This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Gamification in Digital Startups: Enhancing User Engagement and Business Growth
Corresponding Author(s) : Richard Andre Sunarjo
Startupreneur Business Digital (SABDA Journal),
Vol. 4 No. 1 (2025): Startupreneur Business Digital (SABDA)
Abstract
Gamification has become an essential approach for digital startups, offering innovative ways to boost user engagement and support business growth. By incorporating game like elements such as rewards, challenges, and point systems into digital platforms, startups can enhance user interaction, satisfaction, and loyalty. This study investigates the role of gamification in increasing user engagement and driving business growth in digital startups. The research adopts a mixed method approach, including surveys conducted with digital startups that have implemented gamification strategies, alongside detailed case studies to explore its practical applications. The results reveal that startups utilizing gamification experience a marked improvement in user interaction and retention, which in turn positively impacts their overall business growth. Enhanced customer loyalty and increased revenue generation are among the key benefits identified. Furthermore, the study highlights the potential for startups to leverage personalized gamification approaches to further optimize user experiences and achieve sustainable growth. These findings suggest that gamification is not only a valuable tool for engaging users but also a strategic asset for achieving long-term success in the competitive digital market. Future research should explore how industry specific gamification techniques can be applied more effectively across different sectors.
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- A. Y. Merung, I. R. Sofyan, and N. A. Sudirman, “Do entrepreneurial competence and psychological well-being affect entrepreneurial interest among young entrepreneurs?” Indonesian Journal of Business and Entrepreneurship Research, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 63–75, 2024.
- S. Ekasari, D. Dharmawan, P. A. E. Rismawan, M. Munizu, and A. Abdurohim, “The influence of devel- opment and use of technology and the economic environment situation on the growth of start-up compa- nies in indonesia,” Innovative: Journal Of Social Science Research, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 7382–7390, 2024.
- A. Pramana, Z. Dalimunthe, I. Gandakusuma, and E. Rizkianto, “Evaluation criteria of high-flyer tech startup investments by venture capital firms in indonesia,” in The 35th IBIMA Conference: Education Excellence and Innovation Management, April 2025.
- S. P. H. Triono, A. Rahayu, L. A. Wibowo, and A. Alamsyah, “The impact of entrepreneurial strategy on the firm performance of indonesian technology startups,” Jurnal Manajemen Indonesia, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 84–104, 2024.
- M. Wenno and N. Ladjin, “The influence of access to finance, government support, and industry collabo- ration on the success of cikarang start-up,” West Science Journal Economic and Entrepreneurship, vol. 2, no. 02, pp. 145–156, 2024.
- B. Y. Wibowo, A. Setiawan, M. Riyanto, N. Suroija, and S. Supaya, “The role of marketing en- trepreneurial capability model in creating young entrepreneurs,” International Journal of Education, Vo- cational and Social Science, vol. 3, no. 02, pp. 72–86, 2024.
- D. Iskandar, “Technology startups in indonesia: Riding the wave of innovation and investment,” Sinergi International Journal of Economics, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 13–27, 2024.
- A. Delhi and A. Sijabat, “The role of technology adoption in scaling startupreneur business models in the digital economy,” Startupreneur Business Digital (SABDA Journal), vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 141–147, 2024.
- X. Lan, B. Song, and S. Kiousis, “Gamifying public engagement on sustainability issues: From motiva- tional affordances to the effectiveness of symmetrical public relations,” International Journal of Human– Computer Interaction, vol. 40, no. 24, pp. 8844–8857, 2024. [10] A. Alwiyah and N. Lyraa, “The role of innovation in the success of modern startupreneurs,” Startupreneur Business Digital (SABDA Journal), vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 98–106, 2024.
- B. Any, S. Four, and C. Tariazela, “Technology integration in tourism management: Enhancing the visitor experience,” Startupreneur Business Digital (SABDA Journal), vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 81–88, 2024.
- A. Senjaya and D. Dellyana, “Prioritization of factors influencing the effectiveness of business mentoring using analytical hierarchy process (ahp),” International Research Journal of Economics and Management Studies IRJEMS, vol. 3, no. 2.
