The effect of hedonic and utilitarian motivations to costumer engagement at gamification

The relationship between costumers and brands is undergoing a radical change with the effect of technology. The main purpose of brands in this change is to engage intensely with costumers in every field. Therefore, customer engagement in recent years has been the subject of study of different academic disciplines including marketing. In many areas, such as information systems and marketing, another topic that is being explored in parallel with customer engagement is gamification. Gamification generally has two important functions: providing gaming experience and promoting participation in non-game content. The most important feature of gamification is mediating a rational purpose over an enjoyable experience. Therefore, it has a two-way effect, hedonic and utilitarian. In this context, the main purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between consumers' hedonic/utilitarian motivations towards gamification with customer engagement and to examine the effect of this structure on the brand. The results of the study are expected to contribute to the adoption of a costumer-centered brand management approach to costumer-brand relationships and the realization that costumers are in a change at social and brand relations. To reach the aims of the study, a conceptual model proposal was firstly presented. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis method was used to test the hypotheses of the study with the proposed model. As a result of SEM analysis, the proposed model proved a good fit for the sample. According to the findings obtained, almost all utilitarian/hedonic motivations affect customer engagement positively. When customer engagement and brand outcomes are partially related, results that indicate that the brand relationship with costumers is approached from a different perspective was obtained. According to these results, creating loyal consumers to the brands seems much more difficult than before. Customers can engage in the activities of brands, can also show commitment; however, this may not result in loyalty and dissemination of the brand's positive messages.