Gamification : The new way of conducting Market Research
There is a very interesting quote on gaming:
‘Every age has its storytelling form, and video gaming is a huge part of our culture. You can ignore or embrace video games and imbue them with the best artistic quality. People are enthralled with video games in the same way as other people love the cinema or theater.’ — Andy Serkis
It is nothing new that in today’s culture, gaming has become a part of our day to day lives. With developers making games for almost every portable communication device around, it is not new to see the upcoming generation being introduced to the ‘art of gaming’ at a very early age. However, the question arises as to why gaming has become so prominent and more importantly, why has it become an essential part of our day to day lives?
When we ponder further, we realize that gaming is in fact a very intuitive way of engaging the user into learning something new and at the same time, de-stressing too. It has paved a way for young thinkers and developers of this tech-savvy generation to work and explore previously unexplored areas of the human mind through intuitive and engaging game concepts. We can surely say that we have come way too far ahead from the good old ‘snakes and ladders’ days.
Now, when we talk about the term Gamification, we have to first keep in mind that Gaming and Gamification, although inter-related, are two very different terms. While gaming purely deals with engaging the user into a problem solving based, simulated virtual world with engrossing graphics, the term ‘Gamification’ deals with using gaming principles to solve day-today problems and in a non-gaming context.
Lets now look at what the general definitions of gamification are:
“Gamification comprises a range of techniques to increase participants’ engagement in market research tasks.”
“The process of adding game mechanics to processes, programs and platforms that would not traditionally use such concepts”. -Swan
“the use of game elements in non-game contexts”. — Deterding
When it comes to market research and understanding different trend practices, using gamification techniques enables the surveyor to generate better engagement models with a factor of delight in them. The main objective of the surveyor becomes to make the consumers take the survey at the first place. The art of storytelling while using gaming principles is very important. Storytelling engages the user into taking the survey. It builds a story line around the reason for the existence of the questionnaire. The user is compelled to answer if not all but most questions in the survey, mostly without his knowledge that his/her actions are actually determining his answer to the questions in the survey. In the gamification process, understanding the various challenges of preparing a survey form, the business opportunities and the consumer circle becomes very important. Also, it is very important that the data that the surveyor receives from the consumer actually has some value and makes for clear understanding.
To understand how gamification works, we need to understand the different levels of it.
Gamification has three basic components: Mechanics, Dynamics and Emotions/Aesthetics
Mechanics is basically setting up of the rules, the settings of the game, the goals and deciding upon the interactions that the user would have with the game.
Dynamics deals with the player behavior in the game. It focuses on his game specific behavior like cheating, bluffing etc.
Dynamics further has more components witin it: Constraints in the game,Emotions,Game Structure, Game Progression and Social Dynamics between the players
Emotions or Aesthetics of the game form the fundamental base where it observes the emotions like excitement, disappointment that the player goes through while playing the game
Also, it is very important to understand the various player types that would be involved in the game which can be of 4 types — Socialites, Strivers, Slayers and Scholars
Socialites are those players in the game who are interested in mostly socializing with other players involved in the game. Strivers are those who are interested in the rankings and the leaderboard in the game. For them, having a good rank in the game presents a sense of achievement. Slayers are those who would do anything in order to achieve the highest rank possible in the game. They are not satisfied with anything less. Scholars are those who are interested in knowing and studying more about the dynamics of the game. They are also sometimes known as Observers. We observe a similarity in the behaviours between Socialites and Scholars and that of Slayers and Strivers. Where as the former are more interested in the dynamics and the inter personal relationships in the game, the latter are more interested in competition and winning.
During the process of gamification it is very important for us to understand the importance of asking the right questions in the game. It is also further important to understand the following points with respect to game creation:
- Understanding the players involved in the game before designing it
- The timing of the incursion of gamificiation in the survey process
- Adding freshness to the game from time to time viz. adding new levels to the game, adding new players etc.
