[Update on 13/2/2023: Seminar cancelled due to strike date. To be rescheduled later in 2023.]
Having postponed this during the pandemic lockdowns, I am very much looking forward to giving this seminar at my alma mater. Titled ‘Gamification and re-intermediation in everyday financial practice’ (22nd February 2023, 13.00, School of Geography, University of Nottingham), the presentation will draw upon recent research conducted with my colleague Paul Langley, and some emerging ideas that I am considering regarding gamification and children’s financial products. This is an in-person event. Please feel free to share with your networks.
Abstract
Digital gamification techniques, which incorporate video gaming elements (rather than full-fledged games) into apps, are constituting new forms of financial intermediation. These place particular emphasis on certain socio-technical knowledges, such as behavioural science, digital marketing, and user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design, which are not traditionally considered as part of the finance and producer services industry. While gamified apps mobilise individual aspirations and reward everyday financial practices, they are also designed to advance the business strategies of FinTech firms and financial institutions. The market focus on youths and millennials, in particular, are influencing the ways in which certain populations are being positioned as financial subjects, although in culturally specific ways. To examine these developments, this seminar presents analysis of gamified financial apps in Southeast Asia and considers whether such gamification techniques are evident in children’s financial products and financial literacy programmes in the UK.
Karen P.Y. Lai 