@article{2018:eppmann:wtg_way_t,
title = {WTG (Way to Go)! How to Take Gamification Research in Marketing to the Next Level},
year = {2018},
note = {Gamification is currently one of the major trending topics in
marketing and business practice. Although a large managerial interest
in gamification exists, academic literature so far does not offer much
explanations regarding what gamification really is and why and when it
works. To fill this gap, this paper begins with discussing prominent
perspectives of gamification and proposes to understand gamification
as the enhancement of an autonomous (core) entity with game elements
(e. g., missions, rewards, engaging stories) as affordances for
gameful experience in a non-game context (e. g., market research).
This definition emphasizes the importance of gameful experience
(i. e., feelings that typically result from playing games), which
represents an affective reaction to game elements. Ultimately, the
goal of gamification is to positively affect consumers’ brand
evaluations. This paper provides a theory-based research framework,
which identifies important and promising avenues for future research
to guide empirical research on the question of why and when
gamification results in positive brand evaluations. Although
gamification uses game elements as affordances for gameful experience,
which in turn should positively affect consumers’ brand evaluations,
managers need to be aware that not all game elements elicit (the same
level of) gameful experience. Therefore, some gamified entities might
fail to positively affect brand evaluations. Additionally, even
potential negative effects of gamification on brand evaluation might
exist, which may result from the specific design of some game elements
(e. g., the degree of challenge and specific outcome options like
losing or winning) or in the usage of gamification per se. The
research framework allows to further identify potential moderating
factors (such as consumers’ innovativeness or their optimum
stimulation level), which may influence the effects discussed and
provide potential answers to the question when gamification works.
Managers will benefit from this research framework in several ways.
First, it sheds light on why positive effects of gamification might
occur, namely due to the positive feelings people have when using a
gamified entity, that is, gameful experience. Second, it cautions
managers in that gamified entities might not always be effective in
positively influencing consumers’ brand evaluations, particularly
depending on how gamified entities are designed. Third, the framework
assists managers in identifying factors they can use to potentially
reduce the risk of investing in a gamified entity that might fail its
objectives. Fourth, the framework demonstrates potential negative
effects of gamification on brand evaluation, which managers need to
carefully consider until future research comes up with solutions to
avoid the risk of such negative effects.},
journal = {Marketing ZFP},
pages = {44--54},
author = {Eppmann, René and Klein, Kristina and Bekk, Magdalena},
volume = {40},
number = {4}
}