Once upon a game: boosting brand storytelling through gamification
| Date | 26 June 2024 |
| Pages | 717-732 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-10-2023-4796 |
| Published date | 26 June 2024 |
| Author | Elias Vega,Carmen Camarero |
Once upon a game: boosting brand storytelling
through gamification
Elias Vega and Carmen Camarero
Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales, Universidad de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of gamifying brand storytelling on user immersionin the brand narrative, a concept
referred to as “narrative transportation”. The aim is to comprehend how transportation influences users’experience and their responses to the
brand, with particular focus on brand attitude and WOM. The study also explores the role of interactivity in brand storytelling and its effects on
transportation and user engagement.
Design/methodology/approach –Four experiments were conducted to sequentially test the proposed hypotheses. Each experiment involves ad
hoc gamified brand stories for different product categories (wine, museum, glasses and frozen fruit).
Findings –Findings indicate that including gamification elements in brand stories heightens narrative transportation and enhances the in formation
obtained by users as well as their entertainment. Users thus respond more positively to the brand in terms of attitude and WOM. The study also
reveals that high levels of interactivity in the game may actually decrease narrative transportation in the story, although this is offset by the
perception of greater entertainment.
Originality/value –This research contributes to current understanding of brand storytelling and its impact on branding. It highlights the importance
of offering users a gamified experience that can provide them with information about the brand whilst also offering them entertainment. The resu lts
also hold implications for gamification literature by emphasizing the need to ensure a balance between game and story vis-
a-vis enhancing the
impact of gamified storytelling on brand response.
Keywords Brand storytelling, Gamification, Interactivity, Narrative transportation, Brand experience, Experimental design, Brand attitude,
Word-of-mouth
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
Humans are drawn to stories. We use them to communicate
more effectively with each other and to captivate others, and
we even consume stories –both real and fictional –for mere
entertainment. This has encouraged brands to exploit the
potential of stories by using them as a key factor in conveying
commercial or institutional information to individuals and
thereby achieving marketing goals. These firm generated
messages are called brand storytelling, which is definedas the use
of narrative techniques applied to marketing communications to
promote brands to customers in an engaging and meaningful
way (Mills and Robson, 2020).
While text was the medium for telling stories in the analogue
era, images and digital video allow the impact of brand
storytelling on consumers’emotions to increase (Pera and
Viglia, 2016). As storytelling methods continue to evolve, new
tools are emerging to bolster the attainmentof storytelling goals
through interactivity (Sung et al., 2022). The emergence of
cutting-edge technologies has revolutionized brand
communication, sparking great interest in merging storytelling
elements with technologies that allow immersive and
interactive experiences (Sung et al.,2022), such as 360-degree
videos (Butcher and Sung, 2024;Feng, 2018), augmented
reality experiences (Fenu and Pittarello, 2018;Sung et al.,
2022) and synergistic combinations of websites, social
networking platforms and news media (Granitz and Forman,
2015).
Through these tools and technologies, brands now possess
unparalleledopportunities to captivate and engage audiences in
ways that were previously unimaginable. One such tool is
gamification, which involves integrating game elements into
non-game settings (Deterding et al.,2011). Gamification can
create remembranceand greater connection with consumers by
improving brand connection (Berger et al.,2018). Yet, the
potential to align brand storytelling and gamification remains
unexplored, even though both tools are already being used
together. In its campaign “One Coke Away FromEach Other”,
Coca-Cola launched a storytellingad in which numerical codes
were hidden at different points in the video, and wherein –by
finding these codes–exclusive prizes could be won. This
illustrates how gamifying storytelling can attract consumers to
The current issue and full text archiveof this journal is available on Emerald
Insight at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/1061-0421.htm
Journal of Product & Brand Management
33/6 (2024) 717–732
© Emerald Publishing Limited [ISSN 1061-0421]
[DOI 10.1108/JPBM-10-2023-4796]
This work was supported by the Junta de Castilla y Le
on (Spain) and the
European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) [project reference
VA219P20] and by the Ministry of Science and Innovation. State Research
Agency (Spain) [project reference PID2021-123004NB-I00].
Conflict of interest: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.
Received 6 November 2023
Revised 13 March 2024
8 May 2024
Accepted 9 May 2024
717
the narrative and enable them to enjoy it or gain a greater
understanding of the brand or the story the brand wishes to
convey.
Despite the potential complementarity of storytelling and
gamification, there arevery few studies that examine the effects
of gamifying a brand narrative. This research gap results in a
lack of understanding as to the potential impact of integrating
gaming elements into narratives and their influence on
narrative transportation (Tanouri et al., 2021). There is also
limited understanding of how to effectively combine brand
storytelling with gamification. Addressing this gap is crucial in
terms of enhancing the use of gamification in brand narratives
across interactive media platforms. This would enable
storytellers to discern which elements are most conducive to
achieving their objectives and, therefore, optimize their
narrative designs accordingly. Academics and marketers alike
thus need to boost their knowledge about how gamificationcan
be used to convey a story and so make it more efficientin terms
of information, entertainmentand engagement with the brand.
