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Today, marketing has evolved due to the emergence of new electronic technologies and has shifted to e-marketing. Meanwhile, the gamification and gamified systems is an up-to-date research topic that has attracted the attention of many researchers in recent years. As one of the main goals of marketing is to increase customer engagement and loyalty by persuading and motivating them to participate, the gamification has a great potential for e-marketing. Although much research has been done on the gamification subject in e-marketing, there has not yet been a comprehensive review of these studies. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the scientific and practical research on gamification applied to e-marketing using the systematic mapping study methodology.

Because considerable research has been devoted to gamification since 2011, and the number of papers published in this area has grown steadily from 2011, the paper reviews the publications over the period 2011-2018. The research method includes developing research questions, designing the research process and filtering the findings based on the specified criteria.

The findings of this study show the main applications of gamification in e-marketing, the technologies used and the proven benefits of applying this technique in e-marketing. It also provides a classification of the studies in this area.

This paper helps other researchers to understand the main areas of research in gamification within the marketing discipline and enables them to find the fields needed for future studies.

The proposed classification can give a comprehensive overview of the scientific and practical actions taken on gamification applied to e-marketing for academics and practitioners. It also enables the readers to find main areas of research and motivates them to apply gamification in e-marketing.

This paper aims to propose a new method for evaluating the effect of out-of-home (OOH) gamified advertising and verify the prediction effect of the method, especially based on emotional experience generated by interactions between individuals and gamified advertisements.

By carrying out an offline gamification advertising experiment, this study uses multiple emotion models, pleasure–displeasure, arousal–no arousal and dominance–submissiveness (PAD) and Ortony–Clore–Collins, to examine the impact of 24 emotional experiences consumers have when engaging with gamified OOH advertising on the perceived effectiveness of advertising.

The findings reveal the correlation between the emotional experience and the effectiveness of gamified advertising. Multiple regression analyses demonstrate that the emotional experience model has an effective predictive effect on the effectiveness of gamified advertising.

The originality of this research is a new method for evaluating the effect of OOH gamified advertising, in particular the calculation of the valid emotional experience values brought by the emotional fluctuations in the interaction between consumers and gamified advertisements.

This study aims to examine the impact of the gameful experience on behavioural outcomes. Drawing from stimulus–organism–response theory, it proposes and tests a new model that investigates the relationship between the gameful experience, brand loyalty and intention to use gamified branded applications in the sports context. In addition, it explores the mediating role of customer–brand engagement (CBE) and the moderating role of self-image congruity (SIC).

A sample of 436 active users of sport-related branded gamified applications was used to test the model. Data was collected from online sports forums, brands’ Facebook communities and during sporting events.

Results indicate that the gameful experience positively and directly impacts behavioural intentions but does not directly influence brand loyalty. This relationship becomes partially significant when mediated by CBE. In addition, results show that users with high levels of SIC are more likely to continue using the gamified application, whereas users with low levels are more likely to engage with the brand.

This study expands the gamification literature in the sports sector by revealing the importance of the gameful experience in driving loyalty, behavioural intentions and CBE. It proposes a new model that sheds light on the emotional aspect of the interaction between a user and a gamified system and the importance of exploring the effects of moderators, such as SIC, in these relationships.

Nutritional disorders and unhealthy nutrition, which are recognised as the causes of many widespread health problems (overweight, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, etc.) have emerged as a significant problem that requires resolution. The purpose of this study is to influence dietary preferences and to reduce current health issues by using gamification as a social marketing tool. To this end, the decision-making processes affecting food choices in individuals based on calorific content were evaluated and the effectiveness of gamification in encouraging consumers to make lower-calorie choices was examined.

An experimental design was used to determine the effect of gamification on the dietary preferences of consumers. An independent factorial design (between groups) in which multiple variables were tested with different subjects was used to test the factors that were thought to affect the food choices made by the participants from gamified and non-gamified menus.

