Gamification in the context of fitness and its impact on consumer subjective wellbeing : Stress & Self-esteem

Abstract

This thesis delves into the often-overlooked negative aspects of gamification, focusing on its potential effect on user mental wellbeing, especially users' self-esteem and stress levels. Despite its widespread use as an engagement fostering tool, gamification's impact on users' psychological states has raised concerns in recent years. The research objectives aim to comprehensively investigate how interacting with gamification mechanisms may lead to adverse effects on self-esteem and induce stress among users.

Through an extensive review of existing literature and empirical studies, this research aims to gain insights into the complex relationship between gamification and mental wellbeing. By identifying potential negative impact on consumers’ subjective wellbeing and the extent of the detrimental effects if any, as well as the moderating role that engagement level and personality traits might play between gamification and subjective wellbeing. The study intends to shed light on the darker consequences of gamification implementation in the context of fitness, especially if gamified fitness applications directly heighten consumers’ stress level and lower their self-esteem.

The primary focus is on exploring how gamification, which might contain leaderboards, points systems, and competition, may inadvertently trigger stressors and negatively affect users' self-esteem. Moreover, the investigation delves into the potential moderating role of the level of engagement and personality traits, following the Big Five personality traits model (McCrae & Costa, 1985) relying on five major personality traits (openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism) that shape one’s personality.

Data collected through an online questionnaire compared the effects of gamified and non-gamified fitness experiences on participant stress and self-esteem. While our analysis revealed no significant direct influence of gamification on these outcomes, personality emerged as a crucial moderator in the gamification-self-esteem link. Specifically, individuals exhibiting high neuroticism demonstrated a decrease in self-esteem when interacting with the gamified fitness experience.

Ultimately, this thesis seeks to contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the dual nature of gamification, helping designers and managers better understand the potential setbacks that the most popular forms of gamification implementations in mobile health and fitness and, therefore, allowing them to reach a balanced and ethical adoption of gamified experiences that safeguard users' mental wellbeing while harnessing the benefits of engagement and motivation.