Unlocking the Power of Gamification for Customer Engagement: A Review and Research Agenda

Gamification has emerged as a potent strategy for boosting consumer engagement in marketing over recent years. This research synthesizes existing literature to pinpoint gaps and propose a future research agenda. A systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis of 43 Scopus-indexed articles from 2014 to 2024 revealed the evolution of gamification research, key theoretical frameworks, influential authors, highly cited works, and leading countries in the field. The findings highlight gamification's ability to transcend traditional marketing, fostering dynamic consumer interactions in digital environments. The study organizes the literature by theory, context, characteristics, and methodology, identifying underexplored areas such as cross-cultural applications and advanced analytics. This work provides business and management scholars with a comprehensive overview of gamification's role, offering actionable insights for marketers to enhance engagement strategies. It also sets a clear research agenda to guide future studies in addressing untapped areas and refining existing models, advancing the field of gamification in marketing.