Commercial Concept for Gamification-based Product in Discussion Forum
Mannermaa, Tiia (2020)
Mannermaa, Tiia
2020
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2020111122597
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2020111122597
Tiivistelmä
Gamification is the application of game dynamics and mechanics to solve problems and engage users in non-game contexts. Furthermore, it can be defined as a set of activities and processes to engage and reward users by using or applying characteristics of game elements, such as points, levels, badges, ranks, virtual goods, or other motivational mechanics. Gamification invokes people’s basic instinct to be attracted to fun, competitive or rewarding actions, similar to what we experience while playing games. The addictive elements of gamification can be utilized to engage and activate users in a variety of online environments, such as discussion forums.
The main objective of the thesis was to design a new engagement-driven commercial product for the Demi.fi web service since the profitability of display advertising – which is one of the main sources of revenue for the service – is declining and traditional native con-tent advertising as a commercial product cannot reach the young audience. The goal was to find new digital Business to Business (B2B) monetization models for Demi.fi and combine the needs of an active online community with the needs of B2B clients to ensure commercial viability. In addition to the commercial perspective, the product is intended to serve journalistic and community atmosphere-related needs. The editorial staff of Demi is interested in researching gamification as a journalist's tool as part of the #nuoretmyös-project. The requirements for the new feature were collected with various stakeholder interviews as well as with user surveys that included the users of Demi.fi. The research focused on the Finnish users of Demi.fi, where the target audience was generation Z, which refers to the generation born between 1995 and 2010.
The thesis work resulted in a commercial concept called Demi Spirit Challenge. It is a commercialized challenge, which can be offered and sold to a commercial partner and created for Demi.fi. The challenges consist of different tasks that logged in users can perform, and by completing the challenges users can achieve various rewards. The results of the thesis demonstrate that the opportunity to complete Demi Spirit Challenges on Demi.fi increased users' desire to use the service. The work was carried out during the spring, summer, and autumn 2020.
The main objective of the thesis was to design a new engagement-driven commercial product for the Demi.fi web service since the profitability of display advertising – which is one of the main sources of revenue for the service – is declining and traditional native con-tent advertising as a commercial product cannot reach the young audience. The goal was to find new digital Business to Business (B2B) monetization models for Demi.fi and combine the needs of an active online community with the needs of B2B clients to ensure commercial viability. In addition to the commercial perspective, the product is intended to serve journalistic and community atmosphere-related needs. The editorial staff of Demi is interested in researching gamification as a journalist's tool as part of the #nuoretmyös-project. The requirements for the new feature were collected with various stakeholder interviews as well as with user surveys that included the users of Demi.fi. The research focused on the Finnish users of Demi.fi, where the target audience was generation Z, which refers to the generation born between 1995 and 2010.
The thesis work resulted in a commercial concept called Demi Spirit Challenge. It is a commercialized challenge, which can be offered and sold to a commercial partner and created for Demi.fi. The challenges consist of different tasks that logged in users can perform, and by completing the challenges users can achieve various rewards. The results of the thesis demonstrate that the opportunity to complete Demi Spirit Challenges on Demi.fi increased users' desire to use the service. The work was carried out during the spring, summer, and autumn 2020.