The Science of Loyalty Favors Mobile Game Partnerships

In 2024, Intuit Mailchimp published The Science of Loyalty. This report combines data from a survey of 4,000 consumers in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia, along with the insight of experts in neuroscience, behavioral science, psychology, and anthropology. It brilliantly distills a deep and complex subject into digestible and usable information.

The report is aimed at marketers across industry verticals. But one thing becomes clear while reading it – every aspect of player loyalty is found in mobile gaming. This is why collaboration campaigns between brands and games are so effective.

Without spoiling the report (every marketing professional should read it themselves), I want to highlight how mobile games provide every aspect of player loyalty and how retail brands can harness that power through cross-promotion.

The Four Principles of Player Loyalty

Player loyalty can be split into four neurobiological principles: Reward, memory, emotion, and social interaction.

1. Reward

This principle is all about dopamine, the feel-good hormone that gets released when we accomplish a goal. Everything enjoyable, satisfying, and habit-forming triggers dopamine.

Mobile games utilize a variety of techniques to reward gamers throughout their playing experience, aligning with the behavioral elements identified in the report.

Recognition – Players are often rewarded for their achievements in games. This can include:

• Digital trophies
• Ranks in competitions
• Premium items for achieving specific milestones.

Similarly, letting players customize the look of their avatars lets them express their own identity and style, making them feel seen. In advanced cases, game devs can utilize AI or machine learning to tailor players’ experiences to suit their preferences.

Pleasure – As a primary form of entertainment, mobile games are all about pleasure. What makes gaming unique is that it appeals to so many different forms of enjoyment. PlayMGT’s article on Analyzing Player Engagement and Motivation covers the key categories of:

• Escapism
• Exploration
• Expression
• Management
• Mastery
• Social.

Reciprocity – Gamers often develop a parasocial relationship with their favorite game studios, caring about the developers as much as their games. Games frequently give freebies to players for participating in events, logging in for several days in a row, or following on social media, just to name a few.

By receiving bonus gifts, players develop brand affinity and player loyalty, which are major components of habituation and the success of activation campaigns.

2. Memory

Video games leave a lasting impression in our minds (and hearts), which keeps us coming back for more. Mobile games, especially, are optimized to appeal to key aspects of memory.

Familiarity – People prefer things that they already know. Familiarity creates both comfort and trust. The game that they play every day is a familiar part of their routine. Messages that come from the game or its developers are inherently trusted.

Consistency – Although games do need new content to stay relevant, the core gameplay experience remains the same, making the game feel like an old friend. The process of logging in, navigating the menus, playing the game, and collecting rewards becomes a kind of ritual that they can do with their eyes closed.

Ease – The best mobile games offer a very smooth experience to the players. This includes intuitive UI, short wait times or loading screens, and responsive controls. Every time a player has a positive gaming session, it adds to their positive memories of the game itself.

3. Emotion

Emotional connections create the strongest and longest-lasting bonds. It’s important to remember that emotions are far more complex than “good” or “bad.” Mobile games stimulate a full spectrum of feelings.

Feeling – Through both story and gameplay, games of all genres elicit emotions like suspense, excitement, frustration, and relief. When a game takes us on an emotional rollercoaster, we increase our affinity for it, which is key to long-term player loyalty.

Identity – Games appeal to the players’ identity. People who want to feel brave will play action games. Creative players may play simulators that let them build and personalize their surroundings. Clever players enjoy puzzle games. Every time a game empowers the way people see themselves, the connection between them grows stronger.

4. Social Interaction

Video games offer countless variations of social connection, such as:

• Player vs. Player competition
• Team cooperation
• High score leaderboards
• Live chat during gameplay
• Social media communities
• Livestreamers and their audience.

Through these different forms of interaction, players can be as connected as they want and do so in the ways that they feel most comfortable. This supports player loyalty through two main elements:

Social Identification – Whether they are elite competitors, casual players, or just general fans of the game’s IP, these people all belong to the same group. This makes people instantly feel more connected to each other by having a significant hobby in common. Anything that supports their favorite game is likely to be embraced by the members of the community.

Social Proof – When the fans generally endorse something, the rest of the group is likely to agree and follow suit. This group loyalty is one of the strongest reasons why brand collaborations with mobile games are so successful.

Brands are being held up by the game itself and its developers, as opposed to generic ads that are disruptive to the players’ experience. When the developers support a product, the fans will be much more likely to try it out and support it, too.

Player Loyalty Favors Mobile Game Partnerships

Gamers offer markedly higher customer lifetime value as a result of the depth of loyalty that mobile gaming fosters. Retailers and product manufacturers can access this loyalty without the trouble of making their own games by embracing collaborations with established, successful mobile titles.

Retail stores that offer mobile game rewards through their loyalty programs see incremental growth in KPIs such as program sign-ups, purchase amounts, and point redemption rates.

Product manufacturers can drive sales to a particular item by adding promo codes and branded packaging for popular mobile games. This draws in players of the game to collect the reward. Regular shoppers also choose that product over competitors because of the added value in the purchase price.

Retail brands benefit tremendously from creating a positive association with their gaming partners. Players who feel supported by a brand are more willing to try out a new product and more likely to have a positive experience, which is a crucial step in building a lifelong relationship with them as a customer.

Read More: How to Choose an Ideal Mobile Game for Brand Collaborations

For brand managers and marketing directors looking to start the process, the most expedient path is working with specialized agencies such as Play Management Company. An established team has already done the heavy lifting of researching the most popular game titles. They’ve built a relationship with studios so that brands can choose an ideal game to match their image and target demographic.