Beyond engagement: how serious games shape consumer learning and market behavior

Résumé

Serious games have gained prominence as structured environments designed to support learning through interactive and simulated experiences. Prior research has mainly examined serious games in terms of engagement, motivation, and learning effectiveness, emphasizing their pedagogical and experiential benefits (Gee, 2003; Hamari, Koivisto, & Sarsa, 2014). Drawing on consumer learning and market socialization literature, which conceptualizes learning as a progressive acquisition of marketplace norms, skills, and decision logics (Ward, 1974; Moschis & Churchill, 1978), this conceptual paper reframes serious games as devices of market socialization. It introduces the concept of ludic discipline to explain how rules, feedback mechanisms, and simulated decision-making structures subtly guide participants’ reasoning and behavior toward specific market rationalities. While experiential consumption research highlights play and immersion as sources of autonomy and meaning (Hirschman & Holbrook, 1982; Pine & Gilmore, 1999), this analysis shows that serious games simultaneously normalize particular expectations and modes of action through low-risk and enjoyable experiences. The paper offers a conceptual framework that clarifies how learning, experience, and behavioral orientation coexist within serious games and outlines directions for future research on their role in shaping market behavior.