In an effort to fill this gap, this study addresses two research
questions: How does merging storytelling and gamification
affect consumer response and experience? What is the positive
and negative effect of interaction during gameplay on the
experience with thestory that the brand aims to tell? This study
first seeks to investigate how the gamification of a brand
storytelling in an online context can affect narrative
transportation and how it influences brand experience and
responses. Secondly, this work explores what impact
interactivity in the gamified plot might have on narrative
transportation and brandexperience. To examine these effects,
this paper conducts four controlled laboratory experiments
with gamified brand storytelling created ad hoc for different
product domains.
This study first contributes to brand management literature
and to the debate on how interactive technologiesand tools can
change consumer experience with the brand, creating new
touchpoints that connect brands and consumers (Chevtchouk
et al.,2021;Gligor and Bozkurt, 2021;Golob et al.,2020).
Second, it contributes to brand storytelling literature (Escalas,
2004;Júnior et al.,2022;Fan et al., 2023) and gamification in
marketing (Mulcahy et al.,2020;Müller-Stewens et al., 2017)
by looking at the synergies betweenthe two tools and their
potential for enhancing brand outcomes. Results reveal that
gamifying a brand story positively impacts user response to
the brand through a psychological process of narrative
transportation in the story and by boosting the online customer
experience (informativeness and entertainment). Although a
high level of interactivity in the game has positive effects
on brand experience –particularly on the entertainment
component–it does also lead to reduced user transportation
into the narrative world and into the plot of the story. The
results have implications for the design of gamified brand
storytelling.
2.Conceptual background and hypotheses
development
2.1 Gamified brand storytelling
The literature on brand management agrees that storytelling is a
powerful tool for marketing communication (Lundqvist et al.,2013;
Delgado-Ballester, 2021;Kaczorowska et al., 2023). Brand
storytelling is used by companies to establish connections
with consumers (Delgado-Ballester, 2021), to break down
psychological barriers (Fan et al.,2023;Júnior et al., 2022),
to communicate brand values to consumers (Lundqvist et al.,
2013), to generate customer engagement (Kaczorowska et al.,
2023)ortoinfluence customer action willingness (Van Laer
et al., 2014). Brand storytelling has even been proposed as a
crisis managemen t strategy to combat fake new s or brand-risk
situations (Mills and Robson, 2020). In short, brand
storytelling aims to make the brand more attractive to
consumers, to add emotional components and to connect
consumers and stakeholders to the brand (Dessart and
Pitardi, 2019;Kaczorowska et al., 2023).
Although the potential of stories has attracted the interestof
scholars in recent years, there is still much to be understood
about how stories work in a digital world (Butcher and Sung,
2024;Sung et al., 2022). When evaluating future challenges
and opportunities in brand management, Golob et al. (2020)
underline the importance of knowing how developments in
technology have changed consumerexperience with the brand,
creating new touchpoints that connect brands and consumers.
In fact, few authors have evaluatedtheopportunities that digital
tools offer firms in terms of driving these stories –especially in
an online context. Prominent works include those of Butcher
and Sung (2024), who assessed the effectsof using 360-degree
videos in brand storytelling; Granitz and Forman (2015), who
analysed the effects from a transmedia perspective; or Sung
et al. (2022), who explore the use of storytelling via augmented
digital humans.
Golob et al. (2020) also point out the need to understand
how new technologies enable consumers to experience and
enjoy branding and, specifically, the impact of gamification on
brand loyalty as a tool that provides entertainment. In this
sense, gamification has not been alien to brand literature.
Nobre and Ferreira (2017) consider gamificationas a branding
tool that allows the co-creation of experiences through the
voluntary participation of customers and also enables brand
engagement and self-brand connection to be generated.
Gamification involves designing information systems to enable
game-like experiences and motivations so as to then attempt to
influence user behaviour (Koivisto and Hamari, 2019).
Gamified brand storytelling entails strategically integrating
game mechanics into a brand’s narrative,aiming to enhance its
effectiveness and influence consumer engagement and
response.
The story itself is one of the fundamental elements of
gamification (Hofacker et al., 2016). It provides the game
experience with context and meaning by abstracting the player
into narrative transportation (Green and Brock, 2000), in
which the user is psychologically immersed in the game. For
many videogame players, what is important and what keeps
them hooked for hours is not the points or badges they can
earn, but the story. To improve a game’s design and engageits
users, a game thus requires a good story. Just as a good story
improves a game, incorporating elements of gamification into
brand storytelling can effectively engage users with the brand
(Berger et al., 2018;Nobreand Ferreira, 2017). One example is
the gamification of the “Inside the Haiti Earthquake”project,
which allowed users to learn about the catastrophe and its
Once upon a game
Elias Vega and Carmen Camarero
Journal of Product & Brand Management
Volume 33 · Number 6 · 2024 · 717–732
718
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