The Fun Theory, in 2009 Volkswagen went viral with it. At the Odenplan metro station in Stockholm, the car manufacturer installed the piano stairs : a staircase where the steps were replaced by piano keys. The result? Significantly more passengers chose the stairs instead of the adjacent escalator. Good for your health. Volkswagen called it the Fun Theory , because 'fun can obviously change behaviour for the better.' Volkswagen provided a textbook example of gamification, where game principles and game techniques are applied in non-game contexts.
Although gamification is hardly used on social media, partly due to limitations of the social media channels themselves, many marketers do not yet see and use the opportunities. That is why we highlight the applications of gamification on social media in this article, with a focus on consumer marketing with Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. These channels already offer numerous possibilities to take your social marketing to a higher level!
In behavioural psychology, they have known for a long time: play can influence behaviour. By combining game elements with impulses such as reward, status and recognition, certain desired behaviour is stimulated as quietly as possible. In some cases, this even leads to long-term, sustainable behavioural changes. A simple japan telegram data but striking offline example is the eye-catcher for waste . The game element – throwing waste at target – encourages the desired action: more waste in the waste bin and less litter on the street.
Apps with game elements
The online world has also been using game elements for a long time. The rise of apps in particular has contributed to the significant growth of online gamification. Examples of this are Forest and NikeFuel .
Forest
The Forest app encourages users to not unlock their phone for at least 30 minutes. If they succeed, the app will plant a tree. To keep the user interested, there are items to unlock for those who can hold out longer.
NikeFuel
With NikeFuel, Nike developed the holy grail to connect its community and at the same time literally get it moving. Users compete against each other via the app to see who does the most physical work per day. All activities are measured and then converted into points.