THE ROLE OF GAMIFIED CUSTOMER BENEFITS IN PURSUING CUSTOMERS’ LOYALTY: A MEDIATED ROLE OF CUSTOEMR ENGAGEMENT

Muhammad Qasim Ali; Muhammad Suhail Sharif

Muhammad Qasim Ali PhD Scholar, Department of Management Sciences, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur
Muhammad Suhail Sharif Associate Professor, Technology Management, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur

Keywords: Gamfied Customer Benefits, Customer Engagement, Customer loyalty, Epistemic Benefits, Personal Integrative Benefits, Social Integrative Benefits, Hedonic Benefits

Abstract

The social media platforms have become progressively vital in modern era as a means of interacting with consumers and as a means for marketers to focus on online social networks so as to foster loyalty of brands. Purpose of this study is to analyze the causal relationship among the characteristics of gamified customer benefits (epistemic benefits, social integrative benefits, personal integrative benefits and hedonic benefits), customer engagement and customer loyalty with respect to online brand communities on social media platforms. This study also analyzes the mediating role of customer engagement between gamified customer benefits and customer loyalty. Data is collected from 250 individuals and Smart PLS-4 is used to empirically test the hypothesis. Results reveals that epistemic benefits, social integrative benefits and hedonic benefits has positive & significant impact of customer engagement & customer loyalty while personal integrative benefits shows insignificant impact on customer engagement & loyalty. This study shows mediating role of customer engagement amid gamified customer benefits and customer loyalty. Thus, this study may help brand managers to better understand role of gamified customer benefits with customer engagement and customer loyalty.