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3. Synthesis preparation - literature review
Two domains of literature, generation theory and gamification will be examined to identify articles that focus on motivation. As mentioned, above motivation refers to “something that provides a reason or stimulus to do something”. The theories classifying types of motivation formation are not the focus of this study but some are referenced by various literature in the specified domains. For example, Richter (2015) refers to several theories that may explain motivation to participate in game play.
3.1 Research question 1 What motivates gen Z (and millennial) students to action?
Generational Theory
Theory of generations (later known as generational theory) is a theory posed by Karl Mannheim in his 1923 essay, "The Problem of Generations” and generally refer to the psychological and sociological dimensions of a generation or cohort, brought about by important historical, cultural, and political events experienced by the cohort. There has been some disagreement on the cutoff point birth years categorizing the current and previous generations. Below are the categorizations as defined by the pew research center.
Table 3: Generations and Age (2017) http://www.pewresearch.org/topics/generations-and-age/2017/
Millennials are said to be born between 1981 and 1996. Those born after 1996 are referred to as Gen Z, iGen or the Homeland generation (Cooper 2014).
Table 4: Generational differences. Source: Moore et. al . 2017
Baby Boomers Generation X Millennials Generation Z Events MLK, JFK, Woodstock,
protests, Vietnam War
Cold War, AIDS, Clinton scandal, Challenger explosion, Fall of Berlin
Wall
School shootings, September 11, Iraq War, “Great Recession”
Obama presidency, global terrorism, same-
sex marriage, emergence of China
New technology Television Computers Internet Smart phones
View of self Confident Independent Winner Adaptive
Learning / teaching Rote, hands-on
Self-directed, mix traditional with
technology
Groups, lots of tests
Groups, lots of tests, on- line, “gamification”
Education Freedom of expression Pragmatic Structure of accountability
Individualized Trust Low trust of authority Low trust of authority High trust of authority High trust of authority
Career goals Build a stellar career Build a portable career Build parallel careers Build a fun, entrepreneurial career Rewards Title and corner office Freedom, flexibility Meaningful work Social change Parent-child
involvement
Receding Distant, divorce, latch- key
Intruding (helicopter) Connected by technology, co-pilot
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Baby Boomers Generation X Millennials Generation Z Family life Indulged as children Alienated as children Protected as children Connected as children Political orientation Attack oppression Apathetic, individual Crave community Progressive, equality Given that the presence of generation z is just beginning to be felt, there is comparatively little original research available to facilitate understanding of this generation. There are almost as many ways of characterizing Generation Z as there are publications. Table 3 cites one approach. Some publications seek general descriptors, others attempt to extract characteristics that may impact buying preferences, while others seek to predict how factors may influence their education. However most simply list characteristics and seek to explain why these characteristics exist. It should also be noted that whilst characteristics assigned to a generation may not be unique to that particular generation, they are assigned because they exist in a higher proportion, or are exhibited more strongly than in previous generations.
McCrindle & Wolfinger (2015) book and dedicated web site http://generationz.com.au/ examines generation Z in light of 37 criteria. This site was examined to identify anything that may speak to values or motivation. When looking to attract and retain Gen Z, their values in the work include; ownership and individuality, positive reinforcement, recognition, life/work balance, tram focus, enjoyment, empowerment, support, flexibility, involvement, creativity, innovation and global working atmosphere. Motivation includes job variety and creativity, while influences over career choice include the Internet and peer groups. Perception and experience shape the career perceptions and views of Gen Z, while innovation and empowerment are important to them in terms of key management tools. Typical training style preferred by Gen Z is interactive and multi-modal, while their key communication tools involve hands on learning and participation. Their leadership style is through consensus and feelers, their influences and values are global and short-term wants, while their management approach is evolving and revolving around the statement ‘here’s what I think’.
http://generationz.com.au/attracting-and-retaining/
From a marketing perspective Gen Z members value products that are, or make them feel socially connected, are fun and entertaining, cool and socially desirable, life enhancing, new and innovative. However, one downside to this is that in marketing to Gens Y and Z companies have to constantly refresh messages and techniques in order to maintain their attention. Because of the constant interruptions of a technological world, these generations have shorter attention spans. Finally, McCrindle & Wolfinger (2015) list of motivators include, not letting others down, advocating for something they believe in, making a difference for someone else, opportunity for advancement, earning credit towards something (typically larger goal, milestones).
