Introduction

Gamification was first proposed by Nick Pelling in 2002, specifically defined as the use of game elements and game mechanics in non-game environments1 to enhance user stickiness and solve problems2. In recent years, with the rapid development of the digital era, in the commercial field, the use of gamification in marketing to improve consumer stickiness and increase conversion rate by providing consumers with scenario-based and interactive games has been focused on by various brands3.

Gamification is fast becoming a new trend in marketing. In practice, at present, there have been many companies have tried and produced many successful cases, for example: Nike launched an app called Nike Running Club, users can use the app to record running data, compete with other users in races, complete tasks to receive badge rewards, etc.4,5; Xiaomi has created the Xiaomi Community, where users can complete tasks to obtain points, and then use the points to exchange rewards or conduct lucky draws. The points can then be used to exchange for rewards or lucky draws, in addition to exchanging and sharing with other members and giving feedback on problems6; Cainiao established Cainiao Home, a platform that combines common gamification design elements such as leaderboards, points, and badges, and rewards consumers for their participation in environmental protection tasks, such as courier packaging recycling, waste recycling, etc7.

In terms of research, many scholars have been conducted for brand gamification marketing.However, the existing research mainly focuses on the impact of gamification marketing activities itself on consumer behavior, for example, Qian’s research shows that the sense of achievement, immersion and social interaction brought by gamification marketing activities to consumers will have a significant impact on consumer brand loyalty, among which the sense of achievement has the strongest impact on consumer brand loyalty compared to the sense of immersion and social interaction8; Yang uses the TAM framework to explore user context and brand attitude in the context of gamification marketing, and found that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived social influence and perceived fun all have an impact on consumer user engagement, of which perceived usefulness and perceived fun have a significant impact on consumer willingness to participate, and furthermore, consumer willingness to participate has an impact on brand attitude9; Bauer designed behavioral experiments in a digital retail environment to explore the role of gamification marketing in influencing consumer brand satisfaction, consumer brand loyalty, and positive word-of-mouth, and finally found that shopping-related games can increase consumer satisfaction, loyalty, and positive word-of-mouth intentions10.

By collating the existing studies, we find that the current research mainly focuses on the impact of gamification marketing activities itself on consumer behavior, mainly exploring the impact of gamification marketing activities on consumer user participation, brand attitude, brand loyalty, etc., and the purpose of the research is mainly to argue the importance and effectiveness of gamification marketing activities. These are all macro-level studies, but at the micro-level, i.e., there are very few studies exploring the design and mechanism of gamification marketing itself, and there is a gap in this area, which is of strong theoretical significance. Therefore, we decided to start from the design of gamification marketing to explore the different effects of different designs on consumers’ brand attitudes, and find the optimal solutions, so as to propose practical marketing suggestions for brands, which has strong practical implications.

In summary, we ask the following research question:

What are the mechanisms by which brand gamification marketing design influences consumer brand attitudes?

For brand gamification marketing design, we found from previous studies that Caillois divided the features of gamification into two categories, one is mainly based on luck and challenge mechanisms, called “Ludus”, and the other is mainly based on interesting environment design and immersive experience extreme, called “Paida”11. Referring to this research result, we start from the language styles in brand gamification marketing design, and classify the language styles into two categories, which are challenging, corresponding to “Ludus”, and fantastical, corresponding to “Paida”. This paper uses self-determination theory to build a theoretical research model to elaborate the relationship between “language style, user participation and brand attitude”, and examines the influence of brand gamification language style on consumer brand attitude and the mediating role of user participation.

In addition, based on the construal level theory (CLT), psychological distance has been categorized into four dimensions: temporal, spatial, social, and hypothetical distance, which are interrelated and have interactions12. In consumer research, psychological distance is often used to make measurements of behavior, with social and temporal distance being the most used13. Therefore, we introduce psychological distance as a moderating variable for the role of brand gamification marketing language style in influencing consumer user engagement.

The rest of the paper is organized as follows. In Chap. 2 we will summarize the theoretical background of this study and propose the research model and research hypotheses of this paper relying on the theoretical background. In Chap. 3 we will describe the research methodology and collect data. In Chap. 4 we will analyze the collected data empirically and justify the research hypotheses. In Chap. 5, we will summarize the findings of the study and discuss the theoretical and practical implications of this paper, as well as point out the limitations and future directions of this study.

Literature review and research hypotheses

Gamified brand marketing

Gamification was first proposed by Nick Pelling in 2002, specifically defined as the use of game elements and game mechanics in non-game environments1 to enhance user stickiness and solve problems2. In recent years, gamification is rapidly becoming a new trend in the field of marketing, receiving more and more attention and focus from brands.