- M. D. Firiza, N. Lutfiani, A. R. A. Zahra, U. Rahardja et al., “The role of regtech in automating compli- ance and risk management,” in 2024 12th International Conference on Cyber and IT Service Management (CITSM). IEEE, 2024, pp. 1–6.
- W. Setiawan, G. E. Wibawa, and K. A. S. Sinaga, “A young entrepreneur triumph: A study on the determi- nants of entrepreneurial intention of university students,” Jurnal REKOMEN (Riset Ekonomi Manajemen), vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 170–180, 2023.
- L. S. Thomas, “The influence of family support, finance, and business networks on the success of young entrepreneurs with innovation capability as mediation,” International Research Journal of Economics and Management Studies IRJEMS, vol. 2, no. 1.
- N. Indianti, Z. Dalimunthe, and R. A. Triono, “Entrepreneurial orientation toward access to finance of start-ups in indonesia,” in The 35th IBIMA Conference: Education Excellence and Innovation Manage- ment: A, 2025.
- B. Bhawna, P. Dogra, U. Akram, and S. K. Sharma, “Enhancing employer branding in startups through job autonomy and intrinsic motivation: the role of gamification,” Business Process Management Journal, 2025.
- R. Baidya, D. Kumar, and D. O. Livvarcin, “Gamified communication in social media for brand advocacy of start-ups,” in Marketing and Gamification. Routledge, 2024, pp. 170–191.
- I. Obaid and M. S. Farooq, “Techmark: a framework for the development, engagement, and motivation of software teams in it organizations based on gamification,” PeerJ Computer Science, vol. 10, p. e2285, 2024.
- K. Chouhan, A. Singh, A. Shrivastava, S. Agrawal, B. D. Shukla, and P. S. Tomar, “Structural support vector machine for speech recognition classification with cnn approach,” in 2021 9th International Con- ference on Cyber and IT Service Management (CITSM). IEEE, 2021, pp. 1–7.
- R. Pratomo, M. Hardini, D. Julianingsih, D. Suprianti, and Q. Aini, “Blockchain-enabled analytics in banking enhancing risk management for the future of the industry,” in 2024 2nd International Conference on Technology Innovation and Its Applications (ICTIIA). IEEE, 2024, pp. 1–6.
- S. A. Onobrakpeya, “Growth hacking dimensions: a key to unlocking competitive advantage in nigeria’s fintech industry,” Nigerian Journal of Management Sciences Vol, vol. 25, no. 2, 2024.
- B. Rawat, A. S. Bist, U. Rahardja, Q. Aini, and Y. P. A. Sanjaya, “Recent deep learning based nlp tech- niques for chatbot development: An exhaustive survey,” in 2022 10th International Conference on Cyber and IT Service Management (CITSM). IEEE, 2022, pp. 1–4.
- C. Lukita, S. Purnama, A. Rizky, M. F. Fazri et al., “Analysis of gamification and blockchain integration in intelligent learning systems,” in 2024 3rd International Conference on Creative Communication and Innovative Technology (ICCIT). IEEE, 2024, pp. 1–6.
- R. Rezagholizade, Z. Sadeqi-Arani, and E. Mazroui, “The effect of gamification on brand co-creation in app-based businesses: investigating the mediating role of consumer engagement and the moderating role of hedonic and innovativeness,” Journal of value creating in Business Management, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 290–314, 2025.
- S. Alibakhshi, N. Seyyedamiri, A. Nazarian, and P. Atkinson, “A win-win situation: Enhancing sharing economy platform brand equity by engaging business owners in csr using gamification,” International Journal of Hospitality Management, vol. 117, p. 103636, 2024.
- T. Widiyatmoko, U. Rahardja, N. Septiani, D. I. Desrianti, and M. F. Fazri, “The role of financial liter- acy and fintech in promoting financial inclusion,” in 2024 2nd International Conference on Technology Innovation and Its Applications (ICTIIA). IEEE, 2024, pp. 1–5.
- T. Viet Tam, N. H. Tien, and M. Banka, “Identifying gamification factors for digital banking service users in vietnam: Extending tam model with gamification and perceived value,” Cogent Business & Manage- ment, vol. 11, no. 1, p. 2398730, 2024.
