INFLUENCE OF DIGITAL GAMIFICATION ON CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT IN CHINA AND RUSSIA

ABSTRACT

There is a steady growth in the number of Internet users globally: digital technologies have become a promising tool for the social construction of consumer behavior. Companies look for new methods that will allow them to improve their competitiveness online and attract more and more consumers. One of these innovative methods is gamification - the use of game mechanics in traditionally nongame contexts. The biggest glaring problem is that most studies did not measure the users’ interaction with gamification under the influence of cultural and individual differences of customers. The purpose of this research is twofold: to examine the strength of relationship between gamification and customer engagement dimensions (aesthetic appeal and reward) as well as take into account the moderating effect of cultural values (masculinity and femininity), age, gender and lifestyle of consumers. Data for empirical analysis (254 respondents) were gathered through online surveys Wenjuanxing and Survey Monkey and analyzed through statistical software SPSS in order to approve or reject the proposed hypotheses. The results of the research show that gamification in Russia is positively related to customer engagement, especially under the influence of masculinity female-consumers of younger age (under 30 years old) who lead active lifestyle, while in China – the role of gender is insignificant. Research provides the reader with practical implications particularly in gamification techniques of online shopping to build more targeted promotional strategies, predict the purchasers' intention and design more effective mobile apps.

Keywords: gamification; customer engagement; culture; masculinity; femininity; lifestyle; age; gender.

1.Introduction

1.1. Research background

Modern society spends a lot of time thinking about consumption. The concept of consumption includes not only purchases of things or goods, but also experience and knowledge that we obtain through consumption. Consumption directly affects the emotional state of society, and also has a great influence on the formation of values.

There is a steady growth in the number of Internet users globally. At the beginning of 2021, the number of Internet users in the whole world accounted for 4,66 billion people. In just a few years, there has been both a quantitative increase in consumers focused on shopping over the Internet, and qualitative changes, expressed in the transformation of everyday consumer practices [10]. In other words, digital technologies are fundamentally transforming the landscapes of human everyday life, generating new social practices and constructing new models of consumer behavior. As time goes on, the familiar paradigms of informatization and the knowledge economy are being replaced by a new concept of digital reality and the digital economy with such manifestations as: artificial intelligence (AI), big data, blockchain, electronic commerce, etc.

The growth in the prominence of digital, social and mobile technologies has created a myriad of touch points at which customers interact and exchange resources with companies or peers [39]. In that respect, the role of the company has been revolutionized, shifting from being a service and solution providers to acting as a coach assisting customers in their value creation process [40]. Every year, companies have to increase the struggle for the consumer, what forces them to look for new methods that will allow them to improve their competitiveness. With the development of technology, marketers come up with new methods and tools that help them meet the organizational challenges. One of these innovative methods - is gamification [36].

Over the last few years there has been an increasing trend to use mobile apps. This is reflected in the number of mobile app downloads, which grew worldwide from 140.7 billion in 2016 to 258 billion in 2022 [60]. However, today one of the most important challenges faced by organizations operating these applications is to keep the user engaged. Gamification is a promising avenue for enhancing user engagement. Consequently, an increasing number of mobile app developers are incorporating gamification into their apps to enhance the user experience [27].

From year to year, gamification is gaining more and more popularity. According to the analytical report of the international consulting company «Frost & Sullivan» (2019), by 2025 the size of the gamification market will be 14.5 billion dollars, which is 4 times more than in 2016. However, what is the reason for such popularity of gamification mechanisms?

Firstly, generation Y entered the labor market, whose representatives share values that are far from always present in the previous generation. This encourages employers to introduce new elements of control and motivation, that are already familiar to this generation. Secondly, to maintain the status of a competitive organization, companies have to find ways to creating opportunities for consumers to get new impressions and unique experiences. Thirdly, technological progress leads to the development of information technology and reduces the  cost of their use. This allows more companies to use gaming tools in its activities, and also expands the scope of gamification [38].

1.2. Proposed research questions and objectives

Across this body of research, we see that many authors devoted their works to the correlation between gamification and high consumer engagement. However, the biggest glaring problem is that       most studies did not measure the users’ interaction with gamification under the influence of cultural and individual differences of users.

When firms expand abroad where various national cultural values and individual features aries, they face with the fact that consumers may react differently to marketing activities and digital tools and, therefore, require locally adapted marketing content [51]. Moreover, while mobile apps have become part of individuals’ everyday lives, empirical research into how gamification affects user engagement with mobile apps is still limited [21]. Indeed, recent studies have called for deeper understanding of engagement with brands under the impact of gamification and its consequences [1].

Throughout the research, it is necessary to answer the following questions: what is the nature of gamification? What are the ways to identify the customer engagement? Are there differences in the behavior of masculine/feminine consumers of different ages, gender and lifestyle? If yes, how companies can fix these differences and use during their promotional gamified campaigns? What is the impact of digital gamification on customer engagement, considering cultural and individual factors of consumers? The possession of this type of information, as well as its further structuring, opens up the possibility of a more detailed segmentation of buyers and, as a result, more precise adjustment of advertising gamified mechanics and the increased consumer engagement.

In order to answer these questions, apart from the analysis of time pressure as of predecessor of post-purchase regret, this study will also observe and analyze whether the choice of purchase delay or impulsive pressure can be predefined by the specific regulatory focus decision making style and whether there is significant influence of purchase delay or impulsive purchase towards the probability of post-purchase regret.

Despite the fairly large study of the problems of modern consumption in society, the need or gap in the current study is dictated by some observed contradictions: an increase of the importance of new digital technologies (e.g. gamification) at the global level and a lack of research identifying the specifics of the impact of gamification with consideration of some cultural and personal differences of consumers. Moreover, research related to engagement with mobile apps and its consequences “still awaits development” [37].

The end-point of the research will be to give theoretical and managerial implementations on ways how to use gamification effectively relying on individual characteristics of the target audience, from the perspective of consumer behaviour and marketing. Specifically, the following specific objectives were set:

1. To review the theory and literature related to gamification, and to understand its causes and effect towards the customer engagement.
2. To analyze the moderating effect of age, gender, lifestyle and masculinity towards the relationship between gamification and customer engagement - to understand the motivation of a particular consumer.
3. To provide a basis for future studies on purchaser’s behavior as well as make recommendations for advertising and marketing agencies on the use of gamification in order          to influence consumers more effectively.

