Gamification time for pensions?

According to the Data and Marketing Association, two-fifths of UK consumers have used augmented (39%) or virtual (38%) reality to test or view a product they’re considering.

A further 45% have used an app to motivate them to ‘stick to a personal goal’, for example to complete weekly exercise challenges. And 39% say they are ‘open to new challenges’, offering brands the opportunity to apply gamification beyond health and fitness.

However, brands should be aware of consumers’ approach to data sharing. While 58% say they are willing to share data with brands, up from 45% in 2016, brands need to ensure consumers have clarity and control over their data.

At Concert, we wonder what implications this has for pension scheme and retirement saving.

It’s now six years since the app-based ‘Bolt to the Finish’ game purported to encourage 36,000 Kingfisher employees to engage with retirement through ‘gamification’. Not much more has been heard since.

But maybe that’s because this wasn’t actually gamification – which rewards desired behaviour(s) through a variety of game-playing elements (e.g. point scoring, competition with others, socialisation).

Genuine gamification of retirement saving would look more like handing out stickers for achieving certain savings or investment goals, than Pensions Pac-Man…

But given the Data and Marketing Association research, maybe it’s time to take another look at how the pensions industry could use augmented, or even virtual reality, to help engage more people with saving for retirement.