Research on gamified brand marketing is becoming more and more comprehensive. Qian’s study shows that the sense of achievement, immersion and social interaction brought by gamified marketing activities to consumers will have a significant impact on consumer brand loyalty, of which the sense of achievement has the strongest impact on consumer brand loyalty compared to immersion and social interaction8; Lucassen found through his research with marketing executives that gamification marketing has an impact on user stickiness, brand loyalty, and brand awareness, with an increase in user stickiness being the most important advantage14; Yang used the TAM framework to explore the user background and brand attitude in the context of gamification marketing, and found that perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived social influence, and perceived enjoyment all have an impact on the consumer’s user engagement, with perceived usefulness and perceived fun having a significant impact on consumers’ willingness to engage, and furthermore, consumers’ willingness to engage has an impact on brand attitudes9; Kuo designed an online platform, collected qualitative and quantitative data, and analyzed them, and found that gamification can enhance user stickiness and has great potential to attract, motivate, and retain users15; Bauer designed behavioral experiments in a digital retail environment to explore the role of gamification marketing in influencing consumer brand satisfaction, consumer brand loyalty, and positive word-of-mouth, and finally found that shopping-related games can increase consumer satisfaction, loyalty, and positive word-of-mouth intentions10.

After combing through the past studies, we can easily find that the current studies mainly focus on the impact of gamification marketing activities on consumer behavior, and there are very few studies exploring the design and mechanism of gamification marketing itself, so there is a gap in this area, so we decided to start from the design of gamification marketing, to explore the different impacts of different designs on the brand attitudes of consumers.

For brand gamification marketing design, combing through the existing studies, Caillois found that the characteristics of gamification are divided into two categories, one is mainly based on luck and challenge mechanisms, called “Ludus”, and the other is mainly based on interesting environment design and immersive experience extreme, called “Paida”11. Referring to this research result, we start from the language styles in branded gamification marketing design, and classify the language styles into two categories, which are challenging, corresponding to “Ludus”, and fantastical, corresponding to “Paida”.Specifically, Ludus is defined as a challenging language style, includes Alea based on luck mechanisms, such as lottery, and Agon based on challenge mechanisms, such as tournaments and leaderboards; Paida is defined as a fantastical language style, includes Mimicry based on immersive experiences, such as playing a virtual character, and Ilinx based on interesting environment design, such as colorful design of the interface. Brand attitude is defined as consumers’ cognitive evaluation of a brand/company after engaging in the brand’s/company’s gamified marketing activities.

Self-determination theory is an empirically based theory of individual behavior, first proposed by Deci and Ryan in the 1970s, which postulates that “people have an intrinsic tendency to grow and an intrinsic psychological need that underlies their self-motivation and personality integration”. It distinguishes between autonomy and control of individual motivation and explains that individual behavior is a process driven by a combination of internal and external motivation16. Self-determination theory identifies autonomy, competence, and relatedness as the three most prevalent psychological needs. Autonomy refers to an individual’s internal perception of causality, competence refers to an individual’s ability to make changes to the environment and obtain valuable results as a result, and relatedness refers to an individual’s sense of belonging and connection to the people and groups or cultures that are the target of communication. However, different individuals exhibit different behaviors due to influences such as different cultural backgrounds, different goals, and different developmental states17. Tobon et al. point out that self-determination theory is often used to explain why gamification is effective in attracting consumers in studies related to gamification. This is because self-determination theory distinguishes between intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, gamification can be viewed as an extrinsic motivation, and earning points, badges, and rewards are the main reasons for attracting consumers to gamification18.

Based on Yang9 ‘s research, it is not difficult to find that gamified marketing has an impact on consumers’ brand attitudes. In addition, Caillois11 and Tobon18 pointed out that based on the self-determination theory, language style will have a positive impact on consumers’ perception and motivation. Therefore, we propose the following hypothesis:

H1

Brand gamification language styles positively influence consumers’ brand attitude. Specifically.

H1a

Brand gamification ludus language styles positively influence consumers’ brand attitude.

H1b

Brand gamification paida language styles positively influence consumers’ brand attitude.

User participation

User participation is defined as the degree of consumer participation in a brand/company’s gamified marketing campaign that. Lin et al. based on a technology acceptance model, studied Starbucks using gamified elements and found that gamified elements significantly increased consumer user participation, promoted sustainable consumption by creating happy emotions for users, increased user stickiness and positively influenced subsequent behaviors19. Noguti believes that language is an important factor in user participation because language is a structural factor that contains elements that are easy to recognize and easy to use, and different styles of language represent different choices of authors for communication, and different styles can have different effects on user participation20. Chiu et al.‘s study pointed out that user participation will increase significantly if the marketing message contains utilitarian values. In addition, marketing messages with hedonic value significantly increase user participation compared to those with neither utilitarian nor hedonic value21. Dobele et al. found that the degree to which a marketing message evokes emotion significantly affects user participation, and therefore, for a company to go viral, the marketing message should communicate emotions such as surprise22. Berger and Milkman’s study states that positive content in marketing messages leads to higher user engagement than negative content, but both lead to higher user engagement than neutral content23.