1.3. Significance of the research

From the perspective of theoretical significance of this research, the findings aim to contribute to the existing literature and academic knowledge in the areas of marketing and gamification as well as provide a better understanding of the relationship between gamification, customer engagement and cultural, individual features of consumers. Therefore, it will demonstrate that the use of gamified applications as engagement tools has a positive impact on the brand attitude while sometimes the effect can vary depending on culture and individuality of customers. Moreover, many previous studies have used performance indicators to measure user engagement [21]. Although useful, these measures  do not address why users behave in specific ways [53].

From the perspective of practical significance, the reader will be provided with empirical research based on the survey-collected data that will be analyzed through statistical software (SPSS and AMOS in particular). Such empirical orientation will allow to either reject or accept the proposed hypotheses and thus will give the reader better understanding of how the proposed theoretical concept works in reality. In addition, basing on the empirical part of this research, the reader will be provided with practical suggestions which can be implemented particularly in gamification techniques of online shopping in order to improve its continuance (i.e. engagement strategies) as effective means of maintaining the subscriber base, market share and overall revenue of online businesses. By identifying the relationship between gamification and digital consumer engagement under the impact of external variances, the online businesses (e.g. international advertising and marketing agencies, online retailers, online banks, online brokerages, etc.) will be able to predict prospective online shoppers’ intention to repurchase more easily, develop more precise or targeted marketing plans, programs and strategies with elements of gamification as well as design more effective gamified mobile apps.

2. Literature Review

2.1. Gamification

Huotari and Hamari (2012) refer to gamification as “a process of enhancing a service with affordances for gameful experiences in order to support users’s overall value creation”. In other words, gamification means using game related elements and principles in non-game situations to attract users and increase engagement and retention [30].

In literature related to playing games, gamification, players’ motivation, and game design categories, a distinction is often made between the following three categories: Achievement, Social, and Immersion (ASI), which reflect key elements of game design [38].

First, the achievement category refers to motivating users by giving them a challenging situation and enjoyment towards achieving a particular objective [30]. For example, points are typically rewarded for the successful completion of a specific activity and engage learners by supporting their personal achievement motivation [56]. Utilizing rewards in such a way can improve players’ motivation and engagement due to the possibility of achieving such new content and objects and using them in the game itself to progress or perform better [3].

Second, the social category refers to a social environment in which users can make meaningful social connections with others . This can happen when users desire to cooperate by introducing teams (creating defined groups of users) that work together towards a shared objective. Learners expect integration into the social environment. Therefore, when they experience a sense of unity and develop close relationships with others, they may get satisfaction in becoming more closely related, which enhances their well-being and motivation motivation [29].

Third, immersion-related game elements assist in keeping users engaged in an interested and challenging self-directed activity . For example, avatars are visual representations that can be customized by learners and can achieve the psychological need of someone’s autonomy and the freedom to personalize and adapt a particular character along the learning path. In addition, game elements of storytelling and narrative assist users in experiencing the significance of their activities and a sense of voluntary in a gamified system .

2.2. Customer Engagement

Customer engagement aggregates the multiple ways in which customers can invest their resources toward a focal object such as a brand, a community, an activity or even a process [24]. Beyond purchasing, engaged customers may promote, advocate, collaborate and share their knowledge within a long-term relationship with the firm [58]. Customer engagement is considered to be co-creative customer experiences where consumers interact with a focal object (e.g. a brand), which then further reflects the nature of consumers’ particular interactive brand relationships [32]. Generally speaking, it can be seen as a multidimensional psychological state that is a consequence of interacting with a brand. O’Brien (2016) in his research identified the user engagement as a quality of user experience characterized by the depth of an actor’s cognitive, temporal, affective and behavioral investment when interacting with a digital system [55].

The User Engagement Scale (UES) has been used widely since its publication [57]. The original UES consisted of 31 items in six dimensions of user engagement (i.e., aesthetic appeal, focused attention, novelty, perceived usability, felt involvement, and endurability). However, recently explored the dimensionality of the scale and they found that 4 factors which better represent the underlying dimensionality of the UES-SF: aesthetic appeal, reward, focused attention and perceived usability [52].  

Briefly, aesthetic appeal is the visual appeal and attractiveness of the interface; reward relates to the evaluated experiential outcome, and  encompasses items from three original scale dimensions, that is, novelty, felt involvement and endurability; focused attention is the feeling of absorption while interacting with the system; finally, perceived usability relates to the end-users’ perceptions of the usability of a system, the negative feelings aroused as a consequence of interacting with the system and the levels of effort and capability required to use it [11].

In this research we are going to concentrate on two key measurements of UES-scale that are frequently associated with the first impression of users about the app and their feeling of involvement with it: aesthetic appeal and reward [54].

2.3. Influence of Gamification on Customer Engagement

In recent years, numerous studies have investigated the relationship between gamification and  different forms of engagement. Student engagement with academic activities is one of the engagement forms that has received the most attention, given that education is one of the most fertile gamification research fields [31]. However, research into gamification and engagement in contexts other than education is becoming increasingly popular. There is already a number of studies that explored the links between gamification and customer engagement as well as brand engagement [30].

The effectiveness of gamification has been confirmed with regard to several purposes concerning customers, such as increasing their engagement and enhancing their creativity, initiating learning, changing behaviors, fostering technology adoption as well as providing customers with    enjoyable experiences [42]. For instance, the badge system on Foursquare to encourage contribution to the social network, the challenges organized on Nike Fuel to foster physical exercises, idea contests on MyStarbuckIdea.com to collect customers’ ideas for new products and services or the ludic interface of Duolingo to practice language learning - are just few examples of gamification. A few other gamification-related studies also have explored the relationship between gamification and consumer engagement. For example, based on the ‘flow theory’, gamified interactions, which are highly interactive and optimally challenging, are positively related to emotional and cognitive dimensions of brand engagement [5]. Another research collected and analyzed data from  276 users of a mobile gamified app using partial least squares regression [12]. Their results showed that gamification increases user engagement through satisfaction of the needs for competence, autonomy and relatedness.   Consequently, there are reasons to claim that gamification can positively affect customer engagement.

However, regarding the relationship between gamification and customer engagement, currently, there does not    exist clear empirical basis on which to study base hypotheses on. Thus, this is a gap that the current study is going to fill.

2.4. Cultural, social, individual and psychological differences of Consumers

In this research we are going to analyze the influence of cultural and individual factors on the customer engagement. Before we go to the hypotheses part, it is also important to understand why cultural and individual factors play such a vital role in the analysis and how previous authors were resorting to them.

The study of consumer behavior helps the marketer to understand the demand pattern which helps them to influence the level, timing and the composition of the demand. The buying behavior of consumers is affected or is influenced by 4 key factors: cultural, social, personal and psychological [50].

