Gamification in Banking Marketing: A Bibliometric Analysis of Research Trends and Patterns

Abstract

Digital technologies are increasingly changing the banking industry, especially with regard to the design and implementation of marketing strategies by financial institutions. Among the various digital technologies, gamification has been identified as a promising method for improving customer engagement, experience, and loyalty in digital banking settings. Gamified marketing campaigns allow financial institutions to shape customer behavior by incorporating game design thinking into financial services and marketing campaigns. The aim of this research is to offer a comprehensive review of the current state of the art in the existing literature on gamification in banking marketing and to highlight the most important research trends, structures, and topics in this field. The data employed in this research were derived from the Dimensions database, exclusively including peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2017 and 2025. The time frame was chosen to reflect the current growth phase of gamification research, which corresponds to the increasing adoption of mobile banking, fintech platforms, and digital marketing strategies for customer engagement. The search for relevant publications was conducted using specific keywords such as "gamification," "banking," "digital banking," and "marketing" to ensure that the search includes articles that specifically investigate gamified applications in financial service marketing. A total of 75 articles were found to satisfy the inclusion criteria and were analyzed using VOSviewer for bibliometric analysis. The results of the analysis bring to light the increasing interest in gamified banking marketing, the importance of digital engagement and customer focus, and the rising international collaboration for research in the field of gamified banking marketing. The research work presented here offers a systematic basis for future research and helps academics and practitioners alike to comprehend the rising importance of gamification in banking marketing practices.