Based on the study of Noguti20, we can know that language is a structural factor, and language style will affect the user participation of consumers. At the same time, Caillois11 and Tobon18 showed that based on self-determination theory, language style would have a positive impact on consumers’ perception and motivation. Therefore, we propose the following hypothesis:

H2

Language style positively influences consumer user participation.

Langaro et al. developed a research framework with user participation as the core of branded social networking sites in order to validate the important role of social networking sites in building brand knowledge, and the results showed that consumer user participation had a direct, significant, and positive impact on brand awareness. In addition, brand awareness mediates the mechanism by which consumer user participation influences brand attitudes24.

Noguti20 pointed out that language style has an impact on consumer engagement, while Langaro24 showed that user engagement has a significant impact on consumer brand attitude, and Yang9 pointed out that there is an influence mechanism between game-based marketing and consumer brand attitude. Therefore, we propose the following hypothesis:

H3

Consumer user participation mediates the relationship between language style and brand attitude.

Psychological distance

According to the construal level theory (CLT), the different mental representations that people form of the same object depend on the mental distance of the object, i.e., when an object is not part of a person’s direct experience in the here and now and has to be interpreted, then the person’s mental distance is distant25, based on the construal level theory (CLT), the mental distances have been categorized into temporal distance, spatial distance, social distance and hypothetical distance, which are four dimensions that are interrelated and have interaction12. In consumer research, psychological distance is often used to measure behavior, with social and temporal distance being the most used13. Hernández-Ortega’s study showed that when reading a consumer online review, the reader establishes a connection with the writer of the online review and simultaneously perceives a psychosocial distance from the writer of the online review. Further, psychosocial distance moderates the effects of language style on user participation and brand attitude26; Chung’s study found that consumers’ evaluations of companies’ behavior on social media are affected by psychosocial distance when it comes to ethical and competence behavior, respectively, and that when it comes to ethical behaviors, closer psychosocial distance produces more favorable evaluations, and when competence behaviors are involved, greater psychosocial distance produces more favorable evaluations27; Liviatan defined psychosocial distance as interpersonal similarity and used the construal level theory (CLT) to analyze the effect of interpersonal similarity on the behavioral representations and judgments of others, and found that the more similar two people are, the closer they are in terms of social distance and the lower the level of explanation required28 .

Hernández-Ortega26 ‘s research shows that consumers will have psychological distance when reading text information. Furthermore, psychological distance moderates the influence of language style on user participation and brand attitude. Therefore, we introduce psychological distance as a moderating variable of the influence of brand gamification marketing language style on consumer participation, and propose the following hypothesis:

H4

The mediating mechanism of language style on brand attitudes is moderated by the role of psychological distance. Specifically, individuals who are psychologically proximity have a higher level of brand attitude than those who are psychologically distant.

The research model of this paper is shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1
figure 1

Research model.

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Method

The study utilized the situational experimental method by distributing the questionnaire and calling the subjects on the Credamo platform. The research questionnaire is divided into two parts, the first part is the behavioral experiment part and the second part is the measurement scale part. In the behavioral section, subjects were read randomly selected stimulus materials, which were designed with reference to existing studies13,29 with minor modifications for the research context. Measurement scales were used to measure variables on a 5-point Likert scale. All measurement scales were taken from existing studies with only minor modifications for the context of this study, and the measurement scales are shown in Table 1.

Table 1 Measurement and adapted sources.
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A total of four sets of studies are used in this paper. Study 1 conducted a pretest to investigate the feasibility of the stimulus material. Study 2 explored the direct influence of brand gamification marketing language style on consumer brand attitudes. Study 3 explored the mediating role of user participation in the influence of brand gamification marketing language style on consumer brand attitudes. Study 4 investigated the moderating effect of psychological distance on the influence of brand gamification marketing language style on consumer brand attitude. The stimulus materials were replaced in each group of experiments to ensure the validity of the experimental data.

Result

Study 1: Pretest

The main purpose of the pretest was to validate the suitability of the stimulus materials and to ensure the correct selection of stimulus materials needed for the formal experiment. By conducting a pretest with a small sample size, the pretest focused on assessing whether the designed stimulus materials were effective in manipulating subjects’ perception of language styles. The experiment used a textual description plus a picture presentation to present the stimulus materials with language styles to the subjects, and measured the participants’ perception of the language styles of the stimulus materials through a total of nine items in two scales, and finally measured the subjects’ correlational information. The stimulus materials were referenced from existing studies31 with minor modifications for the research context. There were four types of stimulus materials, corresponding to the interaction with or without ludus and with or without paida. The stimulus material was a poster for a branding campaign, which firstly told the subjects “Suppose the apple brand has launched a campaign to collect product slogans with prizes, and the above is the publicity poster, and you are interested in participating in the campaign”, and then they read the poster, which is shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2
figure 2

Description of the four conditions.

