Gamified interactions: whether, when, and how games facilitate self-brand connections

Firms increasingly use games to interact with their customers. Yet, surprisingly little is known about whether, when, and how such "gamified" interactions engage consumers with a firm's brand, thereby facilitating self-brand connections. Building on flow theory, we show that gamified interactions that are highly interactive and optimally challenging facilitate self-brand connections, because such games lead to emotional and cognitive brand engagement. A field study and three experiments across various product domains and game designs support our theory. We also identify conditions under which consumers do not become engaged with a brand, namely when firms restrict their decisional control either to voluntarily participate in the game (i.e., compulsory play) or to spend as much time as desired playing the game (i.e., time pressure). Our findings advance existing knowledge about the use of games in marketing and provide important implications for how marketers can harness their potential to build self-brand connections.