Exploring effects of intelligent recommendation, interactivity, and playfulness on learning engagement: An application of TikTok considering the meditation of anxiety and moderation of virtual reward

The rise of short video applications such as TikTok has brought new opportunities to maximize student learning experiences in online learning environments. Meanwhile, literature that explores its potential to foster student engagement is scarce. To understand the effect of short video applications on students' learning engagement, we take Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok) as an example to include user experience variables (i.e., playfulness, satisfaction, anxiety) and technology features variables (i.e., interactivity and virtual reward). Five hundred-two valid questionnaire responses were collected from Chinese undergraduates. Data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM) to test the hypothesis. Overall, learning anxiety has a negative effect on learning engagement, whereas learning satisfaction has a positive effect. Virtual reward has a negative moderating effect on the relationship between interaction and anxiety. Still, it positively moderates the relationship between satisfaction and learning engagement. In addition, both years of using a mobile phone and TikTok positively influence learning engagement. Collectively, the proposed model was supported and provided empirical evidence regarding the importance of user experience and product features (such as Intelligent recommendation and virtual reward) on student engagement. Implications for theories and teaching practice and limitations were discussed.