Gamification – the key to in-depth exploration of consumer behavior in market research

Abstract

Theoretical background: Games are used in various fields beyond pure entertainment: education, health services or human resources. They are also considered one of the most rapidly growing trends in marketing. Using gamifiation to engage the consumer and increase his loyalty is commonly used in nearly all product categories. Playing games is fun and companies use it to attract and involve the consumers in their brands’ activities. In addition, the role of gamification in market research is increasing. It helps to understand consumer behaviour by inducing a more natural mood in the survey process, and increasing engagement and the cognitive accessibility of often hidden information. The effectiveness of gamification requires systematic verifiation in the experimental research. Researchers indicate the positive effect of gamified research on respondents’ engagement and efficiency.

Purpose of the article: This article presents the current state of knowledge in the field of gamification in market research. Its main purpose is to share the author’s own research results which are the replication of former results showing the positive effects of gamified tasks used in surveys.

Research methods: An experiment was conducted to verify the hypotheses regarding the increased effectiveness of gamified tasks compared to the regular approach as well as to the well-known projective techniques. A total of 132 participants were split into three groups: control, experimental 1 (projective techniques or simple gamification – addition of extra rules to regular questions) and experimental 2 (more complex, narrative and contextual tasks based on gamification).

Main findings: The hypothesis was confirmed and the former effects were replicated – gamified tasks increase the respondents’ effectiveness compared to the standard tasks and also compared to the use of the well-known projective techniques.