First of all, one of the key moderators in the consumers’ behavior analysis – is culture. A culture can be defined as the total average of beliefs, values, and traditions that are directly linked to the consumer behavior of members of a specific society. Generally, both beliefs and values are mental images that affect particular attitudes which, consequently, variates the methods a person uses to make choices in brands and    services [49].

As firms expand to foreign countries, they have difficulty identifying consumers with specific cultural characteristics and must instead rely on more general measures of culture, like Hofstede’s measures [25]. Despite this practical limitation, firms understand that not all consumers in a country share the same cultural values. Therefore, they need a way to know how many consumers in a particular country might deviate from the norm. A number of papers previously confirmed that culture has great influence on global marketing strategies such as promotional strategies, product design, branding, pricing and distribution processes as well as customer engagement [7]. Consequently, the sensitivity to cultural differences in consumption pattern is a highly desirable trait for remaining competitive in international marketing.

Previously, Hofstede identified 5 main between-country cultural differences that lead to variations in consumer engagement: individualism, power distance, high uncertainty avoidance, masculinity and long-term orientation [26]. values that will be considered in this paper is masculinity and femininity – as they have the biggest connection with the games topic as well as with a gender that is also one of the key factors in our analysis [22].

Masculinity and femininity, from a cultural point of view and not from a gender point of view, give an indication of the direction of motivation: whether this is goal-oriented (masculine) or whether this is process-oriented (feminine) [15]. Characteristics that define masculinity are: reason for being rewarded for one’s performance is more prevalent; competing is good and is considered to be a fair play; desire to be admired for what he/she has achieved. At the same time, characteristics that define femininity are: being better than others does not get you more money and people will not like you more; seek for equality and consensus; feel sympathy for the underdog [33]. Examples of masculinity countries are: Japan, USA, UK, Italy and Nigeria. Examples of femininity countries are: The Netherlands, Nordic Countries, Iceland, Chile and        Thailand.

Secondly, out of the many aspects that can influence a consumer’ purchasing behavior, one of the major factors - is gender. While sex refers to the set of characteristics physical and biological defined genetically determining whether a living being is male, female, or intersexual, gender - refers to the set of characteristics, behaviors, and roles attributed to a person because of their biological sex that is considered socially appropriate [44].

Men and women approach shopping with different motives, perspectives, rationales, and considerations. A number of authors considered the difference of both genders in their purchasing decision-making [47]. For example, females are found to have a stronger relationship with mobile marketing communications as well as tend to be more loyal to individual service providers in comparison with males [41].

Thirdly, lifestyle is one of the most powerful influencers that controls consumers’ choices. Lifestyle studies share all about how the people do activities, how their attitudes to get values, how they become as unique individual and as a group, how they reflect experiences, how they interact in their group, where they are living, how they used their freedom to choose. In other words, lifestyle is a stable typical form of a person's life activity, a stereotype of behavior associated with the use of time, money, information, depending on the accepted system of socio-cultural values, priorities, understanding of norms, degree of interaction with society, habits, traditions, social circle, interests, which determine the interdependence between the individual and the environment. These characteristics greatly influence consumer [59]. Marketers frequently look for relationships between their products and lifestyle groups. For example, a computer manufacturer may find that most computer buyers lead sedentary lifestyle. In this case, the marketer can more clearly orient the brand towards this lifestyle type. A number of researchers confirmed the influence of the buyer’s lifestyle on his purchase behavior as people belonging to different lifestyles have different interests and motivation in shopping [59].

The final factor that has an impact on the customer engagement and is analyzed in this research – is age. Age - is the length of time during which a person has existed. Every age has its own state of mind, its own perception and its own characteristics [43]. Marie Slabá in her recent research (2020) concluded that personal and socio-demographic characteristics like age significantly influence consumer buying behaviour. Moreover, researchers took a sample of 160 French adults aged 18-90 rated their likelihood of buying an item of clothing in 27 scenarios [47]. Such a broad sample once again proves the fact that different ages of consumers mean many different scenarios of their behavior.

3 Hypothesis development

3.1. Achievement gamification towards aesthetic appeal and reward

As the main fundamental concepts that will be used in the research have been presented and analyzed, it is necessary to interconnect them in order to propose the research model and hypotheses that    will be approved or rejected in the following empirical part of the research. On the one hand, based on the fact that one of the most common and available gamification dimensions for marketers is achievement in this research this factor is represented as an independent variable, that might have a direct positive impact on the customer engagement (as it was confirmed by previous authors). On the other hand, customer engagement dimensions – aesthetic appeal and reward - are represented as dependent variables. It is interesting to test whether simple gamification mechanics can not only attract attention of consumers to the brand, but also push them to come back to it and use its services. Moreover, there is a relationship between customer engagement dimensions: when consumers start to pay more attention to the brand, their loyalty grows - what correspondingly can lead to the higher desire of consumers to interact with the brand (buy its products, subscribe on newsletter, share with friends, etc.) and generate even more leads [20].

The discussions above make us come up with the following two hypotheses:

H1: Achievement measurement of gamification positively affects the aesthetic appeal of consumers to the brand’s app.

H2: Aesthetic appeal of consumers on the brand’s app positively affect the desire of consumers to interactwith it and find it rewarding.

3.2. Moderating effect of masculinity, age, gender and lifestyle

In accordance with the reviewed prior literature, there are 4 main factors that have an impact on the customer engagement: cultural, social, individual, psychological [19]. In other words, all these factors may also play the role of mediators in the relationships between gamification and customer engagement. For this research we are going to assess the effect of the following factors that are commonly used in the marketing research: gender (social factor), age (individual factor), masculinity (cultural factor), lifestyle (psychological factor).

Masculinity and femininity – is a cultural dimension about what values are considered more important in a society. The masculine side of this dimension represents a preference in society for achievement, heroism, assertiveness and material rewards for success. This society at large is more competitive. Its opposite, femininity, stands for a preference for cooperation, modesty, caring for the weak and quality of life. This society at large is more consensus-oriented. In the business context Masculinity versus Femininity is sometimes also related to as “tough versus tender” cultures [35].

Japan, for example, is considered to be a very masculine country, whereas Scandinavian countries such as Norway and Sweden are considered highly feminine [23]. As it was discussed above about achievement-orientation of masculine people, we can assume that masculinity is more closely connected with higher games interaction than femininity. Overall, this leads us to the following hypothesis:

H3: In comparison with femininity, masculinity consumers positively moderate the impact of game achievements on the desire to interact with the brand.

