Playing games with Gen Y
Joseph F. Coughlin, Ph.D., Director, Massachusetts Institute of Technology AgeLab
Generation Y is the largest and most diverse generation in U.S. history. There are between
70 million and 80 million of these young Americans born between 1979 and 1994, and
according to TIAA-CREF surveys, Gen Y is interested in financial planning: 67% of Gen Yers
say their retirement savings and planning behaviors are more diligent than that of their
peers, while 46% say they feel prepared for retirement. But their confidence may be
misguided. Just 34% of Gen Yers invest in a workplace retirement program, 29% have saved
in an IRA, 25% have calculated how much income they will need every year in retirement,
and 20% have met with a financial advisor. This is a group that wants and needs direction in
their financial lives. Members of Gen Y face some significant economic and financial
challenges—such as high levels of underemployment and college debt—and they need to
compensate for these obstacles with better financial behaviors.
Although Gen Y is often referred to as the “technology generation,” a more appropriate
moniker would be the “connected” generation. Throughout their lives they have played
online games to connect, compete and compare themselves with friends (both real and
virtual). And there’s growing evidence that plan sponsors can leverage this mindset to
design online games that engage Gen Y about financial planning and well-being.
The five dimensions of gaming
Gamification is a new method of engagement that loops together friends and peers. It
combines the rational and the fun to convey information that Gen Y might otherwise find
boring or annoying and thus ignore. It is essentially a structured way to use fun and friends
to drive behavioral change.
There are five dimensions to gamification
Space
Goals
Elements
Mechanics
Rules
Where it is
being played
What defines
success
What one does
to accomplish
those goals
The barriers
to those goals
How one
plays the game
As a strategy, gamification has been used for some time in healthcare—and it’s proven
effective in that realm. As smartphones have become increasingly prevalent, consumers
have begun using apps that advise, for instance, what to eat and what others like them have
eaten—while looking at a menu. Websites such as meyouhealth.com make healthy behavior
Playing games with Gen Y
a group competition by posting a daily challenge, such as “Everyone take the stairs instead
of the elevator today” or “Everyone use fat-free milk in their coffee today.” Participants log
in and register that they’ve done so to keep score. The sharing of information and the
motivation to be healthy with online friends has engaged so many people that an entirely
new lifestyle has emerged in which people use wearable devices, such as pedometers, to
manage, monitor and motivate their compliance with behaviors that contribute to their
physical and emotional well-being.
Better financial behavior, five questions at a time
While gamification is still relatively uncommon in financial services, some
organizations are experimenting and finding success. For example, TIAA-CREF’s
Interactive Financial IQ Challenge is an online, institution-wide contest that
encourages financial awareness through five-question quizzes that are refreshed
daily. A reporting feature identifies key insights and directs targeted education
programs, and a leader board displays leaders in real-time to spur competition.
Winners receive a prize.
Bundling the FIQ Challenge with additional communications or programs, such as
workshops, drove higher engagement within those programs. Also, plan sponsors
that fostered peer-to-peer competition or made department/campus leader boards
public had higher engagement levels.
Gaming puts Gen Y in control
There’s a good bit of peer pressure in the gaming realm, and plan sponsors can use this
mindset to their advantage when designing financial games that engage and drive behavioral
change. Another reason gamification is a good engagement strategy for Gen Yers is that
they have control: They can play for a few minutes or an hour, whenever and wherever they
are, on the device of their choosing. Whether that’s at 2 a.m. or 2 p.m., whether on the train
or at home, whether via smartphone or tablet, whether they’ve got an hour to spend on
Sunday morning or just a few minutes while they wait for a friend at a restaurant on Saturday
night, gamification can engage Gen Y employees and influence their behavior.
Gamification does not always have to occur online. There are old-fashioned tactics as well.
For instance, a university could simply post challenges, progress and results on community
bulletin boards. But there are clear limitations to this offline strategy, particularly because
it’s harder for individuals to engage at their own time, place and pace. The momentum is
clearly toward online gaming. Gen Y has been raised online and that is where plan sponsors
can most reliably hope to engage them making financial planning not just rational but fun.
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