Self-determination Theory as Mediator in the Nexus of Gamification and Customer Purchasing Behaviour

¹ Department of Economics, The Faculty of Operation and Economics of Transport and Communications, University of Žilina, Univerzitna 1, 010 26, Zilina, Slovakia
² Department of Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management, Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Trg Dositeja Obradovića 6, 210 00 Novi Sad, Serbia

^* Corresponding author: lubica.gajanova@fpedas.uniza.sk

Abstract

Gamification in marketing can be understood as the use of game mechanisms to motivate customers and encourage them to behave in a specific way and interact in some activities or communities in order to increase their satisfaction, loyalty and commitment, thereby contributing to brand building. There are many foreign works confirming the benefits of gamification. However, there is an absence of any known studies explicitly conducted into gamification within a marketing context in the Slovak Republic. This paper therefore attempts to address this kind of research gap and answer the question of whether gamification is a more effective form of promotion for improving the purchasing behaviour of customers in Slovakia. The results of the research confirm that gamification as part of sales promotion has a positive effect on the purchasing behaviour, search intentions and attitudes of Slovak customers. The results also indicate the positive mediation role of motivation based theory related to gamification and customer purchasing behaviour.