Gamification as a Mean of Driving Online Consumer Behaviour: SOR Model Perspective

Abstract

Gamification recently attracted attention from practitioners and researchers aiming to gain understanding about gamification applicability. According to forecasts of various market research agencies, application of gamification in activities of companies increases and gamification market growth will continue in the future. As gamification is usually focused on customers, it is naturally related to consumer behaviour. However, there is a lack of studies approaching gamification from consumer behaviour perspective. Because gamification is strongly driven by information technologies, the paper seeks to propose an integrated framework for gamification impact on online consumer behaviour. In order to achieve it, the paper explores origins of gamification concept, compares it to similar concepts, proposes gamification definition and provides an overview of the pyramid of key gamification elements: game components, game mechanics, game dynamics. The further paper analyses different models of online consumer behaviour with emphasis on the application of the stimulus-organism-reaction (SOR) model. SOR model is used for characterising online stimulus (company controlled elements) and their impact on online consumer behaviour. In order to develop the framework, interdependencies of approaches of the pyramid of key gamification elements and SOR model are analysed by identifying factors related to the virtual environment, process, and social dimensions.

Gamification and reputation: key determinants of e-commerce usage and repurchase intention

“…Game components are specific applications that can be seen and used in the game interface ( Hunter and Werbach, 2012 ) and can be considered particular instances of mechanics and dynamics ( Kuutti, 2013 ). Components act as stimulants and are often perceived directly from the consumer's perspective ( Gatautis et al., 2016 ).…”

Gamification approaches to the early stage of innovation

“…The benefits of implementing a comprehensive gamification framework encompass important hedonic outcomes, such as engagement, enjoyment and playfulness, fun and learning experiences (Cardador, Northcraft, & Whicker, 2017;Gatautis, Vitkauskaite, Gadeikiene, & Piligrimiene, 2016;Hamari & Koivisto, 2015;Harwood & Garry, 2015;Holbrook et al, 1984). Regardless of the value of engagement and motivation, gamification is much more than just a set of entertaining exercises and teamwork activities with no targets and organized outputs (Agogué et al, 2015;Dale, 2014;Kalinauskas, 2014).…”

“…In fact, the benefits of gamification go beyond the hedonic elements as they also include utilitarian and social benefits. The utilitarian benefits encompass increased productivity among employees (Hamari & Koivisto, 2015), cognitive, functional, creative problem-solving, time to action, usefulness and ease of use (Gatautis et al, 2016;Hamari & Koivisto, 2015;Harwood & Garry, 2015;Stock, Oliveira, & Von Hippel, 2015), improved customer loyalty (Lucassen & Jansen, 2014), and accelerated product development processes (Agogué et al, 2015). The social benefits encompass people's reactions during interactive situations, recognition, social influence, and self-esteem (Hamari & Koivisto, 2015;Harwood & Garry, 2015).…”

Does E‐Brand experience matter in the consumer market? Explaining the impact of social media marketing activities on consumer‐based brand equity and love

“…This model was initially developed in context of retail industry through which it was suggested that servicescape serves as a stimulus to shape and influence inner states of consumers and deriving certain kinds of consumer behavior. The SOR model (stimulus‐organism‐response) suggests that different environmental factors serve as stimulus (S) to influence the internal state of individual (O), which ultimately shapes the response/behavior of the individual (R) (Gatautis et al, 2016; Wang et al, 2019). This study attempts to examine the phenomenon through which the external stimuli leads towards a certain inner state of consumer such as brand love, BEQ, and EBE.…”