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The pretest recruited 64 subjects through the Credamo platform, 32 males and 32 females, and 93.75% of the subjects were between the ages of 20–30 years. Subjects filled out the Language Style ludus and paida Scale after reading the information on the material and analyzed it using one-sample t-test. Subjects’ perceptions of the absence of ludus language styles in the experimental material were significantly lower than the scale median (M0 = 1.8438, SD = 0.47, t(32) = 22.403, p < 0.001), and subjects’ perceptions of ludus language styles in the experimental material were significantly higher than the scale median (M1 = 3.9141, SD = 0.37, t(32) = 60.145, p < 0.001). p < 0.001). Subjects’ perceptions of the absence of paida language style in the experimental material were significantly lower than the scale median (M0 = 2.025, SD = 0.34, t(32) = 33.708, p < 0.001), and subjects’ perceptions of the presence of paida language style in the experimental material were significantly higher than the scale median (M1 = 3.8810, SD = 0.40, t(32) = 55.401, p < 0.001). This indicates that the manipulation of language style was successful, and therefore the four materials were used in the formal study.

Study 2: main effect of language style on brand attitude

Study 2 recruited 199 subjects via the Credamo platform and used a 2 (Ludus language style: yes vs. no) * 2 (Paida language style: yes vs. no) between-groups experimental design, with the stimulus material modified by changing the new product from a computer to a tablet with the aim of verifying the main effect of language style. Before the experiment began, subjects were first asked if they had ever participated in a brand/company’s gamified marketing campaign, and then those who had participated in a brand/company’s gamified marketing campaign were randomly assigned to four groups: the first group read the marketing campaign posters in which neither paida nor ludus language style was present; the second group read the marketing campaign posters in which paida language style was present but ludus language style was not present; The third group read a marketing campaign poster in which ludus language style was present but not paida language style, and the fourth group read a marketing campaign poster in which both paida language style and ludus language style were present. Immediately following this, subjects were asked to respond to measurement scales for ludus language style, paida language style, and brand attitudes. Finally, the subjects’ demographic information was measured.

Descriptive statistics

Study 2 recruited subjects via the Credamo platform, published for users with a historical adoption rate greater than or equal to 80%, and provided appropriate compensation to effectively improve the quality of the questionnaire. A total of 211 questionnaires from different independent IPs were collected in the study 2, and 199 valid questionnaires were obtained after excluding invalid samples that had not participated in brand/corporate gamification marketing activities, failed to pass the screening questions, and had the same answers to all questions. Among them, there were 101 males and 98 females, with an average age of 26.18 years old, and the specific demographic information of the samples is shown in Table 2. There were no significant differences in gender, age, highest education level, and monthly disposable income among the four groups of sample data.

Table 2 Descriptive statistics of study 2.
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Reliability test

Firstly, the reliability of the scale question items was tested, and the Cronbach’s α value of the scale was calculated by using SPSS26.0, and from the Table 3 below, it can be seen that the Cronbach’s α value of the variables of language style ludus and paida and brand attitude in the present study are all greater than 0.8, which shows that the reliability of the scale is good.

Table 3 Reliability analysis of study 2.
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Manipulation test

Analyzed using one-sample t-test. Subjects’ perceptions of the absence of ludus language styles in the experimental materials were significantly lower than the scale median (M0 = 1.9014, SD = 0.39, t(104) = 50.104, p < 0.001), and subjects’ perceptions of ludus language styles in the experimental materials were significantly higher than the scale median (M1 = 3.9605, SD = 0.45, t(95) = 86.630, p < 0.001). Subjects’ perception of the absence of paida language style in the experimental material was significantly lower than the scale median (M0 = 2.002, SD = 0.38, t(106) = 54.387, p < 0.001), and subjects’ perception of the presence of paida language style in the experimental material was significantly higher than the scale median (M1 = 3.9935, SD = 0.39, t(93) = 98.881, p < 0.001). This indicates that the manipulation of language style was successful.

Main effect test

The main effect of paida language style on brand attitude was first verified using independent samples t-test. The result is shown in the Fig. 3. The results showed that paida language style could significantly increase consumers’ brand attitude (M0 = 2.46, M1 = 3.29, t(199)=-6.455, p < 0.001). Ludus language style was able to significantly increase consumers’ brand attitudes (M0 = 2.05, M1 = 3.72, t(199)=-21.416, p < 0.001).

The interaction was further explored by analyzing the data using a 2 (paida language style: yes vs. no) x 2 (ludus language style: yes vs. no) two-way anova. The results showed a significant main effect of paida language style (F = 435.918, p < 0.001), a significant main effect of ludus language style (F = 1546.230, p < 0.001), and a significant interaction between paida and ludus language styles (F = 13.007, p < 0.001).

Fig. 3
figure 3

Impact of different language styles on consumers’ brand attitudes.

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Conclusion

The results of Study 2 show that, Ludus and paida language styles have a positive effect on consumer brand attitudes when they exist singularly, and the positive effect is more significant when both exist simultaneously. There is a significant interaction between the two language styles. This is consistent with the research results of Yang9, Caillois11 and Tobon18, that is, gamified marketing language style has a significant positive impact on consumers’ brand attitude. Hypothesis H1 is supported.

