Demographic differences in perceived benefits from gamification

In recent years, ''gamification'' has been proposed as a solution for engaging people in individually and socially sustainable behaviors, such as exercise, sustainable consumption, and education. This paper studies demographic differences in perceived benefits from gamification in the context of exercise. On the basis of data gathered via an online survey (N = 195) from an exercise gamification service Fitocracy, we examine the effects of gender, age, and time using the service on social, hedonic, and utilitarian benefits and facilitating features of gamifying exercise. The results indicate that perceived enjoyment and usefulness of the gamification decline with use, suggesting that users might experience novelty effects from the service. The findings show that women report greater social benefits from the use of gamification. Further, ease of use of gamification is shown to decline with age. The implications of the findings are discussed. The question of how we understand gamer demographics and gaming behaviors, along with use cultures of different demographic groups, has loomed over the last decade as games became one of the main veins of entertainment and consumer culture (Yi, 2004). The deeply established perception of games being a field of entertainment dominated by young males has been challenged. Nowadays, digital gaming is a mainstream activity with broad demographics. The gender divide has been diminishing, the age span has been widening, and the average age is higher than An illustrative study commissioned by PopCap (Information Solutions Group, 2011) reveals that it is actually women in their 30s and 40s who play the popular social games on social networking services (see e.g. most – outplaying men and younger people. It is clear that age and gender perspectives on gaming activities and motivations require further scrutiny. The expansion of the game industry and the increased competition within the field has also led to two parallel developments: (1) using game design as marketing (Hamari & Lehdonvirta, 2010) and (2) gamification – going beyond what traditionally are regarded as games and implementing game design there often for the benefit of users. For example, services such as Mindbloom, Fitocracy, Zombies, Run!, and Nike+ are aimed at assisting the user toward beneficial behavior related to lifestyle and health choices. However, it is unclear whether we can see age and gender discrepancies in use of gamified services similar to those in other digital gaming contexts. The main difference between games and gamifica-tion is that gamification is commonly …