Marc Linzmajer

Interactivity is an important feature of retail websites. Some research suggests that interactivity can be increased by implementing additional features while other studies point to the fact that “objective” interactivity - as measured by the mere number of features - is quite different from perceived interactivity (PI). Interestingly, while there seems to be initial evidence about the consequences of PI, a comprehensive assessment of attitudinal and behavioral outcomes of PI as well as the impact of PI on (objective) website and firm performance using field data has not been offered. Our study attempts to fill that void. Based on objective performance data of the top 500 retail websites over two years as well as ratings on 35 interactivity features, we find the majority of objective interactivity indicators to be unrelated to PI. Perceived responsiveness and perceived control relate positively to retailers’ sales differences. Perceived communication and objective responsiveness show negative indirect effects on sales, giving rise to the assumption that unobserved heterogeneity of the retailers’ websites might explain these counterintuitive findings.

Purpose Many marketplace examples suggest that using gamification in the online retail shopping context boosts sales and positively affects customer loyalty. Nevertheless, more research is needed to understand the effects of digital games on consumer behavior and their underlying psychological mechanisms. Therefore, this article explores how combining games and monetary rewards impacts customer satisfaction, loyalty and word-of-mouth (WOM) intentions. Design/methodology/approach To test our hypotheses, we designed two online laboratory experiments to stimulate an online shopping situation, as gamification in online retailing has the potential to affect an important set of outcomes for service firms throughout the consumer decision process (Hofacker et al., 2016). Findings The results of two lab experiments demonstrate that playing a shopping-related game without monetary participation incentive positively influences all three relational outcomes because games enhance consumers' enjoyment of the overall shopping experience. However, our findings also show that monetary rewards used to incentivize game participation diminish these effects. Gamification loses its positive effects if games are combined with monetary rewards, as consumers no longer play games to derive inherent enjoyment, but rather the extrinsic motivation of receiving a discount. We draw managerial implications about how gamification effectively and profitably fosters strong customer relationships and thus increases customer lifetime value and equity. Research limitations/implications This research is the first to investigate the combined effects of gamification and price discounts that require consumers to play the game in order to receive the discount. Focusing on an online shopping context, this article contributes to research on motivation by providing new and more nuanced insights into the psychological process underlying the gamification effects on consumer' long-term attitudes (i.e. satisfaction) and relational behaviors (i.e. positive WOM and loyalty) toward a retailer. Practical implications Based on our findings, we provide recommendations for marketers that explain how gamification can be a profitable and efficient tool to foster strong customer relationships. Retail managers should use gamification as a less costly alternative to typical price discounts. Originality/value Two laboratory experiments investigate how the separate and combined use of games and price discounts affects consumers' satisfaction, positive WOM intentions and loyalty. Playing a shopping-related game increases satisfaction with the retailer and positive WOM intentions as well as loyalty. Monetary rewards used to incentivize game participation eliminate the positive effects of gamification.

To study price dynamics of the Swiss online retail market, prices of 1,200 products from 299 retailers were observed for 50 days. The authors identified four dynamic pricing strategies, compared the price changes of pure online and cross-channel retailers and measured how dynamic pricing influences retailers’ value for money ratings.