Examination of gamification user types of professional football players

This study aims to determine the gamification user types of professional football players and examine the effect of digital game playing, dominant foot, top league played, and position variables on user type. A total of 113 professional male football players voluntarily participated in the study. Personal Information Form and User Types for Gamification Scale were used as data collection tools. The relationship between qualitative variables was examined with the chi-square test of independence. Mann Whitney U test was used to compare rank averages, and the Kruskall Wallis test was used for evaluations between more than two groups. The Spearman Correlation Test examined the relationship between the scale and its sub-dimensions. The majority of professional football players play digital games. There is no significant difference between the dominant foot, the top league, the position played, and the digital game-playing status. The ranking of electronic devices owned by professional soccer players is from most to least: smartphones, computers, tablets, and game consoles. All of the football players who own a game console play digital games. The dominant gamification user type of professional football players is the Achiever, while the lowest value is the Disruptor user type. There is no effect of digital game playing, dominant foot, top league played, and position on gamification user type in professional football players. All user types except for the disruptor user type have a significant positive relationship. There is no significant relationship between Disruptor and Free Spirit and Player. There is a significant negative relationship between Disruptor and Socialiser, Achievers and Philanthropist. Considering the predominance of Achievers, goal-based programs with gamification elements can be implemented to increase individual and team performance.