Gamified promotions in shopping apps: can effort justification and regret explain their positive effects?

Purpose Traditional promotions such as discount coupons often do not catch consumers’ attention. As an alternative, shopping apps provide an opportunity to attract consumers through the gamification of traditional promotions. However, prior research has not consistently supported the effects of such promotions on consumers’ purchase intention and provides only limited psychological explanation. Design/methodology/approach The study uses three online experiments using a mock-up app in the fashion context. We manipulated the promotion type (gamified/non-gamified), the discount level (5%/10%/20%), the prize specification (before/after the game) and the shopping situation (browsing/buying). The data were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA), mediation and moderated mediation analyses with SPSS and PROCESS. Findings The results show that consumers’ purchase intention is higher for a gamified (vs. non-gamified) promotion. This relationship is serially mediated by consumers’ perceived effort to obtain the coupon and consumers’ anticipated regret of not redeeming the coupon. Moreover, the positive effect of a gamified (vs. traditional) promotion increases with higher discounts, and consumers’ anticipated regret is higher when consumers know the prize before (vs. after) playing the game. Originality/value Few studies have looked at the combination of monetary promotions with gamified content, and those that have, found inconsistent effects regarding consumers’ purchase intention. This research contributes to prior research by confirming the positive effect of a gamified promotion on consumers’ purchase intention. Further, it is the first study that explains this relationship by considering important psychological mechanisms based on effort justification and regret theory.