My wife and I recently purchased a new car. On the whole, I would call the process uneventful. We had done our research and quickly identified the car we wanted to buy. It was just a matter of going to the dealership and closing the deal.

What really struck me about the process was what happened after we bought our car, more specifically the day we went to pick up the car at the dealer.

As we were getting ready to leave with our brand new car, our salesperson approached us and politely asked to speak to us privately. We gladly obliged and followed him to his desk.

What ensued was a classic case of marketing research losing its way.

Gamification is coming up as a new trend for data collection, making the experience more enjoyable for the respondent while allowing the researcher to obtain higher quality data. But how does one go about creating this experience?

A game for research purposes is built around two simple criteria:

1. A game needs rules, that are simple, clear and few.
2. A game needs a goal that is made explicit from the start and is attainable by all players

Humans have played games since the dawn of time, as it is a means to have fun, to socialise, to compete and to build a reward system through progression, accomplishment and ultimately a win.

Gamification in market research strives to bring this natural human tendency to surveying, by applying game thinking and game mechanics to engage users in solving problems.

The idea behind it is to convert respondents into players, by offering not a survey but an experience. The key is that players don’t need to be tense nor mentally prepared before setting forth to play. We are not completing a survey in exchange for reward points or a chance to win an iPad. No, this is an experience we were born to enjoy!