Summary:
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The gamification of apps in Canada can engage users but also lead to unnecessary spending.
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iGaming has influenced loyalty programs, while internet rewards can benefit consumers without drawbacks.
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Gamification can incentivize positive habits, but the trend may lead to higher consumer expectations and disappointment.
The gamification of everyday apps and services is a double-edged sword for consumers across Canada. On the one hand, incentivizing users to make the most of available features by tracking progress and offering rewards keeps people engaged and taps into a given app’s full potential. On the other hand, it’s a slippery slope that could leave users out of pocket unnecessarily by encouraging them to spend cash in pursuit of digital accolades they don’t really need and that aren’t transferable.
This isn’t a black-and-white issue, so let’s talk through where things are headed and what the plus points and drawbacks are at the moment.
The Influence of iGaming
It’s first important to acknowledge that the rise of Canadian online casino culture has spurred the gamification of apps and services. Loyalty programs that once provided shoppers with passive rewards have evolved, with offers and incentives now unlocked only through active participation and redemption, and the demand for games of chance like slots has helped catalyze this shift.
What’s different here is that internet rewards outside of iGaming can give the illusion of chance and randomness, without necessarily having a downside. So if a grocery rewards app lets you spin a virtual wheel to earn a discount, it may be that every outcome is actually beneficial to the customer, rather than there being a ‘losing’ segment.
Incentivizing Positive Habits
Where the internet rewards culture in Canada also benefits consumers is in how it can incentivize good habits and decision-making, above and beyond what a passive loyalty scheme might achieve. This is most apparent in a financial context, where banking apps now gamify savings goals, awarding achievements and badges to customers who go on a streak of setting money aside and sticking to their budget week after week.
The more neutral application of this same strategy is apparent in customer reward apps for food and drink outlets. A chain of coffee stores with a streak-based rewards scheme will naturally encourage users to return day after day, ensuring the chain of consumption remains unbroken. If you’re a daily coffee drinker anyway, it’s neither positive nor negative overall, but the specific brand benefits from gamifying your loyalty.
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Setting Expectations
What’s most noteworthy about every app becoming gamified, to a greater or lesser extent, is that the expectation that consumers will be rewarded for their brand interactions has spread to more and more parts of culture, both online and in the flesh. The introduction of pseudo-games of chance to restaurants, service stations, and many other consumer spaces makes it harder for people to escape them; more than that, in contexts where they’re absent, there’s room for disappointment.
Whether or not this trend will continue its current trajectory is up for debate, although as the cost of living increases, we may see more consumers fighting back and looking for businesses that offer them deals and discounts in a more traditional way. The element of randomness can be fun, and gamification can be engaging, but only if it’s used sparingly, rather than becoming the core design feature of every app.
