Gamification in Marketing - An Introduction

Gamification in Marketing - An Introduction

The oldest documented game, Mancala, dates back to Egypt in the fifteenth to eleventh centuries, but according to game expert and proponent of gamification Jane McGonigal, Herodotus (of Ancient Greece), was the first to report on the cultural significance of game-playing in society and the psychological value inherent in the act of playing. In his histories, he writes of an 18-year famine that plagued a society he calls The Lydians. He credits The Lydians with inventing and playing games as a coping mechanism for the hardships associated with the famine.

The ancient Lydians played Mancala, a dice based game to survive an eighteen year famine.

From a very simple viewpoint gamification has been defined as the use of game design elements in non-game contexts (Deterding et al, 2011). A more in depth definition is also given by Deterding et al: the use (rather than the extension) of design (rather than game-based technology or other game-related practices) elements (rather than full-fledged games) characteristic for games (rather than play or playfulness) in non-game contexts (regardless of specific usage intentions, contexts, or media of implementation). From a service marketing perspective, gamification is defined as a process of enhancing services with (motivational) affordances in order to invoke gameful experiences and further behavioral outcomes (Huotari and Hamari, 2012). 

Gamification has become a modern business practice that uses game mechanics and game design elements to measure, influence and reward target user behaviors (Mann, 2013). There are three key relationship marketing concepts that are relevant in the gamification context: engagement -”high relevance of brands to consumers and the development of an emotional connection between consumers and brands” (Rappaport, 2007), brand loyalty -”the relationship between relative attitude and repeat patronage” (Dick and Basu, 1994) and brand awareness -”the rudimentary level of brand knowledge involving, at the least, recognition of the brand name” (Hoyer and Brown, 1990).

Gamification is touted as a next generation method for marketing and customer engagement in popular discussion. For instance, Gartner et al estimate that over 50% of organizations managing innovation processes will gamify aspects of their business by 2015. Engagement by gamification can depend on several factors, such as the motivations of users or the nature of the gamified system (Hamari and Tuunanen, 2013).  

Dr. Manu Melwin Joy (Assistant Professor, CUSAT) and Sebastian Panattil (Research Scholar, CUSAT)