A review of over 50 reported generation Z characteristics (see appendix A) revealed a shorter list of characteristics that may motivate behavior. This may include things they value or desire. Things they fear may also be considered motivators but are not considered ethical leverage in order to change behaviour. Table 5 lists characteristics (derived from the broader list ) that may motivate a Gen Z student to act.
Table 5: Gen Z motivators
ownership empowerment, social connection
individuality flexibility, not letting others down
recognition support a cause or belief
positive reinforcement involvement, advancement opportunity
creativity opportunities for innovation credit towards something larger
enjoyment/fun global working atmosphere social desirability
social change equality balance of team and individual work
FOMO making a difference
Source: McCrindle & Wolfinger (2015); DiLullo (2015); Morre et. al. (2017); Carter (2018); Grace, M., &
Seemiller.(n.d.)
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Over 80 separate characteristics were identified during analysis of the interview transcripts. Many of the characteristics were repeated in all interviews such as sharing, connected, distracted, entitled, stressed/anxious, vulnerable, caring, and empowered. The 80 characteristics formed around 5 natural theme related groupings.
The groups included outlooks, behaviours, concerns, factors affecting critical thinking, needs, emotions and values (as in things that they value). As most of these characteristics are beyond the scope of this paper, only the characteristics that may be considered motivators were selected for presentation (see Figure 1). It should be noted that the researcher in conjunction with explanatory notes from the interviews, determined whether or not a characteristic was determined to be a possible motivator. Table 6 lists the characteristics obtained via interview that speak to motivation.
Table 6: Possible motivators of GenZ derived from interviews
Desire to fix the world
Desire to help specific needs
Motivated to help the individual
Save the planet equality
justice Connectedness driven
Looking for significance Want to have fun Want to act be involved Want to be heard Need an audience Desire to know what’s
going on with everyone
Need constant stimulation
Seek to be known
Seek validation Seek respect Seek belonging Seek intimacy Seek independence
Freedom of choice Need affirmation
A comparison of the two sources, literature and interview reveals a number of areas of overlap. These include:
cause driven – desire to fix the world, meet needs, making a difference; validation, recognition; enjoyment/fun;
connectedness – belonging, intimacy, seek to know and be known. The main difference in the data appears to be in the specifics. The interview data revealed specific examples of literature cited characteristics.
3.2 Research question 2: Are any of these (motivators) characteristics amenable to gamification?
In order to answer this question we begin with a discussion of gamification Gamification
As this field of study is in its infancy there are a number of definitions of gamification, but most involve applying game design thinking to non-game applications to make them more fun and engaging. The emphasis appears to be on ‘game thinking’ rather than games (as most understand games). According to Gartner research (2009) the goals of gamification are to ‘achieve higher levels of engagement, change behaviors and stimulate innovation’.
Burguillo, (2010) introduced the game mechanic of competition or Competition based Learning (CnBL), to motivate students and increase their learning performance. The combination of game theory with the use of friendly competitions was found to provide a strong motivation for students.
Gamification, defined as the use of game mechanics, dynamics, and frameworks to promote desired behaviors, has found its way into a number of domains including marketing, politics, health and fitness, with analysts predicting that it will become a multi-billion dollar industry (MacMillan, 2011). Industry has embraced gamification and a number of companies now offer gamification services and literature. One such company is Bunchball, founded in 2007 and now a market leader with publications in Forbes community voice (2017).