- T. W. Rafiuddin, N. Lutfiani, A. Rizky, G. P. Cesna et al., “Evaluating the effectiveness of gamifica- tion in mobile banking to increase savings rates,” in 2024 2nd International Conference on Technology Innovation and Its Applications (ICTIIA). IEEE, 2024, pp. 1–6.
- S. PM, “Navigating the digital frontier: The interplay between digital embeddedness, digital en- trepreneurial self-efficacy, and gamification in shaping digital entrepreneurial intentions,” Digital En- trepreneurial Self-Efficacy, and Gamification in Shaping Digital Entrepreneurial Intentions (December 01, 2024), 2024.
- A. Sestino and L. Nasta, “From augmented reality to life satisfaction: The role of gamification in cultural heritage experiences,” in The Digital Paradigm Shift for a New Business DNA: Implications for Business, Consumers, and Societies. Springer, 2025, pp. 81–101.
- P. Sharma, H. Manjula, and D. Kumar, “Impact of gamification on employee engagement-an empirical study with special reference to it industry in bengaluru,” in 3rd International Conference on Reinventing Business Practices, Start-ups and Sustainability (ICRBSS 2023). Atlantis Press, 2024, pp. 479–490.
- J. H. Huang, T. A. Iakovleva, and J. Bessant, “Fostering user involvement in collaborative innovation spaces: Insights from living labs,” International Journal of Innovation Management, vol. 28, no. 07n08, p. 2450032, 2024.
- R. Somasundaram, S. Chandra, J. Tamilarasu, A. M. Kinagi, and S. Naveen, “Human resource develop- ment (hrd) strategies for emerging entrepreneurship: Leveraging ux design for sustainable digital growth,” in Navigating Usability and User Experience in a Multi-Platform World. IGI Global, 2025, pp. 221–248.
- H. Kamil and S. R. Lasmana, “Development of gamification for student participation management infor- mation system,” in 2024 2nd International Symposium on Information Technology and Digital Innovation (ISITDI). IEEE, 2024, pp. 330–335.
- L. PourMohammadBagher and N. S. Safarabadi, “Increasing the diversity of investment portfolio with in- tegration of gamified components in the fintech applications lifecycle,” arXiv preprint arXiv:2402.17754, 2024.
- M. Madhushan, H. Abeywickrama, and E. Sumanasiri, “An examination of digital marketing as a tool to enhance customer engagement in the hotel industry: A case study of the western province, sri lanka,” Asian Journal of Marketing Management, vol. 3, no. 2, 2024.
- S. M. Aamir, S. M. Sikandar, S. Muhideen, and I. Ahmad, “Social media users’ engagement: Applying network effect theory in participatory platform business in moderating knowledge management decision,” Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, vol. 10, no. 1, p. 100251, 2024.
References
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S. Ekasari, D. Dharmawan, P. A. E. Rismawan, M. Munizu, and A. Abdurohim, “The influence of devel- opment and use of technology and the economic environment situation on the growth of start-up compa- nies in indonesia,” Innovative: Journal Of Social Science Research, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 7382–7390, 2024.
A. Pramana, Z. Dalimunthe, I. Gandakusuma, and E. Rizkianto, “Evaluation criteria of high-flyer tech startup investments by venture capital firms in indonesia,” in The 35th IBIMA Conference: Education Excellence and Innovation Management, April 2025.
S. P. H. Triono, A. Rahayu, L. A. Wibowo, and A. Alamsyah, “The impact of entrepreneurial strategy on the firm performance of indonesian technology startups,” Jurnal Manajemen Indonesia, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 84–104, 2024.
M. Wenno and N. Ladjin, “The influence of access to finance, government support, and industry collabo- ration on the success of cikarang start-up,” West Science Journal Economic and Entrepreneurship, vol. 2, no. 02, pp. 145–156, 2024.
B. Y. Wibowo, A. Setiawan, M. Riyanto, N. Suroija, and S. Supaya, “The role of marketing en- trepreneurial capability model in creating young entrepreneurs,” International Journal of Education, Vo- cational and Social Science, vol. 3, no. 02, pp. 72–86, 2024.
