Dark Gamification: A Tale of Consumer Exploitation and Unfair Competition

Introduction

Gamification has grown in popularity and pervasiveness in a variety of areas, including healthcare, education, marketing and staff management. Firms are increasingly relying on gamification to keep people engaged with their offers, which is roughly defined as seeking to create motivational experiences by augmenting non-game services with game-like affordances such as badges or leaderboards (Huotari and Hamari, 2017). Using game mechanics in a non-gaming context is an innovative approach in retail. While various studies have focused on the good results of technology, its uses, and possible benefits, we would like to take a different approach and investigate its potential negative repercussions on people and society, with focus on ethical problems also (Rapp, A et al., 2019). Designers should be aware that the technology they devised to have one specific influence on people's behaviour may have unintended consequences that must be considered, and users should be conscious of the technology they are investing in. The game element is very significant in the eventual outcome of gamification on customer behaviour. The negative aspects of gamification come when insufficient game features are used to engage the user in the gamified situation (Toda et al., 2017). Harry Brignull coined the term “dark patterns” when he identified several forms of interfaces that manipulate users into doing things that are not in their best interests (Brignull. H, 2018). As a result, dark pattern design might be defined as the craft of purposely developing patterns that harm the users' well-being. Negative player experiences are likely to occur without their consent and against their best interests. There is a need for investigation into dark gamification because it has the potential to be unethical. Our goal with this study is to reinforce the need of investigating any negative consequences of gamification. This study will also add to the body of existing literature by revealing the dark side of gamification.