- The game creators i.e the managers should take the responsibility of the game.They should be the ones to monitor and report the progress of the game to the organization
- The game must have an automatic feedback mechanism which gives information about the players progress to the player himself and also to the game creators
It is very important to keep the users engaged by providing engaging and fun tasks eg: Scavanger Hunt. It also helps in increasing the popularity of the game is the creators use different media platforms to increase the game’s popularity among the users. This would then in fact lead to the game building potential future users as well.
Social interaction between the players in the game is very important as it enables them to have a certain sense of bonding and keeps them getting back to the game then and again. Many games are successful because of the adequate rewards being given to them during the course of the game. These rewards not only boost the motivation of the players but also helps them in doing better at the given tasks. It sometimes helps if the game has time driven rewards as it has been seen that under certain level of pressure, the performance of the user increases thus giving better results in the game.
It is also very interesting to see how the software — Freshdesk helps to increase the motivation levels of the employees in the various organizations where it is employed. The software aims at gamifying the employees everyday work in order to engage him/her in their work and also to increase their productivity. The software turns the consumer requests into a game where in the requests are randomly assigned to the employers. There is a competitive leader board which further pushes the employees to do better at solving consumer problems. The software hence makes great use of the principles of Mechanics, Dynamics and Emotions in order to make the job of customer service more fun. The software also provides rewards for achievements and also has a special Social Achievement Awards for the socializers in the game. There are special badges and mentions for employees with exceptional performances. It has been further seen that due to this, there is an increase in the job satisfaction, performance of the employees and also in the organizations revenue.
It is also very interesting to see that how the application of gamification principles, if not applied properly. For example, Google allowed users to win badges for reading the news, which failed since players did not want to share with others what kind of news they searched for. Just because gamification is trendy does not mean that it always works for the best strategy.
Gamification sometimes fails due to the following reasons:
> When the designers fail to understand the players emotions
> When the rewards have no meaning or are demeaning for the player
> When the game creators fail to recognize the points engagement for the players
> When there are no engaging elements in the game, thus causing the players to lose interest in the game causing him/her to go elsewhere
Researchers from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada did a research on Effects of Gamification on Participation and Data Quality in a Real-World Market Research Domain. Their main objective was to find answers to the following questions:
· Does an increased level of gamification result in increased motivation?
· Do the effects of gamification hold with real-world participants who are experienced with the domain?
· Do demographic factors like age and gender affect the motivational gains of gamification?
· Does experience with games change the effects?
· Does gamification compromise the quality of data produced by users?
The researchers developed and studied a gamified system in a domain where non-gamified data-gathering instruments are well established: online market research surveys. (Jared Cechanowicz n.d.)
They designed gamified versions of three question types typically used in market research surveys (image identification, slogan matching, and a five-second memory quiz), and then carried out a comparative study of three systems with different levels of gamification (the plain survey, a partially-gamified version with interactive game mechanics, and a fully-gamified version with theme, reward, challenge, and progress elements). The study involved more than 600 respondents from a real-world market-research participant panel.
Their study showed that both of the gamification approaches led to significantly higher levels of participation. People completed significantly more questions with the partially gamified system (with interactive game mechanics) than with the plain survey, and significantly more questions with the full game than with the partial game. (Jared Cechanowicz n.d.)
The research findings indicate that the more gamified the survey process is, the more interaction will the user have with the game. There can be various factors involved for this result. One can be that the user might have temporarily forgotten that he is infact taking a survey and not just playing the game. The more immersive the game got, more are the chances that the player would have forgotten about the survey. Maybe, he would have been only concentrating on finishing the task, hence answering more questions and being more participative in the entire process.
