Exploring gamification in the South African fashion retail industry

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated the world economy, affecting practically every industry. The sustained existence of organisations depends highly on strong marketing assets. Given the growing inadequacies of traditional marketing communications channels in the digital age, gamification may be a creative medium to embed within organisations’ marketing communications practices, which has downstream impacts of positive brand-related outcomes. Gamification’s efficacy as a marketing communication channel and tool can be linked to its potential to satisfy users’ intrinsic needs, ostensibly through evoking a pleasurable consumer experience via an autotelic use reminiscent of videogame engagement. Gamification’s outcomes, on the other hand, are very context dependent. The objective of this study was to assess the potential contribution of gamification in under-researched and pressing contexts and settings. Therefore, the South African fashion retail industry was chosen as an appropriate context in which to frame the study, given the significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on this industry as well as the twin realities of hyper-competition among fashion retail brands. Additionally, merchants in South Africa’s fashion industry have not yet widely adopted gamification in their marketing tactics, and research on gamification in the context of South African fashion retail has remained limited in scope. To this degree, the stated problem areas, combined with the industry’s practical and theoretical infancy, are an adequate incentive for investigating gamification in South Africa’s fashion retail industry. Gamification marketing, which is based on a relational marketing approach, is critical for gaining a lasting competitive edge in South Africa’s dynamic fashion retail industry. Gamification systems can motivate users to develop relationship orientation if they have a favourable attitude toward the system, which is contingent upon whether users perceive the system to be simple to use and enjoyable, whether it facilitates social interaction, and whether users perceive it to be useful. The goal of this study was to investigate gamification marketing as it relates to managing customer-retailer relationships in the context of technology-mediated relational interactions. The empirical study was conducted using primary research, which involved the collection of data first-hand from participants. The study employed a qualitative approach and an exploratory research methodology. A non-probability convenience and judgment sampling strategy was used to recruit participants. Three focus group discussion sessions were held during which to collect data. The study enrolled a total of 25 individuals. The Morse and Field method was used to analyse the obtained data and ATLAS.ti qualitative data analysis software to code the data and conduct categorical and thematic analyses. Four themes emerged from the analysis, each with 11 subcategories.

The participants’ responses suggested that the majority have a favourable attitude toward gamification. They identified enjoyment, an augmented reality feature, entertainment, arcade games, smartphone capabilities, feedback systems, and prizes as necessary components of enjoyable and consistent experiences. Overall, based on the findings of the literature review and the empirical research, it can be stated that incorporating gamification systems that are sensitive to the needs of end-users is a successful tool for relationship marketing management. This study identified several topics that warrant further exploration. Future research can use other gamified services as the research context, conduct quantitative studies, expand the size and diversity of the sample, employ a probability sampling method, and collect data longitudinally to ensure that findings are applicable to a broader range of gamified environments.