Study 3: mediating effect of user participation

Study 3 recruited 198 subjects via the Credamo platform and used a 2 (Ludus language style: yes vs. no) * 2 (Paida language style: yes vs. no) between-groups experimental design, with the stimulus material modified by changing the new product from a tablet to a mobile phone with the aim of verifying the main effect of language style and mediating effects of user participation. Before the experiment began, subjects were first asked if they had ever participated in a brand/company’s gamified marketing campaign, and then those who had participated in a brand/company’s gamified marketing campaign were randomly assigned to four groups: the first group read the marketing campaign posters in which neither paida nor ludus language style was present; the second group read the marketing campaign posters in which paida language style was present but ludus language style was not present; The third group read a marketing campaign poster in which ludus language style was present but not paida language style, and the fourth group read a marketing campaign poster in which both paida language style and ludus language style were present. Immediately following this, subjects were asked to respond to measurement scales for ludus language style, paida language style, user participation and brand attitudes. Finally, the subjects’ demographic information was measured.

Descriptive statistics

Study 3 recruited subjects via the Credamo platform, published for users with a historical adoption rate greater than or equal to 80%, and provided appropriate compensation to effectively improve the quality of the questionnaire. A total of 208 questionnaires from different independent IPs were collected in the study 3, and 198 valid questionnaires were obtained after excluding invalid samples that had not participated in brand/corporate gamification marketing activities, failed to pass the screening questions, and had the same answers to all questions. Among them, there were 96 males and 102 females, with an average age of 27.34 years old, and the specific demographic information of the samples is shown in Table 4. There were no significant differences in gender, age, highest education level, and monthly disposable income among the four groups of sample data.

Table 4 Descriptive statistics of study 3.
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Reliability test

Firstly, the reliability of the scale question items was tested, and the Cronbach’s α value of the scale was calculated by using SPSS26.0, and from the Table 5 below, it can be seen that the Cronbach’s α value of the variables of language style ludus and paida, user participation and brand attitude in the present study are all greater than 0.8, which shows that the reliability of the scale is good.

Table 5 Reliability analysis of study 3.
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Manipulation test

Analyzed using one-sample t-test. Subjects’ perceptions of the absence of ludus language styles in the experimental materials were significantly lower than the scale median (M0 = 1.9453, SD = 0.38, t(96) = 50.749, p < 0.001), and subjects’ perceptions of ludus language styles in the experimental materials were significantly higher than the scale median (M1 = 3.9608, SD = 0.42, t(102) = 95.507, p < 0.001). Subjects’ perceptions of the absence of paida language style in the experimental material were significantly lower than the scale median (M0 = 1.9744, SD = 0.37, t(94) = 51.086, p < 0.001), and subjects’ perceptions of the presence of paida language style in the experimental material were significantly higher than the scale median (M1 = 4.008, SD = 0.37, t(104) = 111.521, p < 0.001). This indicates that the manipulation of language style was successful.

Main effect test

The main effect of paida language style on brand attitudes was first verified using independent samples t-test. The result is shown in the Fig. 4. The results showed that paida language style could significantly increase consumers’ brand attitude (M0 = 2.08, M1 = 3.83, t(198)=-22.565, p < 0.001). Ludus language style was able to significantly increase consumers’ brand attitudes (M0 = 2.49, M1 = 3.43, t(198)=-7.158, p < 0.001).

The interaction was further explored by analyzing the data using a 2 (paida language style: yes vs. no) x 2 (ludus language style: yes vs. no) two-way anova. The results showed a significant main effect of paida language style (F = 481.912, p < 0.001), a significant main effect of ludus language style (F = 1791.173, p < 0.001), and a significant interaction between paida and ludus language styles (F = 22.547, p < 0.001).

Fig. 4
figure 4

Impact of different language styles on consumers’ brand attitudes.

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Mediation effect test

Process Model 4 was used to test the mediating role of user participation. After standardizing all variables, Bootstrap mediation analysis was conducted with paida language style as the independent variable, user participation as the mediator variable, and brand attitude as the dependent variable. The result is shown in the Fig. 5. The results showed that the total effect of paida language style on brand attitude was significant (β = 0.3992, p < 0.001). The mediating effect of user participation was significant (95% CI: LLCI = 0.1875, ULCI = 0.4002, interval excluding 0, β = 0.2938). Bootstrap mediation analysis was conducted with ludus language style as the independent variable, user participation as the mediator variable, and brand attitude as the dependent variable. The result is shown in the Fig. 6. The results showed that the total effect of ludus language style on brand attitude was significant (β = 0.7338, p < 0.001). The mediating effect of user participation was significant (95% CI: LLCI = 0.4532, ULCI = 0.6276, interval excluding 0, β = 0.5369).

