Gamification

Introduction

Organisations are constantly looking for effective ways to motivate and engage their employees and their customers. For decades management has experimented with different approaches and methodologies to increase productivity, internal and external satisfaction (Harwood & Garry, 2015). Gamification has become a powerful tool to influence human behaviour. Gamification is about taking the enjoyable side of games and inserting it into real life situation.

Discussion and Implications

Gamification has been utilised for decades, the first expressions date back to 1910 when Kellogg’s inserted prizes into their cereal boxes. The company started putting stickers and baseball cards in every box of cereal. “A prize in every box” was an immediate success and ever since then, gamification has worked its way into every aspect of our lives (McCormick, 2013). The key element around which the whole concept was built is “fun”. Fun motivates users and reinforces certain behaviours. Gamification is so embedded in our lives that we are not even aware of the many ways in which our behaviour is being influenced (McCormick, 2013). Even in the most unexpected situations, gamification plays a part. The corporate world is not exempt of its traction. The use of leader boards, bonuses and points to reward certain behaviours are common game mechanics used to motivate employees in the corporate world. Even when we are reviewing our profile on LinkedIn to increase its “strength” we are being “gamified” (Dale, 2014).

McCormick (2013) explains that the application of this concept has no limits and is being applied in every industry, from education to cancer treatment.

As shown in the graph below, gamification is not just an empty bubble or a fashionable trend. On the contrary, gamification has reached the peak of expectations and it will be at least 5 to 10 years until its application and effectiveness loses momentum.             

Conclusion

Individuals are motivated by different things and what motivates one person might not work on someone else. Therefore, it is key to recognise the different personality types in order to design and implement successful motivational triggers. Harwood & Garry (2015), identify four main motivational behaviours which are: express, compete, explore and collaborate.

Gamification is at its core about appealing to people’s emotions and motivating them to reach their goals. However, Harwood & Garry (2015) argue that there is a risk that marketers will be tempted to focus only on the technology aspect of gamification rather that on the person. It has been proven that gamification is a powerful tool. But its power can also cause great harm if it not implemented correctly. Organisations must align their objectives with those of its customers and employees. If organisations focus solely on achieving their own goals, their gamification strategy will eventually have the opposite effect causing mass consumer defection (Harwood & Garry, 2015).