Autonomy in Video Games and Gamification

In the past decade, gamification (using game elements in non-gaming tasks to enhance motivation and engagement) has become a popular concept in many industries, but few studies have explored the principles under which it works. Self-determination theory suggests three psychological needs that gamification fulfills: competence, relatedness, and autonomy. Autonomy, a person\u27s perception that they have the ability to act however they choose, has emerged as an important, yet less-studied aspect in gamification. Inclusion of autonomy in gamification should foster engagement, enjoyment, and better performance. An experiment inspired by the above was carried out in which a sample of college students (N = 57) played a video game called Super Mario Bros. Crossover with either the choice to customize the aesthetics of their character and background (autonomy-supportive) or no choice of aesthetics (non-supportive). It was hypothesized that conditions involving more choice would lead to higher perceived autonomy and performance, and that perceived autonomy would be positively correlated with engagement, enjoyment, and performance. The manipulation resulted in no significant difference in perceived autonomy or performance, and perceived autonomy was only significantly positively correlated with enjoyment. Prior Super Mario Bros. experience was also found to positively correlate with perceived autonomy in the autonomy-supportive condition. The choice of aesthetics does not appear to have been sufficiently strong enough to increase perceived autonomy in this context

Gamification and online consumer decisions: Is the game over?

Consumption can be more than just a necessity; it can become a leisure activity. With the emergence of e-commerce and social media, products and services are just one click away; a trend that is further driven by gamified systems. This research aims to systematically analyze the most relevant academic literature on gamification, to establish if it influences online consumer decisions and, if so, which elements, mechanisms, and theories can explain it. After a thorough search from Web of Science and Scopus databases using SciMAT, 257 papers were analyzed. Twenty-nine (29) of the 36 papers found show empirical evidence that the inclusion of game elements in non-game activities has a significant influence on consumer engagement and online consumer decisions in digital contexts. Moreover, rewards and challenges were identified as the two most used mechanisms, with points, badges, and leaderboards being the most tested gamification elements. The Self- Determination Theory (SDT) and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) are the two most common theoretical explanations for why gamification works. Lastly, possible future studies to include thematic, methodological and theoretical agendas were discussed

Points for Posts and Badges to Brand Advocates: The Role of Gamification in Consumer Brand Engagement

Gamification became a new attractive way to strengthen relations with consumers for companies and brands. Companies apply different gamification techniques to increase consumer brand engagement. The paper covers the concepts of gamification, the flow state, as well as consumer brand engagement. The assumptions about gamification impact on consumer brand engagement were tested empirically through quantitative analysis of data collected with online questionnaire carried out in Lithuania. Results show a weak but positive relation between gamification and consumer brand engagement. A more integrative method for data analysis, such as structural equation modeling, should be used to assess the model still. The topic could be researched in future with regard to cross-cultural differences, different player types, and different levels of gamification

The Potential Impact of Gamification Elements on the Acceptance of Technology in the Context of Education: A Literature Review

Innovative new digital technologies arise within the field of education every day. There seems to be a large potential impact in using gamification for improving acceptance and use of new technologies in education. This study aims to gain better and new insights on how to improve the acceptance of new educational technology by applying gamification elements. To this aim, we performed a systematic literature review of 1271 publications, yielding 56 relevant studies. We positioned these studies based on which gamification element(s) and which educational technology acceptance constructs were discussed. Our results show that few studies focus on individual gamification elements and that most studies focus on the same elements and constructs, i.e. Learning Expectancy, Social Influence and Hedonic Motivation are the most discussed constructs related to increasing the acceptance of educational technology when applying gamification, while Points, Badges, Leaderboards and Social Games & Teamwork are the most discussed gamification elements. The impact of gamifying educational technology is mixed – both negative and positive results are being reported – and thus we conclude that the knowledge of how to successfully gamify educational technology is still limited

Exploring Consumer Engagement in Gamified Health and Fitness Mobile Apps

This paper explores how Generation Y engages with gamified health and fitness mobile apps focussing on the popular Nike+ and Fitbit apps. An interpretative approach was adopted whereby ten in-depth interviews were carried out to explore this phenomenon from the perspective of the user. Findings suggest that consumers enjoy receiving intrinsic rewards but these only hold value when players understand the behaviour or activity for why they are being rewarded. It was also found that consumers would welcome social media integration in the gamified apps only if a purpose is clearly identified. Finally, competitive elements, such as leaderboards, points and status, are most likely to enhance consumer engagement but brands need to create opportunities for constructive competition

Gender Moderation in Gamification: Does One Size Fit All?

Organizations actively seek methods for increasing employee engagement by incorporating game elements in core systems and processes, in an effort to increase their perceived playfulness. However, little is known about the actual impact of these elements on perceived playfulness. This study includes results from three repeated experiments performed during a gamified academic course. The relationships between enjoyment of specific game elements, the way they increase perceived playfulness, and gender moderations of these relations were examined. All three experiments show that badges had a positive relation with perceived playfulness and were more enjoyable to women. Surprisingly, the results showed that when men were the majority of subjects in the group, the relations between the game elements and perceived playfulness were different from when men were a minority. These results provide important insight into what possibly influences perceived playfulness in gamified solutions