Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore potential benefits of gamification (application of game-playing elements) for financial well-being and motivation to save. Design/methodology/approach A preliminary survey of college students explored how gamification principles incorporated into money-savings/personal finance smartphone apps could improve financial well-being. The main study utilized Mechanical Turk participants, exposing them to financial game app descriptions that emphasized social features (e.g. leaderboards and ability to share achievements) or economic features (e.g. ability to earn real money or a higher interest rate). Objective and subjective financial measures including expertise with financial apps, perceived benefits of financial apps and behavioral intentions were examined. Findings Financial worry, financial literacy, subjective knowledge and expertise with money-savings/financial applications predicted financial well-being. Additionally, consumers varied in their preferences for certain financial game app features based on past financial app experience. Those who already used a financial app tend to exhibit higher subjective (though not objective) knowledge, and want both “social” and “economic” features of financial applications, whereas those with no experience are more motivated by economic features. Practical implications These results could be used to guide game designers regarding which features may be more attractive to consumers depending on their prior expertise with financial smartphone applications. Financial services marketing would benefit from further research into whether smartphone financial applications that emphasize social features have benefits for consumers’ motivation and financial well-being. Originality/value Examining college students about to enter the real world and the general population, this project contributes to research to improve understanding of financial well-being by examining how already having a financial gamification application impacts perceptions of knowledge and expertise, as well as intentions to save given a more socially focused vs economically focused savings app. Additional research needs to further explore gamification as an experimental intervention to ultimately improve both subjective financial well-being and objective financial behaviors, especially for consumers with lower expertise and high risk of financial vulnerability.
It is generally accepted that forming an implementation intention promotes goal pursuit and achievement. Forming an implementation intention encourages people to develop a plan, to prepare for events that allow for the execution of the plan, and to efficiently respond to these opportunities. Yet, forming an implementation intention may not be universally beneficial. An implementation intention may encourage the use of means that are part of the plan but may discourage the use of efficacious means that are not part of the plan. Four experiments show that forming an implementation intention decreases the likelihood of responding to goal-directed, out-of-plan behaviors when a person is in a concrete mind-set. Limitations, implications, and directions for future research are discussed. (c) 2010 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..
Contemporary consumers, societies, and ecologies face many challenges to well-being. Consumer researchers have responded with new attention to what engenders happiness and flourishing, particularly as a function of consuming more wisely. Consumer wisdom has been conceptualized as the pursuit of well-being through the application of six interrelated dimensions: Responsibility, Purpose, Flexibility, Perspective, Reasoning, and Sustainability (Luchs, Mick, and Haws 2020). However, up to now, the roles of marketing management and government policies with respect to enabling and supporting consumer wisdom have not been thoroughly and systematically considered. To do so, we adopt an integrative approach based on a range of theoretical and empirical insights from both wisdom research in the social sciences and in consumer research. We weave those insights into the stages of an expanded version of the circular economy model of the value cycle, within which we also include the traditional four Ps of the marketing mix. This approach allows us to identify how marketing practices and public policies can enable and support consumer wisdom, resulting in advancements to well-being and the common good as well as restorations to the missions and reputations of business and government.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.