Improving online customer brand engagement through gamification - Ref: SBE-SMNM18

Gaming is an exciting and familiar world for many people. Growing at an extraordinary rate, gaming has moved out of pure entertainment and personal fun into the public worlds of businesses and brands. Today, the use of game design elements and mechanics in a non-game context, referred to as 'gamification', appears in many industries. These gaming constructs can be associated with motivational activities that provide similar experiences to non-game goods and services, which consequently enhance customer experiences and value-creating behaviours.

However, the impact and process of gamification on customer-brand relationships is still yet to be clearly understood. By adapting an experimental design, this PhD aims to empirically investigate how gamification can be used to optimise and leverage customer brand engagement in online environments such as brands’ virtual communities and/or mobile apps. This research is expected to yield significant theoretical and practical contributions and will attract interest from highly ranked journals given the novelty of the topic in question and potential impact on businesses.

Entry Requirements
UK Masters degree (with average programme mark of no less than 65%) or International equivalent.
English Language requirement of IELTS band 7.0 or above with not less than 7.0 in each component.

How to apply
All applications should be made online at http://www.lboro.ac.uk/study/apply/research/. Under programme name, select Business and Economics. Please quote reference: SBE-SMNM18

Link to find out more: http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/sbe/research/phd-mphil/