Gamification as a Multichannel Marketing Instrument: A Systematic Literature Review and Future Research Agenda

Purpose – Numerous companies apply multichannel marketing to engage with customers across various touchpoints. At the same time, firms use innovative technologies such as gamification to foster customer loyalty. However, gamification within multichannel marketing has yet to be investigated. This paper aims to analyze whether gamification is a suitable tool for multichannel marketing. Design/methodology/approach – The author conducted a systematic literature review covering the period from January 2011 to October 2023 on gamification in the marketing context by using three large scientific databases (Scopus, Web of Science, EBSCOhost) and applying inclusion and exclusion procedures as well as forward and backward searches. Findings – The systematic literature review resulted in 128 usable articles and demonstrated that little research has been conducted at the intersection of different channels. Most studies focus on one channel, with occasional reference to another. Research has also usually focused on the combinations of different gamification elements instead of a particular element in a certain channel. The majority of the reviewed studies show that gamification can lead to enhanced customer experience, increased satisfaction, and greater loyalty, which are important goals of multichannel marketing. Overall, it can be concluded that gamification could constitute a successful tool for multichannel marketing. Originality – This study is the first to explicitly examine gamification as a multichannel marketing tool and suggests an agenda for future research, including examples of fruitful ways to study connections among different channels.