Game On
Enhancing Customer Engagement Through Influencers’ Gamified Messages
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10919944 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Payal Kapoor (0000-0002-6820-7038, Management Development Institute), M S Balaji (0000-0002-6003-7644, École Supérieure de Commerce de Rennes, corresponding author), Moumita Maity (0000-0002-8900-1311, University of Southampton) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 65 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 37-56 |
| Publication date | 2026-01-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Travel Research Bulletin (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0147-2399 • E-ISSN: 1552-6763 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/00472875241289565 |
| OpenAlex | W4403747932 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 101 |
Effective customer engagement with tourism brands is crucial for influencer marketing and can be significantly enhanced through creative and innovative message strategies that capture customer attention. This paper examines the impact of gamified messages—a novel message modality—on customer engagement with tourism brands. The results of the four studies herein show that gamified messages lead to higher customer engagement with tourism brands than traditional text messages, with flow experience identified as the underlying mechanism explaining this effect. Customer engagement, in turn, leads to higher behavioral intentions toward the tourism brand and intentions to follow the influencer. Gamified messages, when employed by specialist influencers and oriented to adventure, are also shown to increase customer engagement with tourism brands. The findings offer insights for tourism brands seeking to enhance customer engagement through influencer marketing
Advertising · Business · Customer engagement · Influencer marketing · Marketing management · Relationship marketing · Social media · World Wide Web · Computer Science · Digital Marketing and Social Media · Educational Games and Gamification · Marketing · Psychology · Technology Adoption and User Behaviour
Measuring the Customer Experience in Online Environments
Tourism Experiences as a Stress Reliever
Narrative Processing
The Role of Customer Engagement in Building Consumer Loyalty to Tourism Brands
Celebrity Endorsement
Virtual travel experience and destination marketing
The flow experience and its significance for human psychology
Applying the Technology Acceptance Model and Flow Theory to Online Consumer Behavior
Assessing the effects of quality, value, and customer satisfaction on consumer behavioral intentions in service environments
Seeing destinations through vlogs
Toward a Theory of Interactive Media Effects (Time)
More Trust in Fewer Followers
Influencer marketing in the promotion of tourist destinations
The role of engagement in travel influencer marketing
David and Goliath
Understanding the dark side of gamified interactions on short-form video platforms
What Drives Consumers To Engage with Influencers
The Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion
Digital Media, Youth, and Credibility
Motivation and involvement in adventure tourism activities
Seeing Is Believing
What makes a useful online review? Implication for travel product websites
Short video marketing and travel intentions
Customer engagement with tourism social media brands
Instagram travel influencers in #quarantine
Serious games and the gamification of tourism
The interaction effect of emoji and social media content on consumer engagement
All hype or the real deal? Investigating user engagement with virtual influencers in tourism
Emotion and Environment
Reducing Shower Duration in Tourist Accommodations
The Art of Post Captions
Processing Fluency and Aesthetic Pleasure
Play as a Consumption Experience
Single-Paper Meta-Analysis
It's Time to Vote
| Highly cited | No |
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