In Study 1, menus (gamified vs non-gamified) and nutritional consciousness (low vs high) had a significant main effect on the total calorie count of the selected foods. In Study 2, menus (gamified with prices vs non-gamified with prices) had a significant main effect on the total calorie count of the selected foods, while nutritional consciousness (low vs high) did not. A significant interaction was observed between menus and nutritional consciousness.

Gamification can be used as an important publicity tool for promoting public health using different influential factors such as price.

This study shows that people can change their food preferences positively through gamification. It shows further how people tend to evaluate the price of their food rather than the calorie count when making dietary preferences. Gamification can, therefore, be considered a promising social marketing tool for improving public health.

Marketers have begun to investigate the potential of gamification for influencing consumer behavior by using game design elements in realms varying from branding, retail, sales and health services. Marketers have also begun to explore consumer behavior in sustainability. This paper aims to provide contributions to build on both literatures.

This research tests gamification principles in a large field study on real consumers that includes data from pre-post surveys, gamified app analytics and household energy meters. The data are analyzed using ANOVA’s and structural equation modeling.

The findings demonstrate: gamification significantly enhanced consumers’ knowledge, attitudes, behavioral intentions and realized bill savings compared to a control group; reward-based game design elements including points, badges and other rewards contribute to enhancing sustainable behavior outcomes.

Future research in settings outside of sustainability may extend upon the findings of the current research to further understanding the impact of reward-based game design elements in marketing.

The findings have important practical implications for how organizations might use serious games to promote sustainable and other desirable behavior. In particular, how reward-based game design elements, points, trophies and badges, can be used to create a chain of relationships that leads to reduced electricity consumption.

This paper fulfills the need to understand if the impact of gamification extends outside of controlled environments and into the field. Further, it demonstrates how reward-based game design elements contribute to consumers changing their behavior, a relationship that is not yet thoroughly understood in the marketing literature.

Drawing from the Personal Construct Theory, this study aims to analyze the impact of using gamified apps on user behavior by investigating the service-related images and individual preferences of Generation Z (GenZ) consumers, as these emerge from gamified applications in a tourism context.

The repertory grid analysis (RGA) elicited the top elements that reflect GenZer perceptions in tourism from empirical studies in the UK and Greece. Generalized procrustes analysis was used to investigate the structure of the data for the creation of representative consensus biplots of the most important conceptual constructs to advance consumer decision-making modeling via gamification.

As per different gamified app best-practices considered, the authors extract not only common perceptual elements (e.g. place informative aspects, exploration, lodgings, food/catering) but also different image components (e.g. virtual/interactive, business vs commercial traveling, entertainment, heritage/cultural informative aspects) from comparing UK with Greek GenZers’ responses. These extracted attributes are then presented in two dimensional charts, respectively, toward creating tourist perception scales.

Notwithstanding the wide availability of gamified apps, research on gamification design in tourism and hospitality is still in the early phase. This study demonstrates the need to identify and optimize the formation of different images among GenZers. It also highlights the advantageous nature of the proposed combination of procrustes analysis with the RGA.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is among the first empirical ones toward creating scales for measuring tourist perceptions of GenZers coming from different consumer markets. It responds to scholars’ recent calls for better informing gamification design and improving contemporary consumer experience.

This paper presents a methodological analysis of the co-creation and evaluation of “Biobot Academy” social marketing program to promote socio-emotional skills and prosocial behaviour in children, using a Living Lab method. This paper aims to identify how using a Living Lab method can enhance the co-creation and evaluation of a gamified social marketing program with users and stakeholders. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to apply and further develop a Living Lab framework to guide social marketing program design.

Using a case study method, the Living Lab process was applied during the development of the gamified social marketing program for promoting socio-emotional skills and prosocial behaviour in children. In total, 28 online and in-person sessions over a two-year period led to program co-creation. Guided by a mixed method approach, testing was conducted in a non-randomised waitlist control trial, while qualitative data from in-game data capture, classroom observations and recordings were collected.

The application of the Living Lab method warranted improvements, specifically to the front-end and back-end steps of the existing process. While the non-randomised trial indicated effectiveness of the social marketing program across all outcome measures (self-awareness, empathy and prosocial behaviour intentions) compared to control, qualitative findings showed program improvements were needed on three specific aspects, namely, interactivity, user experience and comprehension.