It is also very essential that Marketers consider using games to build brand recognition and loyalty. As with every other social strategy marketers employ, success in social gaming engagement starts with a clearly defined goal. They must start by employing game styles and concepts that their fans will be familiar with. Once they have gained traction with them, they can begin to include original gaming concepts in your social gaming strategy. (Oracle August 2012)
Also, Social games provide a terrific platform for members of the social community to connect with their friends via word of mouth, enabling the marketer’s message to go viral. (Oracle August 2012) The marketers must also keep a tab on factors like the total number of visits to the online game, the number of unique visits, In game clicks etc. (Oracle August 2012) It is very essential that the game must look good aesthetically and must also be easy to use otherwise it would repel the users instead of attracting them. (Oracle August 2012) Organizations must also keep in mind to incorporate their organizations mottos and brand values into the game. (Oracle August 2012) They must also depict their social mottos and must also incorporate a feeling of charitable giving in the game, thus activating the emotional side of the player as he/she plays the game. (Oracle August 2012)Finally, it is very essential that the organization invests considerable amount of time and money into marketing its game. (Oracle August 2012)
In a research done by Nicole Koenig-Lewis, Morgan Marquet and Adrian Palmer of the Swansea University, UK on the topic ‘The effects of gamification on market research engagement and response’, it is very interesting to see about how they talk the key issue in gamification theory to understand the participant’s basic motives. It would not only enable the organization to build consumer centric games but also would build the organization a set of loyal participants for future research. The paper talks about how it is important to keep the surveys short, using visual aid and focusing on the interest of the targeted audiences. (Nicole Koenig-Lewis n.d.)
An interesting concept that struck me was that of ‘Flow’. The paper describes ‘Flow’ to be a state of mind which individuals feel so engaged in a task that they are in perfect control of their environment. (Nicole Koenig-Lewis n.d.)
The researchers conducted a study by framing a survey and presenting it to the participants in two ways — First, a straightforward presentation of the questions to the player and the second by reframing the same questions in a different way by the use of contextual imagery. This forced the participants to imagine and think out of the box. It was interesting to see that the volume of feedback from the user was dependent on his level of enjoyment, the ease of use of the game, its ease of functionality, and the focus of the player. Also, the research stated that the if there wasn’t an ease of use to the player or if there was a distraction in the game that didn’t allow him/her to focus on the game, the time that the player would spend on the game would be considerably reduced. (Nicole Koenig-Lewis n.d.)
Conclusions
· It is very important to understand the player needs before designing a game
· The creators of the game must understand that the Mechanics, Dynamics and Aesthetics of the game change with the change in the context of the survey
· It is very important that the game has socializing element, is easy to use and provides meaningful rewards to the players after successful completion of levels
· It is very important to understand the need of introducing the aspect of freshness into the game or else the player would lose interest in the game
· The organization must value the players of the game and must keep their comfort in answering the survey as the topmost priority
· Use if intuitive visual aid, 2D and 3D graphics will engage the player and will make the gaming experience a success
REFERENCES
1. Adrien Vicentiu Salcu, Carmen Acatrinei. “Gamification Applied In Affiliate Marketing Case Study of 2parale.” Management & Marketing Challenges for the Knowledge Society, 2013: 24.
2. Jared Cechanowicz, Carl Gutwin, Briana Brownell, Larry Goodfellow. “Effects of Gamification and Data Quality in a Real-World Market Research Domain.” n.d.: 1–8.
3. Johannes Harms, Stefan Biegler, Christoph Wimmer, Karin Kappel, Thomas Grechenig. “Gamification of Online Surveys.” n.d.: 18.
4. Karen Robson, Kirk Plangger, Jan H. Kietzmann, Ian Mcarthy, Leyland Pitt. “Game on: Engaging customers and employees through gamification.” Business Horizons, 2016: 8.
5. Nicole Koenig-Lewis, Morgan Marquet, Adrian Palmer. “The effects of gamification on market research engagement and response.” n.d.: 1–9.
6. Oracle. “Using Social Gaming to Drive Engagement: Insights and Best Practices for Brand Managers.” August 2012.
7. Serkis, Andy. Gaming Quotes — BrainyQuote. 2016. http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/gaming.html (accessed September 27, 2016).
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