Gender - is the major social factor out of all other factors that affects consumer purchasing behavior [45]. Men and women demonstrate considerably different approaches in their decision-making and purchasing behavior when shopping because of the difference in their upbringing and socialization. Marketers need to understand gender-based tendencies in order to better satisfy the customers [18].

In terms of gender perception, women feel pride in their ability to get the best products for the best prices. Men buy on immediate needs rather waiting for best deals [48]. Female consumers feel more independent when they do shopping [16]. Moreover, females seem to have pleasure while they shop whereas most of the males appear to be more disdain towards it [13]. For women, the promotions emphasize on beauty and youth like colours, theme, and music make an impact whereas for men it is upon value of ambition and physical strength [46].

Codish (2017) looked at the possibility of how gender moderates games. Frequently men are more involved in the game process in comparison with women [14]. Moreover, gamified advertising is more suitable for men, especially if this advertisement appears at a time when a man is just in search of a certain product. Based on the discussions of other researchers, the following hypothesis is put forward:

H4: In comparison with females, male consumers positively moderate the impact of achievement-gamification on the aesthetic appeal of consumers   to the brand’s app.

The next individual factor - is age of consumers. The age of a person determines his tastes, desires, values and general behavior. Naturally, this also affects consumer behavior. It is widely known that kids and teenagers are big fans on online games. If we are talking about the older generation (30+) they are already less involved in gamifies processes, but still can be attracted by some interactive activities from brands, for example [29]. Nevertheless, the older the person, the less interest he or she has in games because of work issues, lack of energy, etc. In contrast, younger people, while being more susceptible to playful interactions, might also get bored more quickly than more mature users [38]. Though there are not a lot of reports devoted to the correlation between gamified advertising and age, still we can assume the following hypothesis:

H5: In comparison with older consumers (30+), young consumers positively moderate the impact of gamification on the aesthetic appeal of consumers to the brand’s app.

In conclusion, let us analyze the final personal criteria – consumers’ mindset. As for psychological criterion in the current research, it is based on consumers’ type of lifestyle that can be divided into active and sedentary types [1]. It is the psychographic segmentation approach [28]. One’s lifestyle is a function of inherent individual characteristics that have been shaped and formed through social interaction as one evolves through the life cycle. The lifestyle demonstrates a "portrait" of a person in his interaction with the environment and is formed under the influence of both external social factors (culture, values, social class, reference groups) and individual characteristics (motives and emotions).

For marketers, the concept of lifestyle is of great practical importance, since it reveals the dynamics of changes in socio-psychological norms, consumer preferences, on the basis of which the target market segments with a certain lifestyle arise. Lifestyle influences the needs, attitudes and, consequently, the buying behavior of consumers. Marketers seek to identify the relationship between lifestyle and the propensity to consume relevant products. The purpose of the study of lifestyles is to develop marketing programs for groups of consumers who have the same values in life. Active lifestyle means integrating physical activity into everyday life – it can include sports, vacation, etc. As for the sedentary lifestyle – it is about spending time without many activities, e.g. sitting the whole day in front of computer [39]. Kim et al. (2000) in their study found that customer lifestyles directly and indirectly affect the customers’ purchasing behavior on the internet as well as interaction with brands’ activities. This leads us to the final hypothesis:

H6: In comparison with sedentary lifestyle, active lifestyle enhances the impact of gamification on the aesthetic appeal of consumers   to the brand’s app.

To have a clear picture of relationships between variables (gamification, consumer engagement and     consumers’ personal differences), it is worth paying attention to the following scheme with the research model (Fig. 1). Thus, as an independent variable, we consider an achievement type of gamification (leaderboards, raffles, etc.), while the dependent variable - is the customer engagement dimensions (aesthetic appeal and reward). From the point of view of the main moderators, this paper will examine cultural values and individual factors (masculinity, lifestyle, age, gender).

Figure 1. Research conceptual model

4. Research Methodology

4.1. Data collection

The methodology of this research is built around 2 stages: primary (data collection) and secondary (data analysis), as specific data that is not available on the internet. It has been decided to design the methodology around quantitative research and conduction of multiple geographically diversified surveys that will include data mostly from respondents of 2 different cultures: Chinese and respondents of Russian Federation. Mentioned countries are countries with growing and developing economics and have growing rates of consumption which makes its residents perfect respondents for the research related to consumer behaviour. Within the questionnaire respondents were asked to assess their achievement-trait, masculinity value and lifestyle type as well as evaluate their impression about Starbucks’ gamified app (in terms of aesthetic appeal and reward).

In order to collect the raw data for further analysis, two online surveys in Chinese and English languages were launched in the time period since July, 2023 up to the September, 2023 through the 2 most convenient and widely used survey platforms in China and western countries: Google Forms and SurveyMonkey (for respondents from Russia) and Wenjuanxing for Chinese respondents. In general, raw data includes 254 survey responses total: 48% of answers were collected from Chinese residents, 52 % of answers were collected from other countries residents. Majority of Chinese respondents were peers, students or members of Shanghai University. As for respondents from Russia, majority of participants were involved through survey promotion programs that were launched online with the usage of monetary reward that ensured the high quality of data and high percentage of participation. At the same time, some of Russian participants who took part in the survey were also foreign students of Shanghai University and went through Google Forms questionnaire. The monetary reward was enabled in the end of the surveys for each participant either through Wechat Pay transfer (for Chinese respondents) or through bank transfer (for Russian respondents). Reward was activated only when all questions in the survey were fully answered.

As for the demographical diversification of the participants, in terms of age, 27% of respondents were in range 25 years old or less, 21% of participants were in range between 26 and 30 years old, 28% of respondents were in range between 31 and 35 years old, 24% of participants were 36 or above years old. In terms of gender, 54% of participants were male, 46% of participants were female. In terms of occupation, the majority of participants were employed for wages (42%), 35% of participants were students (mostly from Shanghai University), 11% of participants were self-employed, 6% of participants were unemployed, and 6% - chose ‘others’.

Table 2.

Demographical summary of respondents

After 1,5 months since the launch of the surveys, the primary raw data was collected and firstly combined into the unified database and also kept separated for further diversified analysis regarding Chinese and Russian respondents.

