1. 1. Rewards are one of the main features of gamification. There is no gamification without proper rewards! A reward is something that users receive and feel positive about, something that boosts users motivation, curiosity and behaviour. Consumers should be rewarded with virtual goods such as points, levels, badges and leaderboards for having specific behavior (e.g. purchasing, filling out a form etc.), and those virtual items should allow to access exclusive privileges and rewards, such as discounts or prizes. You have to keep your customers rewarded as far as youve promised in order for them to continue playing and trusting your brand. Heres an example to better understand the importance and influence of rewards on people behaviour: In 2012, a test was run. The setup was the same. Children were split into two different groups where they were both offered certain rewards (crayons, marshmallows, cookies etc). The difference was that one group were given the things they were promised, the other was not. When they then ran the marshmallow test, a child was offered a choice between one small reward provided immediately or two small rewards if they waited for a short period of approximately 15 minutes, during which the tester left the room and then returned. The group that had been getting the things they were promised showed a much greater ability to delay gratification and wait for the second marshmallow. Rewards as a key to motivate your users 2015
2. 2. 2015 Their expectations and trust were such, that they felt confident that the researcher would return. The other group had no reason to trust the researcher, so ate the marshmallow straight away! This example makes us understand that people expect rewards if they feel they are worth it; people will wait for rewards if they are sure it will come and anticipation could make the gratification that comes from the reward, even greater. With gamification, you can convert your existing activity and data into points and rewards and use those to provide incentives for your staff or customers. They will feel satisfied and will live a fun experience which will make them more engaged. Employees will be motivated and will give better performances, instead, customers will buy more, perform cross selling actions, boost visits to the point of sale and generate a positive word of mouth. How can you reward your users? Points Brand interaction will give users some points as a reward of their loyalty. Coupons The points users win can be exchanged for many prizes on a virtual catalogue. This marketplace will contain a series of offers, discounts, promotions etc. of the establishments products ready for the users to choose from. Once the user has selected his desired prize, a coupon will appear. The coupon could be redeemed directly from the app, without having the need to print it. Direct rewards We could reward users directly with the aim of encouraging them to use our services (geo- location, shopping patterns, users activity inside the loyalty program). They could be directly redeemed through the mobile phone to make the process even quicker. Badges Monetary value is not the only way to attract consumers. You can also reward users by an emotional approach such as badges. This personalized treatment will create a bond with your establishment by providing them a social recognition. Furthermore, it could create a competition willingness in order to win the best badge.
3. 3. Game mechanics Users could be rewarded with even more games in order tohave a fun experience and a bigger chance to win special prizes. They will be immersed on a ludic environment, giving the purchase process a light-hearted appeal Other Gamification elements Users can also feel motivated to interact and come back by providing them challenges which recognize their activity. They can all supply a continuous flow of revenue if they are well implemented. Rewards are just one of the things you have to consider to make gamification work. 2015