Game Over? Assessing the Impact of Gamification Discontinuation on Mobile Banking Behaviors

Gamification has gained significant attention in marketing. While previous research has primarily focused on the short-term effects of implementing gamification, this study explores the discontinuation of gamification in financial services and how it affects previously incentivized behaviors. We leverage a data set from a prominent Latin American bank that had incentivized behaviors in its app through a reward module with prize wheels, raffles, and points. Unexpectedly, the reward module was temporarily stopped due to a lapse in government licensing; a unique natural experiment. Using age-period-cohort models, we examine whether gamification had a causal impact on the behaviors the bank intended to motivate, and whether it was necessary to continue gamification to maintain these behaviors over time. We find that the reward module incentivized the desired behaviors, and its discontinuation caused these behaviors to decline. This effect was stronger for newer customers, and increased over time, further highlighting the need to maintain these behaviors. We also find that both cash rewards and module engagement played distinct roles in influencing user behavior, and examine the impact of different game-design element outcomes on engagement.