4.2. Instruments and measurements

According to our model, we can list the following independent variable: achievement dimension of gamification. Moderators are represented by: age, lifestyle, gender, masculinity. Mediator is: aesthetic appeal (customer engagement dimension). Dependent variable is: reward or desire to use (customer engagement dimension). In order to create unique survey that will not only allow to collect the data related to all variables included in the research model, but the one that will also allow us to give the objective answers to the questions that were issued in the beginning of this research, the following questionnaires designed around Likert scales taken from prior fundamental research were adopted and combined. In order to give the reader understanding of the creation of questionnaire sample, it is necessary to provide the information on adaptation regarding every variable. The research questionnaire itself can be also found in appendix of the research.

Achievement Gamification (independent variable)

Measurements on the achievement dimension of gamification were comprised from scales of Tondello et al. (2016) and were adapted to the context, so that respondents could assess to what extent they like ‘to complete tasks’ games. Measurement on this variable consists of 5 items that were designed in a way to give a respondent an opportunity to measure their ‘achiever’ type of consumer during the interaction with gamification.

Masculinity (moderator)

Measurements on masculinity or femininity focus were comprised from scales of Brough et al. (2016) and were used without any changes and adaptations except of the number of questions. Measurement on this variable consisted of 5 items, that were mostly linked to the masculinity traits of respondents’ character vs their femininity side. The measurements on this variable will allow us to analyze whether the masculine trait of consumers (which is more active, self-reliant, tough and competitive) or feminine (dependent, gentle and cooperating) is dominating in a process of engagement and decision-making under the impact of gamification.

Lifestyle (moderator)

Measurements on the assessment of respondents’ lifestyle were comprised from scales of Dinzeo (2013) and were used without any changes and adaptations, except of the number of questions. The set consists of 5 items and the key goal was to check how active respondents are and how much time they usually spend on physical exercises and health during the week.

Aesthetic Appeal & Reward (mediator and dependent variable)

Measurements on the customer engagement – aesthetic appeal and reward - were both comprised from scales of O’Brien [55]. The set consists of 5 items and scales for each variable (10 in total) that were also adapted to the needs of this research. In particular, it was made to further analyze how respondents react on the Starbucks’ gamified app and how engaged they feel about it. In the questionnaire respondents were given an opportunity to watch a 1-minute video, demonstrating ‘Starbucks Rewards’ mobile app (fig. 2) for all coffee lovers: buy drinks, collect more ‘stars’ in the app and spend them on preferable prizes - a bigger size of your favorite drink, free piece of cake on your birthday, higher discounts, etc. First of all, respondents are asked 5 questions about how they like the visualization of this app and whether they find it ‘aesthetically appealing’, and secondly, whether they find this gamified app ‘rewarding’ and would recommend it to their friends and family.

Summarizing everything up, mentioned questionnaires were adopted in a way to analyze the perspective of the customer engagement in conditions of gamification as well as see the distinction in the behaviour of consumers of different ages, genders, lifestyle and cultural values. In total, designed survey contained 25 items that were measured through the 5-point Likert scale. Also, additional items related to gender, age, nationality and working occupation were added in order to present the demographical analysis of respondents.

Basing on proposed relations between variables in this research, in order to observe what effect gamification has towards aesthetic appeal of consumers as well as their desire to interact (reward), and to measure the moderating effect of individual and cultural factors of users (age, gender, masculinity, lifestyle) on this relationship, it has been decided to use SPSS Andrew Hayes v.4.0 moderated regression analysis and AMOS SEM analysis.

4.3. Data analysis of the separated Russian and Chinese databases

Throughout this research, the split analysis of Chinese and Russian respondents is also provided in order to observe the possible cultural differences in consumer behavior between the representatives of 2 different cultures. In order to provide data analysis, the gathered raw data was subdivided respectively to respondents from Russia (123 respondents in total) and China (131 respondents in total).

The Harman's single factor score analysis was used to examine common method variance of 2 datasets. All substantive variables have been entered into an exploratory factor analysis with an unrotated factor solution. No single factor emerged in the results along with a factor that might account for the majority of covariance. In the case of Russian respondents’ data, the result of Harman’s single factor score analysis indicated 31.1% of total variance in the data which is < 50% indicating that common method variance does not affect collected data of Russian respondents.

Regarding the data of Chinese respondents, no single factor has emerged in the results along with a factor that might account for the majority of covariance. In the case of Chinese respondents’ data, the result of Harman’s single factor score analysis indicated 36.55% of total variance in the data which is < 50% indicating that common method variance does not affect collected data [17].

Table 3.

The Harman’s single factor score analysis results of Russian respondents

Table 4.

The Harman’s single factor score analysis results of Chinese respondents

The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin test (table 12) was used through SPSS in order to analyze the sampling adequacy. The results of Bartlett’s test of sphericity for Russian respondents indicated that the correlation matrix was not random, χ2 = 2402,4, p < .001, and the KMO statistic = .782, well above the minimum standard for conducting factor analysis [4]. Therefore, it was determined that the correlation matrix was appropriate for factor analysis [34].

Regarding the results of Bartlett’s test of sphericity (Bartlett, 1954) of Chinese respondents database (table 13), the analysis indicated that the correlation matrix was not random, χ2 = 2816.5, p < .001, and the KMO statistic = .784, well above the minimum standard for conducting factor analysis. Therefore, it was determined that the correlation matrix was appropriate for factor analysis [34].

Table 5.

The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin and Bartlett’s test results of Russian respondents

Table 6.

The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin and Bartlett’s test results of Chinese respondents

In order to check reliability of the data, Chronbach’s alpha, composite reliability and average variance extracted test in SPSS has been conducted regarding both Chinese and Russian respondents’ databases.

Regarding Russian respondents, the achievement dimension of Gamification subscale consisted of 5 items (α = .81, CR = 0.84, AVE = 0.43), the Masculinity subscale consisted of 5 items (α = .78, CR = 0.85, AVE = 0.47), the Lifestyle subscale consisted of 5 items (α = .76, CR = 0.88, AVE = 0.49), the Aesthetic Appeal subscale consisted of 5 items (α = .85, CR = 0.93, AVE = 0.53), the Reward subscale consisted of 5 items (α = .82, CR = 0.89, AVE = 0.41). As it can be seen from the results, composite reliability along with Cronbach’s α are indicating a reliable level, however, AVE indices are slightly below the .05 level. Still, an AVE below .50 can be considered reliable if CR is equal or above .60 [21].