Fig. 5
figure 5

The mediating effect results of study 3(Paida) Note a, b, c are standardized coefficients, *P < 0.05,**P < 0.01,***P < 0.001.

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Fig. 6
figure 6

The mediating effect results of study 3(Ludus) Note a, b, c are standardized coefficients, *P < 0.05,**P < 0.01,***P < 0.001.

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Conclusion

The results of Study 3 again supported hypotheses H1 that gamified language style positively influences consumers’ brand attitudes. At the same time, the results of study 3 are consistent with Noguti’s20 study, that is, language style will affect consumers’ user participation, and verify Langaro’s24 study, that is, user participation will have an impact on consumers’ brand attitude. Combined with Yang’s9 study on the mechanism of influence on gamized marketing and consumers’ brand attitude, we conclude that, User participation mediates the influence of gamification language style on consumer brand attitude. Hypothesis H2 and H3 is supported.

Study 4: moderating effect of psychological distance

Study 4 recruited 384 subjects via the Credamo platform and used a 2 (Ludus language style: yes vs. no) * 2 (Paida language style: yes vs. no) between-groups experimental design, with modifications to the stimulus material, aiming to verify the main effect of language style and the mediating effect of user participation. Before the experiment began, subjects were first asked if they had ever participated in a brand/company’s gamified marketing campaign, and then those who had participated in a brand/company’s gamified marketing campaign were randomly assigned to four groups: the first group read the marketing campaign posters in which neither paida nor ludus language style was present; the second group read the marketing campaign posters in which paida language style was present but ludus language style was not present; The third group read a marketing campaign poster in which ludus language style was present but not paida language style, and the fourth group read a marketing campaign poster in which both paida language style and ludus language style were present. At the same time, psychological distance stimulus materials were added, aiming to verify the moderating effect of psychological distance. There were two stimulus materials in total, in which we asked psychosocially proximity subjects to imagine that a person very close to them socially (parent, relative, friend, etc.) had a very close relationship with company a (e.g., long-term employment, shareholding, etc.), while psychosocially distant subjects imagined that a person very close to them socially (parent, relative, friend, etc.) had no relationship with company a. After reading the information in the materials, the subjects filled out the language style ludus and paida scale, the psychosocial distance scale, the user participation scale, and the brand attitude scale. Finally, the subjects’ demographic information was measured.

Descriptive statistics

Study 4 recruited subjects via the Credamo platform, published for users with a historical adoption rate greater than or equal to 80%, and provided appropriate compensation to effectively improve the quality of the questionnaire. A total of 396 questionnaires from different independent IPs were collected in the study 4, and 384 valid questionnaires were obtained after excluding invalid samples that had not participated in brand/corporate gamification marketing activities, failed to pass the screening questions, and had the same answers to all questions. Among them, there were 182 males and 202 females, with an average age of 28.16 years old, and the specific demographic information of the samples is shown in Table 6. There were no significant differences in gender, age, highest education level, and monthly disposable income among the four groups of sample data.

Table 6 Descriptive statistics of study 4.
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Reliability test

Firstly, the reliability of the scale question items was tested, and the Cronbach’s α value of the scale was calculated by using SPSS26.0, and from the Table 7 below, it can be seen that the Cronbach’s α value of the variables of language style ludus and paida, psychological distance, user participation and brand attitude in the present study are all greater than 0.8, which shows that the reliability of the scale is good.

Table 7 Reliability analysis of study 4.
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Manipulation test

Analyzed using one-sample t-test. Subjects’ perceptions of the absence of ludus language styles in the experimental materials were significantly lower than the scale median (M0 = 1.9336, SD = 0.40, t(192) = 67.642, p < 0.001), and subjects’ perceptions of ludus language styles in the experimental materials were significantly higher than the scale median (M1 = 3.9492, SD = 0.42, t(192) = 131.022, p < 0.001). Subjects’ perceptions of the absence of paida language style in the experimental material were significantly lower than the scale median (M0 = 1.9910, SD = 0.36, t(192) = 96.145, p < 0.001), and subjects’ perceptions of the presence of paida language style in the experimental material were significantly higher than the scale median (M1 = 3.993, SD = 0.38, t(192) = 147.394, p < 0.001). This indicates that the manipulation of language style was successful.

Main effect test

The main effect of paida language style on brand attitude was first verified using independent samples t-test. The result is shown in the Fig. 7. The results showed that paida language style could significantly increase consumers’ brand attitude (M0 = 2.46, M1 = 3.40, t(384)=-10.209, p < 0.001). Ludus language style was able to significantly increase consumers’ brand attitudes (M0 = 2.09, M1 = 3.76, t(384)=-29.377, p < 0.001).

The interaction was further explored by analyzing the data using a 2 (paida language style: yes vs. no) x 2 (ludus language style: yes vs. no) two-way anova. The results showed a significant main effect of paida language style (F = 941.517, p < 0.001), a significant main effect of ludus language style (F = 3044.880, p < 0.001), and a significant interaction between paida and ludus language styles (F = 26.262, p < 0.001).

