The impact of the use of gamification in Corporate Social Responsibility communication on Millennials

In recent years, the application of gamified techniques to CSR communication was suggested by several scholars, but only a few studies were conducted to test its effectiveness and suitability (Coombs & Holladay, 2015; Maltseva, Fieseler, & Trittin-Ulbrich, 2019). This study employed an online experiment (N=245) to determine whether the presence of gamified techniques in visual and/or textual Facebook posts delivering CSR messages can influence the respondent for what concerns environmental attitude and pro-environmental behavioural intention. Moreover, the paper aims to investigate whether other prior conditions, such as familiarity with videogames and knowledge in the matter of sustainability, play a role in the development of positive behavioural and attitudinal reactions in response to the gamified CSR messages. Hence, considered the novelty and relevance of the topic, the gap in the literature and the little investigation on the potential of gamification in the field of CSR communication, the research question was formulated as follow: To what extent can gamification be used as an effective tool for CSR communication activities among Millennials? Respondents were randomly assigned to one of the four experimental conditions, each of which included similar CSR content but differed both for the feature of the message (textual message with or without visual stimuli) and for the display of gamification techniques (present or absent). The present results suggest that gamification might not be an apt tool for CSR communication to an extent, supporting the claims of academic detractors of gamification applications in corporate communication and CSR activities. However, this study contributed to the expansion of the academical knowledge about the topic and contributed with relevant insight about a specific generational cohort (Millennials), the usage of social media in CSR communication (in this case Facebook) and the possible effects of moderator factors (namely Familiarity with video games and Prior knowledge in matter of sustainability). Despite the ambivalent outcomes, this study emphasized the demand for further empirical researches in the field of gamified CSR communications, adding specific directions for future studies.