D. Iskandar, “Technology startups in indonesia: Riding the wave of innovation and investment,” Sinergi International Journal of Economics, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 13–27, 2024.
A. Delhi and A. Sijabat, “The role of technology adoption in scaling startupreneur business models in the digital economy,” Startupreneur Business Digital (SABDA Journal), vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 141–147, 2024.
X. Lan, B. Song, and S. Kiousis, “Gamifying public engagement on sustainability issues: From motiva- tional affordances to the effectiveness of symmetrical public relations,” International Journal of Human– Computer Interaction, vol. 40, no. 24, pp. 8844–8857, 2024. [10] A. Alwiyah and N. Lyraa, “The role of innovation in the success of modern startupreneurs,” Startupreneur Business Digital (SABDA Journal), vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 98–106, 2024.
B. Any, S. Four, and C. Tariazela, “Technology integration in tourism management: Enhancing the visitor experience,” Startupreneur Business Digital (SABDA Journal), vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 81–88, 2024.
A. Senjaya and D. Dellyana, “Prioritization of factors influencing the effectiveness of business mentoring using analytical hierarchy process (ahp),” International Research Journal of Economics and Management Studies IRJEMS, vol. 3, no. 2.
M. D. Firiza, N. Lutfiani, A. R. A. Zahra, U. Rahardja et al., “The role of regtech in automating compli- ance and risk management,” in 2024 12th International Conference on Cyber and IT Service Management (CITSM). IEEE, 2024, pp. 1–6.
W. Setiawan, G. E. Wibawa, and K. A. S. Sinaga, “A young entrepreneur triumph: A study on the determi- nants of entrepreneurial intention of university students,” Jurnal REKOMEN (Riset Ekonomi Manajemen), vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 170–180, 2023.
L. S. Thomas, “The influence of family support, finance, and business networks on the success of young entrepreneurs with innovation capability as mediation,” International Research Journal of Economics and Management Studies IRJEMS, vol. 2, no. 1.
N. Indianti, Z. Dalimunthe, and R. A. Triono, “Entrepreneurial orientation toward access to finance of start-ups in indonesia,” in The 35th IBIMA Conference: Education Excellence and Innovation Manage- ment: A, 2025.
B. Bhawna, P. Dogra, U. Akram, and S. K. Sharma, “Enhancing employer branding in startups through job autonomy and intrinsic motivation: the role of gamification,” Business Process Management Journal, 2025.
R. Baidya, D. Kumar, and D. O. Livvarcin, “Gamified communication in social media for brand advocacy of start-ups,” in Marketing and Gamification. Routledge, 2024, pp. 170–191.
I. Obaid and M. S. Farooq, “Techmark: a framework for the development, engagement, and motivation of software teams in it organizations based on gamification,” PeerJ Computer Science, vol. 10, p. e2285, 2024.
K. Chouhan, A. Singh, A. Shrivastava, S. Agrawal, B. D. Shukla, and P. S. Tomar, “Structural support vector machine for speech recognition classification with cnn approach,” in 2021 9th International Con- ference on Cyber and IT Service Management (CITSM). IEEE, 2021, pp. 1–7.
R. Pratomo, M. Hardini, D. Julianingsih, D. Suprianti, and Q. Aini, “Blockchain-enabled analytics in banking enhancing risk management for the future of the industry,” in 2024 2nd International Conference on Technology Innovation and Its Applications (ICTIIA). IEEE, 2024, pp. 1–6.
S. A. Onobrakpeya, “Growth hacking dimensions: a key to unlocking competitive advantage in nigeria’s fintech industry,” Nigerian Journal of Management Sciences Vol, vol. 25, no. 2, 2024.
B. Rawat, A. S. Bist, U. Rahardja, Q. Aini, and Y. P. A. Sanjaya, “Recent deep learning based nlp tech- niques for chatbot development: An exhaustive survey,” in 2022 10th International Conference on Cyber and IT Service Management (CITSM). IEEE, 2022, pp. 1–4.
