Framework for consumer engagement in tourism marketing: A gamification perspective
(A2026-132121)

AUTHORS

Wun Han Chan, Hong Kong Metropolitan University

ABSTRACT

Gamification is applied as a digital marketing strategy in Hong Kong’s tourism industry, where companies engage consumers by offering rewards and discount challenges. Several gamification studies highlight no significant results of positive behavioural changes when consumers are exposed to gamified features. Some travel companies have not considered the interplay between users' responses to the provided artefacts and the designers' creation of artefacts based on user needs. This oversight results in inconsistent outcomes in the application of gamification. This research aims to establish a new theoretical framework, investigating which gamification affordances most effectively engage consumers by integrating affordance theory with structuration theory in the context of tourism marketing. This also suggests certain conditions to foster the effectiveness of gamification affordances for consumer engagement aids marketers to identify their online tactics in future empirical research.