Gamification in Ecology-Oriented Mobile Applications—Typologies and Purposes

Angel Torres-Toukoumidis, Diego Vintimilla León, Andrea De-Santis and Paulo Carlos López-López
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Angel Torres-Toukoumidis: Social Science Knowledge and Human Behavior, Universidad Politécnica Salesiana, Cuenca 010105, Ecuador
Diego Vintimilla León: Gamelab Research Group, Universidad Politécnica Salesiana, Cuenca 010105, Ecuador
Andrea De-Santis: Communication Sciences Faculty, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
Paulo Carlos López-López: Facultade de Ciencias Políticas e Sociais, Campus Vida, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Avenida do Doutor Ángel Jorge Echeverri, s/n, 15782 Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Societies, 2022, vol. 12, issue 2, 1-12

Abstract: Mobile applications viewed as digital social change tools are focused on sustainable development, particularly in topics that address ecology and the environment. In this research, the aim is to systematize a review of the 10 most downloaded mobile applications in this context, but deepening on those that use game elements in their interface, organizing them according to components, mechanics and playful dynamics. Findings demonstrate the role of levels and achievements as more repeated dynamics, and challenges and feedback as more relevant elements in gameplay, and finally, emotions and narratives as components of the gamified experience. The incorporation of these elements in mobile games shows that digital gamification in the environmental context is organized from an alternative perspective, where argumentation, the succession of events, the progressive incorporation of difficulty and the interaction with the computerized system modify the traditional view that sees gamification as a superficial system of points.

Keywords: gamification; ecology; sustainable development; mobile apps; smartphones; environmental protection (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A13 A14 P P0 P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 Z1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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