This study provides methodological guidance for the application of the Living Lab method in other social marketing settings to help co-create innovative social marketing solutions with diverse stakeholder groups.

This study aims to examine the effect of consumers’ gaming motivations on customer–brand engagement and the potential of this engagement to develop self–brand connections and affective commitment toward luxury brands. Second, it explores if the setup game mechanics and self-congruity with the brand can strengthen the effectiveness of motivation to engage with gamification on customer–brand engagement and self-brand connection.

Data were collected through the survey method using a structured questionnaire. The sample comprised 249 millennial luxury consumers in India. Data analysis was conducted using AMOS 25 and PROCESS Macro for SPSS.

The findings support the mediating role of customer–brand engagement and self–brand connection in the relationship between motivation to engage with gamification and affective commitment. While setup game mechanics and self-congruity with brand positively moderate the effect of motivation to engage with gamification on affective commitment via self–brand connection, a similar effect is not found for the relationship via customer–brand engagement. This study presents important implications for both marketers and academicians.

This study applies the mechanics–dynamics–emotions framework and social exchange theory to explain gamified services as a cocreation process between consumers and luxury brands, fostering customer engagement, connection and commitment with the brands. It highlights the role of setup game mechanics and self-congruity in strengthening the effect of luxury consumers’ gaming motivations on engagement and connection with the brand.

Gamification introduces game-like properties into routine service processes to make them more engaging for service employees and users alike. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of gamification mechanics, or game design principles, on user engagement in gamified healthcare services.

Through observations, interviews and the study of desk materials, two cases of gamified healthcare services, each using different game mechanics, are analyzed.

Gamification mechanics produce four distinct experiential outcomes in patients: challenge, entertainment, social dynamics, and escapism. Patient engagement can be stimulated through these outcomes. However, to fully enjoy the benefits of gamified services, users are often expected to acquire and use new skills. The relative absence of these skills (or difficulties in acquiring them), depending on users’ medical predispositions and age, may defer or negatively moderate the positive effects of gamification on engagement. In the case of progressively decreasing capabilities (e.g. in the case of aging users or users with degenerative diseases, whose physical or mental disabilities may be emphasized by the mechanics), it is recommended that health professionals adapt the mechanics accordingly or search for alternative options to increase patient well-being.

The study was conducted in healthcare, and caution must be exercised in generalizing the findings to other domains. However, the finding that gamified service users’ disabilities - or the lack of required abilities – may negatively impact the encouraging or engaging effects of the use of gamification appears to be relatively universal.

This study contributes to service research, specifically in the healthcare domain, by providing insight into employees’ and users’ motivations for using gamified service processes, the experiential impact of gamification mechanics, the individual factors that influence users’ gamified experience and multiple forms of cognitive, emotional and behavioral engagement outcomes. A research agenda is developed.

Gamification has gained popularity in social marketing research; however, its application remains limited to a few contexts, and relatively little is known about how innovative gamification technologies such as augmented reality can be applied to social marketing programme design. This paper aims to demonstrate the application of gamification to a social marketing pilot programme designed to increase children’s empathy and empathic behaviour.

Informed by social cognitive theory (SCT), a mixed-method research design was adopted using pre- and post-programme surveys (n = 364) to assess effectiveness using paired samples t-test. Qualitative data included observations, participant’s questions and a feedback activity at the end of the programme. A thematic analysis was undertaken to examine the data and detect meaningful insights.

Children’s affective empathy and empathic behaviour outcomes were improved following the pilot programme. However, no effects were observed for cognitive empathy and social norms. Thematic analysis revealed three themes to further improve the game: developmentally appropriate design, user experience and game design.

Findings demonstrated challenges with the application of SCT outlining a disconnect between the design of the gamified programme and theory application.

This study provides initial evidence for the application of innovative gamification technologies to increase empathy in children.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to examine how a gamified social marketing programme can increase empathy in children.