Regarding Chinese respondents, the achievement dimension of Gamification subscale consisted of 5 items (α = .80, CR = 0.86, AVE = 0.43), the Masculinity subscale consisted of 5 items (α = .79, 75 = 0.80, AVE = 0.40), the Lifestyle subscale consisted of 5 items (α = .78, CR = 0.81, AVE = 0.46), the Aesthetic Appeal subscale consisted of 5 items (α = .90, CR = 0.94, AVE = 0.55), the Reward subscale consisted of 5 items (α = .82, CR = 0.86, AVE = 0.50). As it can be seen from the results, composite reliability along with Cronbach’s α are indicating a reliable level, however, AVE indices are slightly below the .05 level. Still, an AVE below .50 can be considered reliable if CR is equal or above .60 [21].

Table 7.

Cronbach’s alphas, CR and AVE of the variables of Russian respondents

Table 8.

Cronbach’s alphas, CR and AVE of the variables of Chinese respondents

Cronbach’s alpha is a measure of internal scale reliability (consistency,) that is, how closely related a set of items are as a group. In our case, regarding Russian respondents overall α for the 25 items = .908, and for Chinese respondents α = .914, which indicates highly reliable level [93].

Table 9.

Overall Cronbach’s alpha of Russian respondents

Table 10.

Overall Cronbach’s alpha of Chinese respondents

Then a two independent samples t-test was made for both Chinese and Russian groups to determine whether the difference between the means of two independent samples is statistically significant or due to chance. In our case two samples were analyzed: females and males.

In Russia, the difference between 64 male and 59 female respondents (in terms of Aesthetic Appeal or the level of likability of gamified app) turned out to be very significant .000 (table 18). In China, the difference between 72 male and 59 female respondents (in terms of Aesthetic Appeal or the level of likability of gamified app) turned out to be very insignificant .295 (table 19):

   Table 11.

Independent Samples Test – Males vs Females – Russian respondents

Table 12.

Independent Samples Test – Males vs Females – Chinese respondents

For Russian and Chinese respondents, the ANOVA test was also made: ANOVA allows a comparison of more than two groups at the same time to determine whether a relationship exists between them. The difference between 6 age samples was performed and the result of ANOVA showed that there is a significant difference between «25 or less» / «26-30» year-old respondents and «31-35» / «36 or more» year-old respondents:

Table 13.

One-Way ANOVA – Age - Russian respondents

Post Hoc – Multiple Comparisons

Table 14.

One-Way ANOVA – Age - Chinese respondents

Post Hoc – Multiple Comparisons

Multiple Linear Regression was made to model the linear relationship between the independent variables (age, gender, masculinity, lifestyle) and dependent variables (aesthetic appeal and reward) for both Russian and Chinese respondents. B-coefficient indicates the average increase in dependent variable associated with a 1-unit increase in an independent variable. Regarding Russian group, gamification (B=.180), masculinity (B=.207) and lifestyle (B=.317) have a positive impact on aesthetic appeal, while gender (B=-.362) and age (B=-.363) – have a negative impact. The similar picture we can see within the Chinese group: gamification (B=.352), masculinity (B=.326) and lifestyle (B=.273) have a positive impact on aesthetic appeal, while gender (B=-.070) and age (B=-.251) – have a negative impact. As for gender and age, it should be noted that these variables are coded as 0=female, 1=male and 0=«25 or less», 1=«26-30», 2=«31-35», 3=«36 or more». Sig. column in our coefficients table contains the (2-tailed) p-value for each b-coefficient. As a general guideline, a b-coefficient is statistically significant if its “Sig.” or p < 0.05. Therefore, all b-coefficients for Russian sample are highly statistically significant. Nevertheless, as for Chinese respondents all b-coefficients are highly statistically significant, except gender moderator – what means that the impact of this factor on the relationship between gamification and aesthetic appeal is not significant.

Table 15.

Multiple Linear Regression - Russian respondents

*G – Gamification, M – Masculinity, L – Lifestyle, AA – Aesthetic Appeal, R – Reward. Adjusted R Square = .622

Table 16.

Multiple Linear Regression - Chinese respondents

*G – Gamification, M – Masculinity, L – Lifestyle, AA – Aesthetic Appeal, R – Reward. Adjusted R Square = .591

Thus, for Russian respondents all hypotheses are confirmed, except H4 (B-coefficient =-.148, Sig.=.031, β=-.362). The result means that masculine young and active-lifestyle females (not males) from Russia – have the biggest positive impact on the relationship between gamification and aesthetic appeal to the brand’s app. Moreover, as expected, achievement-gamification has a strong positive impact on the aesthetic appeal (B-coefficient =.159, Sig.=.030, β = .180), while aesthetic appeal has a direct positive and significant impact on the reward factor (B-coefficient =.777, Sig.=.000, β = .751), what means that the more consumers like the brand’s mechanics, the higher the probability that consumers will find this valuable and useful.

Regarding the Chinese respondents, all hypotheses are confirmed, while H4 - is rejected (B-coefficient =-.032, Sig.=.637, β=-.070). The result means that masculine young and active people from China – have the biggest positive impact on the relationship between gamification and aesthetic appeal to the brand’s app, no matter what gender they are. Moreover, as expected, achievement-gamification has a strong positive impact on the aesthetic appeal (B-coefficient =.240, Sig.=.005, β = .352), while aesthetic appeal has a direct positive and significant impact on the reward factor (B-coefficient =.771, Sig.=.000, β = .698), what means that the more consumers like the brand’s mechanics, the higher the probability that consumers will find this valuable and useful.

5. General Discussion and Conclusion

5.1. Key findings

Gamification has been increasingly used as an essential part of today’s services, software and systems to engage and motivate users as well as to spark further behavior. Marketing domain has gamification as a way to increase the engagement with brand.

In terms of key findings, this research has allowed to draw out several surprising insights related to the understanding of customer engagement (particularly, aesthetic appeal and reward), taking into account such vital cultural and personal factors of respondents as: age, gender, masculinity and lifestyle. Considering that previously there was small number of articles that were reviewing and analyzing the customer engagement under the impact of several moderators at once, this research sheds light towards the analyzed phenomena in the following ways.

First of all, from the perspective of acceptance of proposed hypotheses in this research, as it can be seen from the results of data analysis, achievement-type of gamification does have significant positive effect towards the aesthetic appeal of users to the brand (H1). Aesthetic appeal, in its own turn, has positive effect towards reward: desire of consumers to come back to the brand and continue using it, as they find it rewarding (H2). Moreover, all personal and cultural factors that were analyzed in this research (age, gender, masculinity and lifestyle) have a significant moderating effect on the relationship between gamification and customer engagement. As a result, more masculine and young consumers (under the age of 30 years old) who lead active lifestyle - are more likely to value the gamified features of brands as well as are more ready to come back to this brand in future (H3, H5, H6).