Fig. 7
figure 7

Impact of different language styles on consumers’ brand attitudes.

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Mediation effect test

Process Model 4 was used to test the mediating role of user participation. After standardizing all variables, Bootstrap mediation analysis was conducted with paida language style as the independent variable, user participation as the mediator variable, and brand attitude as the dependent variable. The result is shown in the Fig. 8. The results showed that the total effect of paida language style on brand attitude was significant (β = 0.4214, p < 0.001). The mediating effect of user participation was significant (95% CI: LLCI = 0.2536, ULCI = 0.4118, interval excluding 0, β = 0.3297). Bootstrap mediation analysis was conducted with ludus language style as the independent variable, user participation as the mediator variable, and brand attitude as the dependent variable. The result is shown in the Fig. 9. The results showed that the total effect of ludus language style on brand attitude was significant (β = 0.7121, p < 0.001). The mediating effect of user participation was significant (95% CI: LLCI = 0.4961, ULCI = 0.6185, interval excluding 0, β = 0.5560).

Fig. 8
figure 8

The mediating effect results of study 4(Paida) Note a, b, c are standardized coefficients, *P < 0.05,**P < 0.01,***P < 0.001.

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Fig. 9
figure 9

The mediating effect results of study 4(Ludus) Note: a, b, c are standardized coefficients, *P < 0.05,**P < 0.01,***P < 0.001.

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Moderation effect test

The data were analyzed using a three-way ANOVA, which showed a significant main effect of psychological distance (F = 62.434, p < 0.001), ludus language style (F = 3532.317, p < 0.001), and paida language style (F = 1092.239, p < 0.001), and a non-significant main effect for the interaction of the three (F = 0.798, p > 0.001).

Specifically, as shown in Fig. 10, the interaction effect of ludus and paida language styles was significant (F = 21.573, p < 0.001) in the context of psychologically distant. Further analysis showed that in the context of the absence of ludus language style, the level of consumer brand attitude was higher in the presence of paida language style compared to the absence of paida language style (M0 = 1.612, M1 = 2.760, t(96)=-16.194, p < 0.001). In the context of the presence of ludus language styles, the level of consumer brand attitudes was higher in the presence of paida language styles compared to the absence of paida language styles (M0 = 3.508, M1 = 4.291, t(96)=-23.295, p < 0.001).

Fig. 10
figure 10

Main effects tests for psychologically proximity groups.

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In contrast, in the context of psychologically proximity, as shown in Fig. 11, the interaction effect between ludus and paida language styles was significant (F = 10.223, p < 0.001). Further analysis showed that in the context where ludus language style was absent, the level of consumer brand attitude was higher in the presence of paida language style compared to the absence of paida language style (M0 = 1.463, M1 = 2.508, t(96)=-31.495, p < 0.001). In the context of the presence of ludus language styles, the level of consumer brand attitudes was higher in the presence of paida language styles compared to the absence of paida language styles (M0 = 3.260, M1 = 4.042, t(96)=-10.377, p < 0.001).

Fig. 11
figure 11

Main effects tests for psychologically distant groups.

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Conclusion

The results of Study 4 again supported hypotheses H1, H2, and Hypothesis H3 that gamified language style positively affects consumers’ brand attitudes, and user participation mediates the effect of gamified language style on consumers’ brand attitudes. At the same time, the results of study 4 verify the research of Hernández-Ortega26, that is, psychological distance moderats the influence of language style on user participation and brand attitude. Based on this, we conclude that psychological distance moderates the impact of gamified language styles on consumer brand attitudes. Specifically, individuals who are psychologically proximity have a higher level of brand attitude than those who are psychologically distant. Hypothesis H4 is supported.

Discussion

As a new trend in the field of marketing, the role of gamified marketing is becoming more and more prominent. In the field of commercial applications, more and more enterprises and brands have practically applied it to improve consumer stickiness and increase the conversion rate by providing consumers with scenario-based and interactive games3, such as Nike4,5, Xiaomi6, and Cainiao7. In the field of academic research, the current research mainly focuses on the impact of gamification marketing activities itself on consumer behavior, mainly exploring the role of gamification marketing activities on consumer user participation, brand attitude, and the purpose of the research is mainly to argue the importance and effectiveness of gamification marketing activities.

This paper focuses on the mechanism of the influence of gamified marketing language style design on consumers’ brand attitudes, and based on the construal level theory, introduces the moderating variable of psychological distance, and employs the situational experimental method to verify the research hypotheses.

