Broader Understanding of Gamification by Addressing Ethics and Diversity

Abstract

The engagement achieved from gamification is a phenomenon, as gamification is being seen nowadays in a lot of industries. One reason for the massive popularity of gamification is that the use can provide easy access to a sense of engagement and self-efficacy which otherwise may not deliver. By its nature, gamification present users with challenges to overcome and use narrative structure, visuals, strategic elements, and game rules to motivate the users. Gamification is widely applied to increase user engagement, but many empirical studies on effectiveness are inconclusive, and often limited to the integration of tangible game elements such as points, leaderboards or badges. In this article, we will discuss two different perspectives: (i) Ethics: Exploitation, Manipulation, Harms, and Character (ii) Diversity: Culture, Gender and Age. The discussion will lead to opportunities for professionals and researchers to acquire relevant knowledge, assess the mechanisms for the integration of gamification in the context of meaningful engagement, and outline challenges and opportunities for further research.