How Can Gamification Make Your Customers Love Your Brand More?

That’s what researchers Nannan Xi and Juho Hamari set out to explore. They surveyed 824 users from two brand communities with gamified online activities in them: Xiaomi and Huawei.  

According to their research titled, “Does gamification affect brand engagement and equity? A study in online brand communities“, found that different parts of the game, such as badges, challenges, missions, and goals, can make people and communities more interested in your brand in different ways (emotionally, cognitively, and socially). They also found that if users like your brand more and get to know your brand better, their propensity to buy will increase. This signifies that games are a great way to increase your brand engagement and equity.  

That said, not all games are the same. You need to design a game that suits your brand’s goals and your customers’ needs.  

What are the types of games that you can use to increase your brand engagement and equity? Based on Xi and Hamari’s research, there are three different types of game features:  

• Achievement features: These reward users for their efforts or achievements in performing brand-related activities. Examples are badges, points, levels, rankings, etc. This feature can increase users’ emotional engagement (positive feelings towards the brand), cognitive engagement (thinking about the brand), and social engagement (interacting with others about the brand).  

• Social interaction features: These features facilitate users to communicate and collaborate with other users in the brand community. Examples are discussion forums, chats, groups, etc. This feature can increase users’ social engagement.  

• Immersion features: This feature provides users with an engaging and fun experience in doing brand-related activities. Examples are stories, characters, graphics, sounds, etc. This feature can increase user social engagement.  
  
  

How to measure the impact of games on brand engagement and equity? According to Xi and Hamari, there are several indicators you can use:  

• Emotional engagement: How often do you feel happy, proud, or satisfied when using the brand’s products or services?  

• Cognitive engagement: How often do you think about or seek information about the brand’s products or services?  

• Social engagement: How often do you talk or listen to others about the brand’s products or services?  

• Brand awareness: How easily do you recognise or remember the brand’s products or services?  

• Brand association: What are the positive things you associate with the brand’s products or services?  

• Brand loyalty: How likely are you to buy the brand’s products or services again in the future?  

• Using these indicators, we can find out how much influence gaming has on your brand engagement and equity.  
  
  

What are the benefits of gaming for your business? Based on Xi and Hamari’s research, there are several benefits that we can derive:  

• Increase customer engagement with your brand: Customers who are emotionally, cognitively and socially engaged with your brand are more satisfied, loyal and become advocates for your brand.  

• Increase your brand equity: Customers with high brand awareness, positive brand associations, and strong brand loyalty will bring more value to your business.  

• Increase sales of your product or service: Customers who are engaged and have high brand equity will be more likely to purchase your products or services, either directly or indirectly.  
  
  

In other words, games are not just entertainment but also an effective marketing strategy. By using games, we can make our customers love our brand more and boost our business. However, you also need to pay attention to the design and implementation of the game that suits your goals and targets. 

Check out our gamification services page and contact us today. We are ready to help you create a gamification experience that aligns with your needs and preferences.