TO PLAY OR NOT TO PLAY: THE USE OF GAMIFICATION IN THE FASHION RETAIL INDUSTRY

The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated the world economy, affecting many industries. Given the growing inadequacies of traditional marketing communication channels in the digital age, fashion retailers are looking at innovative ways of communicating with consumers. Gamification’s efficacy as a marketing communication’s tool can be linked to its potential to satisfy users’ intrinsic needs, ostensibly through evoking a pleasurable consumer experience via autotelic use reminiscent of videogame engagement. The goal of this study was to investigate the use of gamification in the fashion retail industry. A qualitative approach was followed by means of an exploratory research design. Judgement sampling was used to identify a total of 25 participants from whom data was gathered by means of conducting three focus groups. Data was analysed by means of the Morse and Field approach using Atlas.ti. The results indicate that consumers are aware of gamification and enjoy using it, describing it as a fun and enjoyable experience. Consumers’ primary motivation for using gamification applications is to gain financial benefit in the form of discounts, vouchers, points or rewards. The dominant challenges identified with using gamification applications are that they do not provide a user-friendly interface, as well as privacy and security concerns and connection issues.