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

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 widely communicated 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 (β=1,139.36, p