Gamification and service marketing

Abstract

Our paper addresses the development of the gamification concept with business applications. We report on our survey of customers and managers seeking to participate in gamification on their websites. We examined both customer and manager perspectives and compare survey results in terms of service marketing and characteristics of consumers who engage with gamification platforms. Our data supported a design theory delineating four key characteristics in gamification platforms that attract consumers toward an enterprise’s website. Those features attract individuals through (1) Progress Paths, (2) Feedback and Reward, (3) Social Connection, and (4) Attractiveness of the site. Results from the managers’ survey reflected key characteristics that must exist for implementation of a gamification platform. The data revealed a particular demographic profile of a gamification individual drawn to a website. These findings may help company managers who wish to adopt a gamification platform in the future.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/2193-1801-3-653) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The Effect of Gamification on Psychological and Behavioral Outcomes: Implications for Cruise Tourism Destinations

“…Inspired by the benefits of games, gamification has gained increased attention as an effective technology that attempts to further transfer these benefits to a variety of services and systems, and to further increase their autotelic nature within "non-gaming" contexts, such as tourism, but also education (e.g., [16,17,30,31]), health (e.g, [32][33][34]), work (e.g., [25,35,36]), marketing management (e.g., [8,19,[37][38][39]), etc. Despite the fact that there have been some gamification-related studies in relation to tourism, most studies have focused primarily on understanding the role of gamification in qualitative approaches.…”

Gamification approaches to the early stage of innovation

“…sense of fun and enjoyment, belonging to a group, mastery, purpose in the work carried out, learning from an activity, personal achievement or more responsibility, autonomy and power) (Dale, 2014;Hamari & Koivisto, 2015;Robson et al, 2015;Smith & Popa, 2015). These motivators can be achieved by embedding gaming mechanics-inspired by human desires and needs-into traditional work activities, thereby turning routine tasks into a game (Conaway & Garay, 2014;Galetta, 2013).…”

Gamification and Mobile Marketing Effectiveness

“…Both the literature and practice tend to focus on points and awards, neglecting other game design elements that can be used to create a more game-like experience including challenges and narratives, social connections, and visual design (Conaway and Garay 2014). To this list, we can also add mystery, surprise, and discovery (Schell 2008).…”