Research shows gamification produces valid data

The research company claimed that soft gamification provided a “directional improvement” in terms of data validity allowing respondents to better reflect and access what they would do in reality.

With Oxford Brookes University student Hollie Kernohan, MMR looked at the consumer behaviour surrounding an average weekly grocery shop using standard questions and gamified question wording in an online survey.

In a gamified condition, 79% of respondents were more likely to accurately predict their spend compared with 63% in the standard survey.

In addition, the application of soft gamification saw the average number of words given in participants’ responses increases by almost ten from 5.68 to 13.77.

MMR said that although the industry had been using gamification, the validity of responses had never been fully investigated until the research.

MMR innovations director Pippa Bailey added: “Our results offer a comforting reassurance not only that gamification is doing what the industry expects in bolstering levels of engagement and enriching data, but also that the adaption of a standard survey using soft gamification techniques can provide data which is at least directionally more valid than standard surveys.”