Gamification and Consumer Loyalty: The Role of Utilitarian and Hedonic Benefit

Abstract

Gamification is a trend of the future that primarily influences consumer behavior. This, in turn, triggers loyalty via a game-thinking loop. The multifold application of gamification, however, has remained a buzzword thus far, indicating an infancy of the game mechanicsto impact consumerloyalty, and thinking patterns. In this regard, the gamification phenomenon encourages the mental and emotional engagement of the consumers. This subsequently can predict the magnitude, and the span of loyalty of the consumers as well. The current work, therefore, intends to empirically substantiate the impact of gamification on consumer loyalty, via two possible path-ways, i.e., gamification->hedonic benefits->consumer loyalty, and gamification->utilitarian benefits->consumer loyalty. Additionally, reward satisfaction is an aspect that is considered as a contingency variable in specifying the indirect impact of gamification on consumer loyalty. The sample for this study comprises of over 240 students from three private universities of Lahore, where data was collected with respect to the solicitation of gamification in online food applications. Results are shown to be positive and significant, thus supporting both the direct and indirect impacts of gamification on consumer loyalty. Moreover, an interaction term is also significant in ascertaining the positive conditional effects of reward satisfaction, on the direct path between gamification and consumer loyalty. The findings of the study provide valuable insight to consider gamification as an innovatively ambitious online marketing strategy for ensuring consumer loyalty.