It is Really Not a Game: An Integrative Review of Gamification for Service Research

Robert Ciuchita, Jonas Heller, Sarah Köcher, Sören Köcher, Thomas Leclercq, Karim Sidaoui and Susan Stead
Additional contact information
Robert Ciuchita: Department of Marketing, Hanken School of Economics, Helsinki
Jonas Heller: Maastricht University [Maastricht]
Sarah Köcher: Department of Marketing, TU Dortmund University, Dortmund
Sören Köcher: Chair of Marketing, Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg
Thomas Leclercq: LEM - Lille économie management - UMR 9221 - UA - Université d'Artois - UCL - Université catholique de Lille - Université de Lille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Karim Sidaoui: Radboud University [Nijmegen]
Susan Stead: RWTH Aachen - RWTH Aachen University = Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen

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Abstract: Gamification has attracted considerable practitioner attention and has become a viable tactic for influencing behavior, boosting innovation, and improving marketing outcomes across industries. Simultaneously, studies on the use of gamification techniques have emerged in diverse fields, including computer science, education, and healthcare. Despite the broad popularity of gamification in other fields, it has received only limited attention in the service literature. Moreover, the findings of extant studies on gamification in the service field are inconclusive and suggest an incomplete understanding of the employment of gamification in service contexts. Thus, this study aims to integrate the growing but scattered cross-disciplinary literature on gamification and to emphasize its relevance to service research. Specifically, we first conceptualize gamification for service and differentiate it from related concepts. Then, using a systematic literature review, we identify 34 empirical articles that reflect this gamification conceptualization and can be connected to relevant service research themes (e.g., customer participation, experience, and loyalty). Employing activity theory, we derive four higher-order functions of gamification: production, consumption, exchange, and distribution. Finally, we develop a research agenda to generate a better understanding of the central aspects within each of the identified gamification functions and stimulate future academic efforts on gamification in services.

Date: 2023-02
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Published in Journal of Service Research, 2023, 26 (1), pp.3-20. ⟨10.1177/10946705221076272⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04133024

DOI: 10.1177/10946705221076272

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