However, H4 - about the positive moderating impact of males on the strength of gamification and customer engagement relationships – turned out to be rejected, what brings us back to the point that female users are more likely to appreciate the gamified features of brands.

From the perspective of the separated analysis of databases of Russian and Chinese respondents, no significant differences have been found in respect to the influence of gamification on customer engagement. Basing on the results of empirical analysis, it can be suggested that both Chinese and Russian respondents – especially who are masculine, active and young - equally like games in brands’ marketing activities. However, the only difference is that in western counties females show the bigger interest to interact with gamification, while in China – a country with the largest-scale gamification in the world - both males and females play a significant role in the strength of moderating effect on customer engagement.

Thus, gamification appears to be an effective tool for brand management. The results that were contrary to the hypotheses afford further discussion points.

5.2. Theoretical contribution

As previously mentioned, findings might give the readers and researchers in the future better, detailed understanding of how different groups of consumers (young/old, male/females, masculine/feminine and active/passive) react on the gamification of brands and what impacts on customer engagement more. It is also necessary to explain possible theoretical contributions of this research to the overall field of theory of consumer behavior.

First of all, the study offers valuable insights into the user engagement literature, as research related to engagement with mobile apps “still awaits development” and only limited research has explored user engagement in the mobile environment (Ho & Chung, 2020). Though the concept of customer engagement was introduced long time ago, however, its role in the context of gamification has not been described deliberately in previous fundamental researches. This research closes this gap through the complex analysis of the customer engagement under the impact of games as well as individual factors of respondents.

Moreover, this research provides the reader with empirical analysis that supports the proposed hypotheses and model. It is necessary to mention that this research includes the culturally split analysis: representatives of different cultures experience equally high evaluation brands’ gamification. Still, due to cultural differences and personality factor, representatives of different cultures sometimes may differently choose the way of interacting with brands’ gamified features.

5.3. Practical implications

This research might be also relevant for managers and marketers of different sales or promotion activities. The conducted experiments will help international advertising and marketing agencies, online businesses, especially electronic commerce providers whose business models and revenue   streams are based on long-term usage of IT products and services.

By identifying cultural and individual factors and the relationship between them, gamification and online consumer engagement, the online businesses will be able to identify the necessary target audience, predict prospective online shoppers’ intention to repurchase more easily, develop more precise or targeted marketing plans, programs and strategies with elements of gamification as well as design more effective gamified mobile apps. For example, within this research the idea of masculinity was proven: consumers from more masculine countries (e.g. USA, China, Japan, Russia, etc.) are more exposed to like the gamification usage from brands, as masculinity – is about achieving new levels, passion and assertiveness. In contrast, feminine consumers (e.g. from Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Costa Rica) are more about cooperativeness, gentleness and passivity – and probably in this case achievement-based games from brands will not have the expected positive effect on customer engagement [9].

At the same time, findings from this research can make companies create new tools to assess their consumers: not only in terms of age and gender, but also in terms of their lifestyle. This may require additional staff training and additional investment, but in fact will provide more targeted and effective usage of gamification in marketing campaigns (especially the ones connected with sports activities), as more active people – are more active gamers and buyers as well. The results of this study will provide some ideas and practical suggestions which can be implemented particularly in gamification techniques of online shopping in order to improve its continuance (i.e. engagement strategies) as effective means of maintaining the subscriber base, market share and overall revenue of online businesses.

References:

1. Ahmad, N., Omar, A. & Ramayah, T. (2010). Consumer Lifestyles and Online Shopping Continuance Intention. Business Strategy Series, 11(4).
2. Aparicio, M. & Oliveira, T. (2019). Gamification: A Key Determinant of Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) Success. Nova Information Management School.
3. Bartle, R. (1996). Hearts, clubs, diamonds, spades: Players who suit MUDs. J. MUD Res., 1 (1), 19.
4. Bartlett, M.S. (1954) A Note on the Multiplying Factors for Various Chi Square Approximations. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, 16, 296-298.
5. Berger, А., Schlager, T., Sprott, D.E. & Andreas, H. (2017). Gamified Interactions: Whether, When, And How Games Facilitate Self–Brand Connections. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 81 (2).
6. Bem, S. L. (1974). The Measurement of Psychological Androgyny. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 42 (2), 155-162.
7. Bouchrika, I., Harrati N. & Wills, G. (2019). Effects of a Gamified Learning Environment on Students’ Achievement, Motivations, and Satisfaction. Interactive Learning Environments.
8. Browne, K. & Anand, C. K. (2013) An Empirical Evaluation of User Interfaces for a Mobile Video Game. Entertainment Computing.
9. Hoffman, R.M. (2001). Twenty-Five Years After the Bem Sex-Role Inventory: A Reassessment and New Issues Regarding Classification Variability. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development. 34 (1), 39-55.
10. Bidit, D. & Yen, D. (2020). Acculturation in the Social Media: Myth or reality? Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 145, 426-427.
11. Bitrian, P., Buil, I. & Catalan, S. (2021) Enhancing User Engagement: The Role of Gamification in Mobile Apps. Journal of Business Research, 132, 170-185.
12. Brodie, R. & Roderick, J. (2013). Consumer Engagement in a Virtual Brand Community: An Exploratory Analysis. Journal of Business Research, 66 (1).
13. Codish, D. & Gilad., R. (2017). Gender Moderation in Gamification: Does One Size Fit All? 50^th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.
14. Codish, D. & Ravid, G. (2014). Academic Course Gamification: The Art of Perceived Playfulness. Interdisciplinary Journal of ELearning and Learning Objects, 10, 131-151.
15. Dey, B. & Yen, D. (2020). Digital consumer culture and digital acculturation. International Journal of Information Management, No.51.
16. Jarvis C., MacKenzie S. & Podsakoff P. (2003). A critical review of construct indicators and measurement model misspecification in marketing and consumer research. Journal of consumer research, 30(2), 199-218.
17. Jung J., Min K. & Kellaris J. (2011). The games people play: How the entertainment value of online ads helps or harms persuasion. Psychology & Marketing, 28(7), 661-681.
18. Mooij, D. & Hofstede, G. (2010). The Hofstede Model Applications to Global Branding and Advertising Strategy and Research. International Journal of Advertising, 29(1).
19. Dinzeo, T. J. (2013). The Development of the Lifestyle and Habits Questionnaire-Brief Version: Relationship to Quality of Life and Stress in College Students.   Prevention Science. Rowan University.
20. Featherstone, M., & Habgood, J. (2019). UniCraft: Exploring the impact of asynchronous multiplayer game elements in gamification. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies.
21. Fornell, C. & Larcker D. F. (1981). Evaluating Structural Equation Models with Unobservable Variables and Measurement Error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18 (1), p. 39–50.
22. Hutter, K., Hautz J. & Dennhardt S. (2013). The impact of user interactions in social media on brand awareness and purchase intention: the case of MINI on Facebook. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 22(5/6), 342-351.
23. Hofstede, Gert, J., Jonker, M., Verwaart, T. (2008). Individualism and Collectivism in Trade Agents. International Conference on Industrial, Engineering and Other Applications of Applied Intelligent System, pp. 492–501.
24. Hofstede, G. (1980). Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values. International Journal of Cross-Cultural Management.
25. Hollebeek, L.D. (2021). Customers’ Service-Related Engagement, Experience, and Behavioral Intent: Moderating Role of Age. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services.
26. Helmefalk, M. & Marcusson, L. (2019). Utilizing Gamification in Service Scapes for Improved Consumer  Engagement. Business Science Reference.
27. Huseynov, F. & Yıldırım, S.Ö. (2019). Online Consumer Typologies and Their Shopping Behaviors in B2C E-Commerce Platforms. Sage Journals, 5.
28. Hofacker, C. F., Gleim, M. R., & Lawson, S. J. (2009). Revealed Reader Preference for Marketing Journals. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 37(2), 238–247.
29. Hsu, C.L. & Chen M.C. (2018). How does gamification improve user experience? An empirical investigation on the antecedences and consequences of user experience and its mediating role. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 132, 118-129.
30. Huotari, K. & Hamari, J. (2012). Defining Gamification - A Service Marketing Perspective. 16th International Academic Mindtrek Conference.
31. Huotari, K. & Hamari, J. (2017). A Definition For Gamification: Anchoring Gamification In The Service Marketing Literature. Electronic Markets, 27 (1), 21-31.
32. Kirkman, B.,  Lowe, К. & Gibson, C. (2017). A Retrospective on Culture’s Consequences: The 35-Year Journey. Journal of International Business Studies, 48 (1).
33. Kang M., Shin D. & Gong T. (2016). The role of personalization, engagement, and trust in online communities. Information Technology & People, 29(3), 580-596.
34. Kaiser, H.F. (1974). An index of factorial simplicity. Psychometrika 39, p.31–36.
35. Keller K. (1993). Conceptualizing, measuring, and managing customer-based brand equity. Journal of Marketing, 57(1), 1-22.
36. Kline R. (1998). Principles, and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling. New York: Guilford Press.
37. Kim, A. & Ko, E. (2012). Do social media marketing activities enhance customer equity? An empirical study of luxury fashion brand. Journal of Business Research, 65(10), 1480-1486.
38. Kim, J., Lloyd, S. & Cervellon, M. (2016). Narrative transportation storylines in luxury brand advertising: Motivating consumer engagement. Journal of Business Research, 69(1), 304-313.
39. Koivisto, J. & Hamari, J. (2019). The Rise of Motivational Information Systems: A Review of Gamification Research. Int. J. Inf. Manage., 45, 191–210.
40. Kogel, A. & Fenyuk, A. (2019). Gamification as a marketing tool: psychological aspect. Questions of Students’ Science, 9 (37).
41. Lamberton, C. & Stephen, A.T. (2016) A Thematic Exploration of Digital, Social Media, and Mobile Marketing: Research Evolution from 2000 to 2015 and an Agenda for Future Inquiry. Journal of Marketing, 80, 146-172.
42. Leclercq, T., Hammedi, W. & Poncin, I. (2018). The Boundaries of Gamification for Engaging Customers: Effects of Losing a Contest in Online Co-Creation Communities. Journal of Interactive Marketing.
43. Lipenkov, N.V. (2022). Gamification in Marketing, Journal of Marketing.
44. Lakshmi, V. (2017) Impact of Gender on Consumer Purchasing Behaviour. IOSR Journal of Business and Management.
45. Lassar W. (1995). Measuring customer-based brand equity. Journal of consumer marketing, 12(4), 11-19.
46. Lee, M. (2007). Effects of product placement in on-line games on brand memory: A perspective of the limited-capacity model of attention. Journal of Advertising, 36(4), 75-90.
47. Lowry, P. & Gaskin, J. (2014). Partial least squares structural equation modeling for building and testing behavioral causal theory. IEEE transactions on professional communication, 57(2), 123-146.
48. Lopukhova, O.G. (2013). Questionnaire «Masculinity, Feminineness and Gender Type of Personality». Questions of Psychology Journal, (1).
49. Michman, R.D., Mazze, E.M. & Greco, A.J. (2013). Lifestyle Marketing: Reaching the new American Consumer. International Journal of Management Economics and Business, 14(1).
50. Majchrzak, А. (2013). The impact of shaping on knowledge reuse for organizational improvement with wikis. MIS Quarterly, 37(2), 455-469.
51. Mollick, E. & Rothbard, N. (2012). Mandatory Fun: Gamification and the Impact of Games at Work. The Wharton School Research Paper, 1 (22), 1-51.
52. Nobre, H. & Ferreira, A. (2017). Gamification as a platform for brand co-creation experiences. Journal of Brand Management, 24(4), 349-361.
53. Nunnally, J. C. & Bernstein, I. (1994). Psychometric theory. McGraw-Hill, 752.
54. O’Keeffe & Clarke-Pearson (2011). The Impact of Social Media on Children, Adolescents and Families. Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, No 127 (4).
55. O’Brien et al. (2018). Customer engagement in CSR. Journal of Service Theory and Practice, 27(4).
56. Peng, W. (2012). Need satisfaction supportive game features as motivational determinants: An experimental study of a self-determination theory guided exergame. Media Psychology, 15(2), 175-196.
57. Postma & Brokke (2002). Personalisation in Practice: The Proven Effects of Personalization. Journal of Database Marketing, 9(2).
58. Pansari, Anita & Kumar, V. (2017). Customer Engagement: The Construct, Antecedents, And Consequences.Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 45 (3).
59. Pedro, L. (2015). Does gamification work for boys and girls?: An exploratory study with a virtual learning environment. Proc. Proceedings of the 30th Annual ACM Symposium on Applied Computing, ACM, 214-219.
60. Statista (2023). Number of mobile app downloads worldwide from 2016 to 2022. [electronic resource]. – Access mode. – URL: https://www.statista.com/statistics/271644/worldwide-free-and-paid-mobile-app-store-downloads/