C. Lukita, S. Purnama, A. Rizky, M. F. Fazri et al., “Analysis of gamification and blockchain integration in intelligent learning systems,” in 2024 3rd International Conference on Creative Communication and Innovative Technology (ICCIT). IEEE, 2024, pp. 1–6.
R. Rezagholizade, Z. Sadeqi-Arani, and E. Mazroui, “The effect of gamification on brand co-creation in app-based businesses: investigating the mediating role of consumer engagement and the moderating role of hedonic and innovativeness,” Journal of value creating in Business Management, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 290–314, 2025.
S. Alibakhshi, N. Seyyedamiri, A. Nazarian, and P. Atkinson, “A win-win situation: Enhancing sharing economy platform brand equity by engaging business owners in csr using gamification,” International Journal of Hospitality Management, vol. 117, p. 103636, 2024.
T. Widiyatmoko, U. Rahardja, N. Septiani, D. I. Desrianti, and M. F. Fazri, “The role of financial liter- acy and fintech in promoting financial inclusion,” in 2024 2nd International Conference on Technology Innovation and Its Applications (ICTIIA). IEEE, 2024, pp. 1–5.
T. Viet Tam, N. H. Tien, and M. Banka, “Identifying gamification factors for digital banking service users in vietnam: Extending tam model with gamification and perceived value,” Cogent Business & Manage- ment, vol. 11, no. 1, p. 2398730, 2024.
T. W. Rafiuddin, N. Lutfiani, A. Rizky, G. P. Cesna et al., “Evaluating the effectiveness of gamifica- tion in mobile banking to increase savings rates,” in 2024 2nd International Conference on Technology Innovation and Its Applications (ICTIIA). IEEE, 2024, pp. 1–6.
S. PM, “Navigating the digital frontier: The interplay between digital embeddedness, digital en- trepreneurial self-efficacy, and gamification in shaping digital entrepreneurial intentions,” Digital En- trepreneurial Self-Efficacy, and Gamification in Shaping Digital Entrepreneurial Intentions (December 01, 2024), 2024.
A. Sestino and L. Nasta, “From augmented reality to life satisfaction: The role of gamification in cultural heritage experiences,” in The Digital Paradigm Shift for a New Business DNA: Implications for Business, Consumers, and Societies. Springer, 2025, pp. 81–101.
P. Sharma, H. Manjula, and D. Kumar, “Impact of gamification on employee engagement-an empirical study with special reference to it industry in bengaluru,” in 3rd International Conference on Reinventing Business Practices, Start-ups and Sustainability (ICRBSS 2023). Atlantis Press, 2024, pp. 479–490.
J. H. Huang, T. A. Iakovleva, and J. Bessant, “Fostering user involvement in collaborative innovation spaces: Insights from living labs,” International Journal of Innovation Management, vol. 28, no. 07n08, p. 2450032, 2024.
R. Somasundaram, S. Chandra, J. Tamilarasu, A. M. Kinagi, and S. Naveen, “Human resource develop- ment (hrd) strategies for emerging entrepreneurship: Leveraging ux design for sustainable digital growth,” in Navigating Usability and User Experience in a Multi-Platform World. IGI Global, 2025, pp. 221–248.
H. Kamil and S. R. Lasmana, “Development of gamification for student participation management infor- mation system,” in 2024 2nd International Symposium on Information Technology and Digital Innovation (ISITDI). IEEE, 2024, pp. 330–335.
L. PourMohammadBagher and N. S. Safarabadi, “Increasing the diversity of investment portfolio with in- tegration of gamified components in the fintech applications lifecycle,” arXiv preprint arXiv:2402.17754, 2024.
M. Madhushan, H. Abeywickrama, and E. Sumanasiri, “An examination of digital marketing as a tool to enhance customer engagement in the hotel industry: A case study of the western province, sri lanka,” Asian Journal of Marketing Management, vol. 3, no. 2, 2024.
S. M. Aamir, S. M. Sikandar, S. Muhideen, and I. Ahmad, “Social media users’ engagement: Applying network effect theory in participatory platform business in moderating knowledge management decision,” Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, vol. 10, no. 1, p. 100251, 2024.