Title:  Cultural Differences in Reactions to Gamification

Speaker: Ms.Nora Alarfaj, Software Engineering Department. 

Abstract:.

In recent years, ‘gamification’ has been widely used in almost every domain as a technique for increasing people’s engagement and motivation with non-game digital applications and services to make them more enjoyable and engaging. This dissertation investigates the effects of users’ culture and gender on their attitudes and perceptions of gamification elements in general and in the context of a mobile fitness application. To accomplish this, a one-week field study was conducted, supported by a series of questionnaires: an initial questionnaire, a pre-study questionnaire, a one-week diary daily questionnaire and a post-study questionnaire. The effects of culture and gender on users’ attitudes and perceptions of gamification elements (points, badges and leaderboard) were examined. The study also investigated whether a week’s exposure to a gamified app changed participants’ attitudes to and expectation of gamification. The results indicate there was no clear pattern for either culture or gender differences when interacting with gamification elements in the field of mobile fitness apps. However, a number of interesting differences were detected. Overall, Saudi participants reported greater engagement with the gamification elements than British participants. Moreover, women report a more positive attitude toward gamification elements in comparison to men. Finally, participants’ opinions were more positive toward gamification elements after the week’s exposure to a gamified app. The implications and limitations of the findings are discussed.

Date/Time: Tuesday, March 14, 2017 at 12-1pm

Location: Khadija Auditorium, 6G41/6F49 in Building 6 (Broadcast to Room 2077 in CCIS male side)

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