münster, Germany b Department of Business Management, North Carolina State University, Nelson Hall 2324, 2801 Founders Drive, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Keywords: A new form of sports platforms transfers traditional sports like cycling into a virtual world and lets users so­ User motivation cialize, exercise or compete with each other. Despite the increasing public attention, there is no research on Mixed-reality motivational factors of this advanced mixed-reality technology allowing virtual-mediated physical interaction. Virtual sport Therefore, we proposed a research model and tested it using structural equation modelling combined with Task factors qualitative interviews to investigate the platform’s usage. Our results reveal that utilitarian benefitsrelate to the Social network task-purposes of health consciousness and training, while hedonic benefits relate to training, customizing and socializing. Hedonic benefits are more strongly related to use intention than utilitarian, but subgroup-specific differences are observed. Privacy concerns constitute a risk for all users to continued use of these platforms, while cheating is relevant only for competitive users. Use intention positively relates to actual use behavior in the form of usage time, number of races and followed users. 1. Introduction than 1.6 million users worldwide in early 2020 (for further explanations and depictions, see Delaney & Bromley, 2020). Using a so-called smart Digitalization has significantly changed the way billions of people trainer that is connected to a bike, athletes can measure their perfor­ participate in sports (Statista, 2020). Fitness applications allow us to mance through sensors attached to their equipment, which is then track our training progress (Campbell, Ngo, & Fogarty, 2008), lose translated to an avatar within a virtual world (Delaney & Bromley, weight (Mateo, Granado-Font, Ferre-Grau,´ & Montana-Carreras,~ 2015) 2020). Besides training, users can also compete against other athletes in or improve our overall fitness( Higgins, 2016). Corresponding hardware scheduled races. The facts that the reigning Olympic champion and like smartwatches additionally motivates users to take their own pre­ three Tour de France winners participated in the first ‘Virtual Tour de ventive health actions (Canhoto & Arp, 2017). Additionally, hedonic France’ in July 2020, and that the race was broadcast in over 130 motivations play an important role for users of wearable healthcare countries shows that virtual cycling platforms have reached the highest technologies (Gao, Li, & Luo, 2015). In general, research into fitness level of sport (The New York Times, 2020). During the event, non- applications and wearables has focused on adoption factors (e.g., Can­ professionals also got involved through mass participation races, held hoto & Arp, 2017), features (Higgins, 2016; Middelweerd, Mollee, van on the same virtual courses that professionals ride on (The New York der Wal, Brug, & Te Velde, 2014) or social aspects (e.g., Yang, 2017). Times, 2020). Another reason why ZWIFT is so popular is the ability of In recent years, a number of sports applications have emerged that participants to customize the experience by unlocking new bikes or pursue a more holistic approach, encompassing health and play, by of­ choosing different courses to ride on, which follows a gamification fering its users a wide range of features (Hamari & Koivisto, 2015b; approach. The platform also includes a social component, allowing users Neumann et al., 2018; Tu, Hsieh, & Feng, 2019). ZWIFT, an “online to connect to others and build up a social network (Borrill, 2020). As this cycling game”, is an example of such an application, gathering more study was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, this form of * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected] (D. Westmattelmann), [email protected] (J.-G. Grotenhermen), [email protected] (M. Sprenger), [email protected] (W. Rand), [email protected] (G. Schewe). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.05.044 Received 12 August 2020; Received in revised form 15 May 2021; Accepted 19 May 2021 Available online 31 May 2021 0148-2963/© 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. D. Westmattelmann et al. Journal of Business Research 134 (2021) 316–328 virtual sports turns out to be one of the few opportunities to engage in The individual use purposes, e.g., in the form of health consciousness, sports together (Martin & Maxwell, 2020). The emergence of related training, customizing and socializing, increase the two types of moti­ platforms such as Peloton or Rouvy, both offering partly comparable vation differently. Sub-group analyses reveal differences between users functionalities, highlights the increasing relevance of this type of based on their competition frequency. Furthermore, privacy concerns application. We decided to focus on ZWIFT for two reasons. First, it appear to be a general risk, while cheating is relevant only for covers a wide range of characteristic features for this type of application, competitive users. Finally, we examine the impact on general use, as it allows participants to perform the original sport by utilizing mixed- competition participation and socializing behavior on the sports plat­ reality (MR) technology (Westmattelmann, Grotenhermen, Sprenger, & form. To gain a more profound understanding of the relationships Schewe, 2021). Second, it received enormous public attention and is the considered, we conducted interviews with professional and non- platform with which most renowned institutions from the traditional professional users to identify comprehensive theoretical and manage­ sport of cycling cooperate (The New York Times, 2020). rial implications for sports platforms in general. A clear benefit of platforms like ZWIFT is that users can engage in actual sporting activities while their performance is measured through 2. Theoretical background sensors and is visualized in a virtual world, which distinguishes it from other platforms that offer a virtual experience without the physical 2.1. Introducing mixed-reality frameworks component. Extended by social interaction and customization possibil­ ities, these platforms go beyond the definition of traditional fitness ap­ The reality-virtuality continuum developed by Milgram and Kishino plications and offer utilitarian and hedonic benefits. But there are also (1994) serves as a starting point to understand different degrees of potential drawbacks, as user-generated data might be subject to privacy virtuality endorsed in applications that enable virtual sports. The two risks, an often-mentioned problem in fitnessapplications (e.g., Sutanto, poles of the continuum depict the Real Environment (consisting exclu­ Palme, Tan, & Phang, 2013). Further, as ZWIFT is also used competi­ sively of real objects), which is observed in person or through hardware tively, cheating is a potential problem, and has frequently been like displays, and a purely Virtual Environment (consisting entirely of described as a drawback of fitnessapps (e.g., Campbell et al., 2008; Van virtual objects; Milgram & Kishino, 1994; Flavian´ et al., 2019). Mierlo, Hyatt, Ching, Fournier, & Dembo, 2016). Augmented Reality (AR) and Augmented Virtuality (AV) are located be­ This study is, in particular, motivated by identifiedresearch gaps in tween these poles, whereby the level of computer-generated objects is the areas of virtual reality (VR) sport applications and MR. A systematic higher for AV technologies (Milgram & Kishino, 1994). According to this literature review of VR sport applications research showed that different taxonomy, Mixed Reality is an umbrella term for AR and AV that mainly physiological and psychological factors have been investigated by con­ considers the visual display (Milgram & Kishino, 1994). Reviewing the ducting experiments on the use of these applications (Neumann et al., reality-virtuality continuum, we conclude that, due to its unilateral 2018). However, how different task purposes, like training, competition focus on visual aspects, it is insufficient to grasp the context of virtual or socializing, influence the perceived benefits has not yet been exam­ sports applications, which is shaped by virtually-mediated physical in­ ined. Moreover, it is unclear whether perceived benefitsand risks affect teractions between multiple users (Westmattelmann et al., 2021). This actual behavior outside of laboratory environments. Previous research conclusion also applies for related taxonomies (e.g., Flavian´ et al., has focused on novice participants, while experienced users and elite 2019). Moreover, considering recent technological advancements, athletes have not been considered. In addition, applications that enable scholars have been arguing that specificallythe notion of MR needs to be physical interaction in a virtual world have been studied, but mainly due