Purpose

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.

Design/methodology/approach

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.

Findings

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.

Research limitations/implications

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.

Practical implications

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.

Originality/value

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.

中文翻译：

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“游戏开始！” 推动消费者按钮改变可持续行为：游戏化实地研究

目的

营销人员已经开始通过在品牌、零售、销售和健康服务等不同领域使用游戏设计元素来研究游戏化对影响消费者行为的潜力。营销人员也开始探索可持续性方面的消费者行为。本文旨在为建立在这两种文献的基础上做出贡献。

设计/方法/方法

这项研究在对真实消费者的大型实地研究中测试游戏化原则，其中包括来自事前调查、游戏化应用程序分析和家用能量计的数据。使用方差分析和结构方程模型分析数据。

发现

研究结果表明：与对照组相比，游戏化显着增强了消费者的知识、态度、行为意图和实现的账单节省；基于奖励的游戏设计元素，包括积分、徽章和其他奖励，有助于增强可持续的行为结果。

研究限制/影响

未来对可持续性以外环境的研究可能会扩展当前研究的结果，以进一步了解基于奖励的游戏设计元素在营销中的影响。

实际影响

这些发现对于组织如何使用严肃游戏来促进可持续和其他理想行为具有重要的实际意义。特别是，如何使用基于奖励的游戏设计元素、积分、奖杯和徽章来创建一系列关系，从而减少电力消耗。

原创性/价值

本文满足了了解游戏化的影响是否扩展到受控环境之外并进入该领域的需要。此外，它展示了基于奖励的游戏设计元素如何帮助消费者改变他们的行为，这种关系在营销文献中尚未完全理解。