The Impact of Gamified Loyalty Programs on Consumer Engagement in the Grocery Retail Market

Consumer behavior is undergoing significant changes: access to information about products, their market counterparts, the activities of the company and its representatives, allows the consumer to independently make decisions about the purchase and use of goods, to take into account the marketing activities of the company, mainly at their own request. For brands, promotion tools that allow them to create an emotional experience, increase consumer loyalty to a particular company, such as a loyalty program, are becoming relevant. The integration of gamified tools into the loyalty creation process provides additional motivation based on the various personal drivers of the consumer. The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of gamified loyalty programs as one of the tools to increase consumer engagement with players in the grocery retail market. Analyzes of data from large grocery retailers and quantitative focus group research with their customers confirms the importance of using gamification. However, according to research in the field of gamification, this tool can be used ineffectively and lead to the opposite effect - emotional dissatisfaction of customers. Thus, grocery retailers may need guidance to create effective gami ed loyalty programs and positive emotional experiences for their audience.