Article by Arianna Di Rubbo

Games can keep people busy for hours on end, helping them develop creativity and build social relationships. It's easy to see, then, that games can engage people and build loyalty , because they themselves want to play again. The expression "play makes you a child again" is no coincidence.

What is gamification?

“Gamification is the use of game design elements in non-game contexts” (Detering, 2011).

The primary focus of this trend is stimulating user motivation . Motivation can be extrinsic or intrinsic. Extrinsic motivation is linked to external factors, meaning users are motivated to perform certain activities in order to achieve a goal, be it a final recognition or a reward. Intrinsic motivation is linked to emotional factors, such as the pleasure of playing the game itself.

A good gaming-oriented project must follow the framework described in the MDA model (Hunicke et al., 2004), which governs game mechanics , dynamics , and aesthetics . Mechanics are the game design elements underlying any video game, including, for example, objectives, missions, points, levels, and rewards. Therefore, they provide the game environment, the setting, and the rules, and manage the interaction between player and platform. Aesthetics is the gaming experience itself, which varies from player to player. It is specifically represented by the emotions that gameplay evokes in the user. The interaction between these two perspectives gives rise to dynamics , which are generated in relation to individual gaming sessions. This may be due to the mechanics, which generate new progression methods and new gameplay options (challenges, actions, competition, cooperation, etc.), or to the player, who experiments with new combinations and relationships with the platform. Game mechanics alone do not ensure an engaging and fun experience.

In fact, rewards, which are extrinsic motivators, if applied incorrectly could risk pressuring and demotivating the player and eliminating their intrinsic motivation, which is linked to the pure enjoyment of the activity itself.

Since people crave being mentally and emotionally impacted, intrinsic motivation is crucial to developing and maintaining user engagement. Therefore, developers must fully understand the activity they want to gamify in order to employ game mechanics appropriately and effectively.

In this regard, Nicholson (2012) introduced the concept of Meaningful Gamification, according to which, in order for users to establish meaningful connections with the activity that go beyond the game, the needs of the users must be prioritized before those of the organization. The author therefore suggests integrating a user-centered design (UCD) in order to personalize the system and make the gaming experience unique for each user, in relation to their individual interests and skills. A standardized system will instead generate negative feelings and poor loyalty.

According to the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) proposed by Deci and Ryan (2000), there are three fundamental intrinsic needs:

• Relatedness : understood as the need to interact and connect with other players within the same interest group , to share experiences, build bonds and create memories.
• Competence : gives the player the feeling of having the ability to master the system and achieve the goals. For individuals to be motivated and optimistic about their abilities, goals must be clearly understood, clear, diverse , and well-structured. For this reason, a satisfactory system breaks down long-term goals into smaller ones, usually with increasing levels of difficulty, so that the positive feedback received from achieving them will encourage the player to continue playing.
• Autonomy : This is the freedom to voluntarily join the gamified system and leave it at any time. If the player feels they are losing autonomy and are being controlled, they will be discouraged from engaging in further gameplay.

This theory emphasizes that if these three universal needs are satisfied, gamers perceive greater enjoyment and will be more likely to play in the future.

Gamification, where is it useful?

Gamification has been successfully used in marketing, healthcare, business, and education. It's a recent methodology that's becoming a growing trend for companies looking to "stand out or go extinct." These companies have understood that, given the evolving market and a consumer 's increasingly less loyal brand, to differentiate themselves they must leverage the human aspect, the factors that trigger people's emotions and psychological needs, such as personal satisfaction, fear of failure, competitiveness, and curiosity. Challenges, leveling up, competition, cooperation, narrative developments, and victories are therefore perfect for engaging individuals. And companies that have understood this are one step ahead of their competitors in terms of engagement.

TripAdvisor and Booking, as online booking portals for accommodations and travel, compete directly with each other, and part of their success is tied to the spontaneous contributions of their communities. TripAdvisor's strategy of applying gamification to its community has helped it increase sales and user loyalty. TripCommunity works like a game: the more you write and upload content, the more points and badges you earn. Users who join the game will be encouraged to write more and more to advance their level, and consequently spend more time on the site, building familiarity and loyalty.

The innovative element of Gamification is therefore the creation of truly playful experiences as a customer loyalty system. This combination of experience and engagement, if applied effectively, also helps revitalize old cultural sectors and thus strengthen the promotion of tourism and the artistic and territorial heritage.

Applying Gamification to the Tourism Sector

The tourism industry is a potential application of meaningful gamification . Open innovation allows for the creation of new experiences that respond to users' intrinsic needs. The goal is to increase the intrinsic motivation of tourists and tourism organization employees in order to achieve behavioral change (for example, encouraging product purchases and use of services) and enable them to co-create value. Museums have always been the greatest driving forces behind a country's culture. Adopting digital technologies and innovative processes that make museum visits immersive, customizable, and engaging increases both the tangible value of the artistic heritage in question and the perceived value of the experience within it. This is because the primary motivation that drives the public to visit a museum is entertainment. A study conducted by S. Liu and M. Idris (2018) analyzes how the museum experience can be improved through two applications: Gamification and Service Design. The main question is: "How can potential visitors be motivated to return to the museum?" The reasons for engagement, not only before and after the visit but especially during it, are linked to intrinsic motivations.

And what kind of player are you?

Starting from Bartle's study (1996) we can recognize 4 categories of players, each of which can be connected to the three intrinsic needs of SDT, and based on these it is possible to recognize the motivations that push the public to visit a museum.

1. Socializers are interested in the concept of relationships ; the reason for visiting is to meet and interact with others.

2. Explorers for whom autonomy is essential, that is, the ability to enter and exit the “game” without pressure.

3. Achievers value the element of competence , as they seek a sense of personal accomplishment.

4. Killers expect competition, they play to win, so they too are linked to the element of competence .

From a Service Design perspective, improving service quality also means, above all, enhancing the pre- and post-visit phases: the first point of contact with the customer, represented by the information and ticketing service, and the last, namely the phase managing loyalty, the website, and souvenir purchases. Combining these two perspectives allows for the design of a customizable and efficient gamification system, based on the type of visitor and their motivations for visiting a museum. This, combined with the attention paid to the initial and final phases of the visit, allows for the overall optimization of the user experience, creating a pleasant and interactive environment, and increasing engagement.