Research findings

In this paper, the proposed hypothesis is tested through the scenario experiment method. Study 1 validates the stimulus materials to be used in the scenario experiment through a small sample pretest, and demonstrates the feasibility of the stimulus materials. Study 2 explored the role of brand gamification marketing language styles in directly influencing consumers’ brand attitudes, based on Caillois’s study, which classified brand gamification marketing language styles into two categories, the challenging language style “Ludus” and the fantastical language style “Paida”11. Study 2 verified that brand gamification marketing language styles have a significant effect on consumers’ brand attitudes. Study 3 explored the mediating role mechanism of user participation in the influence of brand gamification marketing language styles on consumer brand attitudes, and the results showed that the mediating role was significant. Study 4 explored the moderating effect of psychological distance on the influence of brand gamification marketing language styles on consumer brand attitudes, and the results showed that the moderating effect was significant. The four studies demonstrated that brand gamification marketing language styles have a significant effect on consumers’ brand attitudes, both ludus language styles and paida language styles promote consumers’ brand attitudes, and that ludus language styles and paida language styles directly interact with each other. At the same time, brand gamification marketing language style has a positive effect on consumer user participation, and consumer user participation has a significant positive effect on brand attitude. In addition, psychological distance significantly moderated the effect of brand gamification marketing language styles on consumer user participation.

Theoretical and practical implications

Theoretical implications

First, this paper expands the research perspective to gamification marketing design, enriching the research elements of gamification marketing on consumer behavior. Previous studies by scholars have mainly focused on the gamification marketing campaign itself, mainly exploring the role of gamification marketing campaigns in influencing consumers’ user engagement, brand attitudes, brand loyalty, etc. Few scholars have studied gamification marketing design as a stimulus factor on consumers’ brand attitudes. In this paper, we start from gamification marketing design to explore the mechanism and boundary conditions of the influence of specific strategies on consumer user engagement and consumer brand attitude, which extends the research scope of gamification marketing and provides a new perspective for the study of consumer brand attitude.

Secondly, this paper refines the gamification marketing design to language style, and based on past research, it classifies language style into ludus and paida. By combining with psychological distance, this paper argues that different language styles will produce different marketing effects. This paper combines psychological distance with consumer behavior, psychological distance and construal level theory belong to the scope of psychological science research, user participation and brand attitude belong to the marketing discipline, which promotes the integration of marketing and social psychology, deepens the scope of psychological distance in the field of marketing, and promotes the integration of disciplines.

Finally, this paper introduces the construal level theory in psychology into the field of marketing, and combines it with the influence of gamified marketing on consumer behavior, which enriches the research connotation of gamified marketing. Based on the construal level theory (CLT), psychological distance is divided into four dimensions: temporal distance, spatial distance, social distance and hypothetical distance12. In consumer research, psychological distance is often used to make measurements of behavior13. In this paper, the construal level theory is introduced as a moderating variable of the influence mechanism of gamified marketing language style on consumer user engagement, which extends the scope of application of the construal level theory.

Practical implications

The findings of this paper provide some insights into the choice of gamification marketing strategies for companies in the commercial sector.

First, the model of gamification marketing is worth learning for business operators in the commercial field. The use of gamification in marketing scenarios can change the previous mode of consumers’ passive acceptance of corporate information. This paper proves that gamification marketing has a significant effect on both consumer user participation and brand attitude. In marketing practice, companies can launch more gamified marketing campaigns, which can significantly increase the marketing conversion rate and user stickiness.

Secondly, companies can use ludus, paida or a combination of both to enhance consumers’ perception of psychological distance and stimulate their user participation through the use of gamified marketing language styles. The proximity and estrangement of psychological distance will have a significant impact on user participation, and consumers with close psychological distance will have a higher level of user participation and thus a higher level of brand attitude. In marketing practice, companies can address this point by using more ludus, paida or a combination of both language styles in gamification marketing design.

Third, this paper has demonstrated the role of gamification marketing in influencing consumers’ brand attitudes, on the basis of which enterprises can seek consumers’ further purchasing behaviors by launching gamification campaigns to enhance users’ stickiness. In marketing practice, enterprises can promoting consumers’ continuous use by converting consumer stickiness into purchasing behavior, continuous purchasing behavior and repurchasing behavior, etc.

Limitations and future research directions

This study still has some limitations.

First of all, considering the influence of brand gamification marketing activities on consumer brand attitude, this paper proposes to conduct segmentation research on gamification marketing strategies to select the most appropriate strategy design, and start from gamification marketing language style. However, the variable of brand attitude is not a direct influence in determining consumer purchase behavior, which does not fundamentally improve the conversion rate of gamified marketing. Future research can consider how to further explore the role mechanism of influencing consumers’ purchase intention, persistent purchase, repurchase, and enhancement of user stickiness on this basis.

Second, this paper measured consumer brand attitudes with the help of scales but not actual purchase behaviors. In future research, a live lab experiment can be set up to simulate a real gamified marketing scenario to record the subjects’ brand attitudes and purchase behaviors.

Finally, this paper conducted research in a gamified marketing context, but the boundary conditions were not explored in this paper. Future research can continue to explore the boundary conditions of consumer brand attitudes in gamified marketing contexts, such as the influence of brand type, brand loyalty, and other factors.