Gamification in the transport sector: Quasi-experimental evidence from a bicycle navigation app

This study measures the short- and long-term effects of two gamification campaigns in Germany on individual mobility behavior using data from a bicycle navigation app. The gamification campaign in Hamburg featured individual benefits, while the campaign in Bremen was a community challenge, including a virtual trip to the moon. The temporal and geographical nature of the campaigns allows for a quasi-experimental analysis comparing campaign participants with non-participants (within a city) and individuals from a treated city with a control city. Descriptive analyses suggest that gamification can lead to an increase in new customers. Furthermore, fixed-effects panel regressions show that gamification leads to more recorded trips during campaigns. In addition, gamification also increases the recorded cycling distance, while average speed remains unaffected. In the case of the individually rewarding campaign in Hamburg, there is evidence that cycling distance is also increased in the long term. Overall, there is evidence of effects on the extensive margin (number of users) and intensive margin (behavior per user).