Bunchball’s publication entitled ‘Gamification 101’ explain gamification as a system of ‘game mechanics’ and
‘game dynamics’. “Game mechanics refers to constructs of rules and feedback loops intended to produce enjoyable gameplay. Game mechanics are the basic actions, processes, and control mechanisms that are used to “gamify” an activity. They include the rules and rewards (points leverages, challenges, leaderboards, virtual goods, charitable gifts etc.) that make up game play and create a compelling, engaging user experience. Game
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mechanics make the activity challenging, fun, satisfying, or whatever other emotion the game’s designers hope to evoke. These emotions, in turn, are the compelling desires and motivations of the experience called game dynamics (rewards, status, achievement, self expression, competition, altruism). These gamified activities address and satisfy basic human desires, creating the addictive experiences that motivate users to take specific actions, and to return more frequently.” (Bunchball) See Table 1.
Table 1: Human desires and game mechanic map. (Bunchball)
Basic Gamification has existed for a number of years in the form of frequent flyer points and a variety of other loyalty programs. It has grown in popularity and complexity, facilitated by developments in technology such as facebook and smart phones, and applications that run on both.
Whist Industry success has validated the methodology used by Bunchball, academia has explained that success, by mapping game elements to established social science theory to support Bunchballs’s selection of ‘human desires’ described in the literature as ‘motivators’. For example, Social Comparison Theory can explain the motivational effect of the leaderboard since it states that people tend to compare themselves with others, who they perceive as similar to them, in order to evaluate or enhance some aspects of the self. (Vassileva, 2012).
Richter et al (2015) maps various game motivators against theories such as social motivation and needs based theories represented in the table below. Other theories include self-efficacy, personal investment theory (PIT) goal setting and expectancy value to conceptualize motivation. For a more in depth and complete analysis see Richter et al (2015).
Table 2: Theoretical base of incentives and rewards (Richter et al 2015)
Motivation theory Incentives/rewards Role
Self-efficacy Audio/verbal/visual/music/ sounds effect
Feedback
Progress bar Feedback, achievements
Self-efficacy, goal- setting, PIT, expectancy value, need achievement
Points/bonus/dividend Feedback, reward, status, achievements, competition, progression, ownership
Mini games/challenges/quests Reward, status, competition, achievements Self-efficacy, goal-
setting, PIT, expectancy value, social comparison
Badges Status and reputation, achievements and past accomplishments, collection, competition, ownership
Virtual goods Reward, social, status, achievements, ownership, self-expression Leaderboard Status and reputation, achievements, competition
Rewards-choosing colors, power Achievements
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Motivation theory Incentives/rewards Role
Self-efficacy, goal- setting, PIT, expectancy value, need achievement,
social comparison
Achievements Collection, status, competition, discovering, progression Levels Feedback, status and reputation, achievements, competition,
moderate challenge Social comparison,
personal investment theory, expectancy
value
Avatar Social, self-expression, ownership
Gamification aims to create a sense of playfulness in non-game environments so that participation becomes enjoyable and desirable (Thom, Millen, & DiMicco, 2012 ). The desire, stated as ‘human desire’ (reward achievement etc.) by Bunchball appear as ‘roles’ (desire to be filled, or motivators) in Ritchie’s classification. In other words humans have a desire to satisfy needs and are hence motivated to act.
Pappas (2018) in a publication from an industry based company, ‘Elearning Industry’, assert that gamification supports fun, social connection, training, personal development, greater fulfilment and even environmental sustainability. It tends to increase learners’ natural desire for competition, goal achievement, and genuine self- expression, while also promoting interactivity, a quantifiable outcome. In addition it is suggested that gamification also has the elements of challenge, mastery, and socialization, which are the elements of games that can be leveraged to promote or motivate learning.
Leaning (2015), presents a different perspective and explains gamification as adding a different form of experience to an activity, adding a new layer to an existing process that incorporates a new level of meaning above and beyond the merely instrumental activity of the task. The new layer of meaning provides a greater experience for the user and encourages participation with the transformed activity. Hamari, et.al.(2014) suggest that games have three main parts: motivational affordances - the opportunities the actual activities give the subject which is the mechanics of the game, the psychological outcome being the resultant change in feeling about an activity during and after the activity, and the behavioural outcome being the change in behaviour following the gamified activity. In the educational setting, motivation would be in the game mechanics (the game story and reward system combined), psychological would be feeling produced by completing a teacher specified task (as opposed to completing that task without gamification) and the behavioral outcome would be improved task completion rates.