Gamification and Its Application in the Social Environment: A Tool for Shaping Behaviour

Abstract

This study sets out to conduct a systematic review of the emergence and evolution of gamification in the social environment, its main components, and its application as a learning tool through the motivation and engagement it generates in people. The results were obtained by consulting two major scientific databases, namely, Scopus and the Web of Science, which provided 136 articles published on the social environment from 2011 through to mid-2016 using the term gamification. The results of this study reveal how over time gamification has been gaining importance in the social environment through the use of its components. The highest number of scientific publications come from the United States and Spain. In addition, the use of gaming components increases motivation and engagement. It shows how gamification uses (individual or group) rewards according to the context to achieve the proposed objectives, being successfully implemented in education, health, services, and social learning.