The motivating power of gamification. Does the inclusion of game elements increase the effectiveness of worksite health promotion programs?

• Pages: 1-15
• Date: 23 December 2019
• Published date: 23 December 2019
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJWHM-04-2019-0055
• Author: Liesa Marie Lier,Christopher Breuer
• Subject Matter: Health & social care,Healthcare management,HR & organizational behaviour,Human resource policy,Employee welfare

The motivating power

of gamification

Does the inclusion of game elements

increase the effectiveness of worksite

health promotion programs?

Liesa Marie Lier and Christopher Breuer

Institute of Sport Economics and Sport Management,

Deutsche Sporthochschule Koln, Cologne, Germany

Abstract

Purpose –An increasing number of firms have implemented workplace health promotion programmes

(WHPPs). However, such programmes can only be effective and economically viable if employees actually

engage. In an effort to uncover ways to promote employee engagement and, hence, WHPP effectiveness, the

purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of the inclusion of a gamification element in a worksite health

promotion programme on health outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach –Real-life data from a WHPP provider firm were analysed. Linear and

logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the impact of participating in a step challenge on

average daily step count and the likelihood of reaching the widelycommunicated goal of taking at least 10,000

steps per day.

Findings –It was found that the inclusion of gamification elements was significantly positively related to

physical activity outcomes: employees who participated in the step challenge took considerably more steps

than employees who did not participate (β¼1,139.36, po0.005). Participation increased the likelihood of

fulfilling the recommended goal of 10,000 steps per day significantly vs non-participants( β¼1.81, p¼0.005).

Finally, the results indicate that challenge participation was associated with a considerably greater increase

in steps for men than for women.

Originality/value –This research advances the scientific understanding of the modern types of WHPPs

that build on digital solutions and gamification. As an increasing number of firms face the challenge of

designing a programme that actually works, the finding that the inclusion of gamification considerably

increases programme effectiveness in terms of health outcomes is highly valuable.

Keywords Workplace health, Workplace wellness, Gamification, Workplace health promotion,

Digital health, Step challenge

Paper type Research paper

Although physical inactivity has undeniably negative consequences on both physical and

mental health (Bull et al., 2004; Humphreys et al., 2015), more than 35 per cent of individuals

in high-income western countries do not engage in a sufficient amount of movement

(Guthold et al., 2018). To address this alarming condition in an effective manner, public

authorities encourage the implementation of health promotion activities at the workplace,

because that is where adults spend a significant share of their waking hours (Engbers et al.,

2005). Additionally, employers are increasingly interested in adopting a workplace health

promotion programme (WHPP) because they realize that a majority of costs from

productivity losses are related to increasing employee absenteeism (Bundesministerium für

Gesundheit, 2018; Proper and van Mechelen, 2008). Hence, in expectation of increasing

physical activity levels and reducing employee absenteeism, an increasingly greater number

of those WHPPs are being implemented by firms: analysts project a 9 per cent annual

growth rate from 2018 to 2026 (TransparencyMarketResearch, 2018).

For those WHPPs to be effective and to enable employers to reap the beneficial effects of

physical activity programmes on sick-days (Fonseca et al., 2010; van den Heuvel et al., 2005;

International Journal of Workplace

Health Management

Vol. 13 No. 1, 2020

pp. 1-15

© Emerald PublishingLimited

1753-8351

DOI 10.1108/IJWHM-04-2019-0055

Received 19 April 2019

Revised 22 October 2019

Accepted 28 November 2019

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

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Motivating

power of

gamification