The great game of business: Advancing knowledge on gamification in business contexts

Gamification is a rather significant trend in recent years. It builds on the emotional and involving qualities of gaming but may not entail a full-fledged game. Gamification exists in a large number of industries; retail, media, consumer goods, and healthcare. It is used as means to educate employees in all types of industry, create customer engagement to brands and businesses, and even nudge people to change their behavior. The present paper is an introduction to the special issue on “Theoretical Perspectives and Applications of Gamification in Business Contexts”. In total the special issue comprises of 11 novel and high-quality contributions on gamification. These are selected to enhance our understanding of underlying mechanisms that impact employees’ and customers’ attitudes and behaviors.