Examining the Impact of Yelp's Elite Squad on Users' Subsequent Contribution

As one of the leading online review platforms, Yelp leverages a gamification design, Yelp Elite Squad (YES), to engage Yelp users. To become a YES member, users need to demonstrate a high level of community involvement, and therefore, they should significantly contribute to the Yelp community in the pre-YES period. To date, however, it is not clear how YES members behave after they receive this status. In this paper, we leverage a large volume of Yelp data to examine this question empirically. Using a dynamic panel analysis, we find that a YES member will produce more content in the subsequent period. We further find that if a user receives the YES status for two consecutive years, the most current YES status has a positive effect on users' future contributions, but this effect is not as strong as the effect of a first-time status recipient. This research contributes to the online user engagement and gamification literature. We also offer practical implications for online community design.