Management & Marketing no. 4/2013

Gamification applied in affiliate marketing. Case study of 2Parale

Adrian Vicenţiu SALCU,
The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania

Carmen ACATRINEI,
The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania

Abstract. This paper is centered upon the application of gamification in an affiliate network present on the Romanian market. The first part covers the definition of gamification and basic theoretical aspects related, such as gamification elements and the pyramid, the D6 Design Framework, as well as possible environments where gamification can be applied and the design process behind it. The research focuses on the case study of 2Parale.ro, the affiliate network which has developed gamified campaigns and had outstanding results. There were employed game elements to boost both the affiliates and the advertisers' engagement, to generate more leads and increase sales. Three campaigns are analyzed by taking into account the game elements introduced in each campaign, assessing the value that the newly introduced elements had and how they affected the reaction and engagement of the affiliates, the last campaign managing to sell in one day more than the first two combined. Finally, there are presented the elements from the gamification pyramid employed, the results obtained and some conclusions are drawn based on which we offer some recommendations for future development of gamification applied in the selected business.

Keyword: gamification, affiliate marketing, gamification elements, D6 gamification design framework, 2Parale challenges.

Download full article