Ready, Set, Gamification: How-to, How-to-Not, and Why?
In 2018, gamification will continue as a marketing trend; a likely result of its fundamental motivational affordances as a social ‘technology…’ But what does it mean? How do you do it? And — more importantly — how do you not do it? Gamification “uses a combination of the science of motivation, distributed learning, and other neuroscience foundations,” and it, “takes advantage of game elements to engage.”
For marketers and communications professionals, it can be a useful tactic when incorporated into a larger strategy as it plays on our innate human reward system, releasing dopamine and serotonin, which can ultimately result in more engaged behaviours. The release of this ‘happy’ hormone also creates positive associations for participants (which can lead to brand loyalty). As a tactic, gamification can also combat cognitive overload in what is now a very cluttered media landscape, allowing participants to forage brand associations through the increased memory retention that gamification affords.
Here are some of the pros of gamification in marketing:
Connect with your audience in a meaningful way—and in the way they want—through participation
Garner attention that spans further than the immediate audience
The co-creation of value through participation
Modern technologies have expedited the use of gamification (studies show that technology has exploded in the last few years)… Now even your Dominos pizza experience has been gamified (which makes me cringe a little bit), and it’s in classrooms everywhere, but how much is too much? Are we, as Neil Postman once said, Amusing Ourselves to Death? As with anything, there is the good, the bad, and the ugly. As marketers (and human beings in general), we need to know where to draw the line.
Gamification is often criticized as a form of communication that can be used to manipulate, but nearly any form of communication can be used for both better and worse… As professionals, it’s our job to navigate the ethical and moral facets of any technology while allowing technologies to propel us forward.