Application of Gamification in a Marketing Context

Gamification, a popular tool widely used in various contexts such as marketing, education, and organizations, among others, has demonstrated its potential for engaging, motivating, and achieving behavioral change in the targeted audience. For an ideal gamification system, it is necessary to know how the gamification elements affect human emotions. This chapter conducts a journey through gamified contexts and their psychological impacts on individuals. This chapter gathers up the different threads of gamification in the marketing context. The three important objectives fulfilled by this chapter would be that it provides information about the topic of gamification and the psychological perspectives behind its operation; discusses its application in various marketing contexts, such as digital marketing and online payment sites; and finally, investigates various behavioral outcomes of gamification.

The psychological effect of the COVID 19 pandemic on the staff of the Mohammed VI University Hospital in Marrakech

Background: Health professionals have undergone very high levels of workload and pressure since the COVID-19 epidemic. Purpose: This study aims to assess the psychological impact of COVID-19 on health professionals at the Mohammed VI University Hospital. From May 31 to June 22, 2020. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study carried out among professionals of the Mohammed VI University Hospital in Marrakech using a questionnaire measuring the psychological impacts; the event impact scale - revised (IES-R), An exploratory and bivariate factor analysis was carried out to exploit the results. Results; 117 people answered the questionnaire, 66.67% were women, the average age was 30 years with extremes ranging from 25 to 60 years, 46.15% were doctors, 46.15% were nurses, 25.65% of participants lived alone, while 74.35% with families, after the start of the epidemic, 51 people lived in one of the hotels dedicated to housing and confinement. 28.2% or 33 people had declared transport problems. Of the participants in the study, 53.84% presented with insomnia, 12.82% (15) described aggression, and somatization was presented by 9 people (7.69%), nightmares by 9 others (7.69%) and intense fear by 3 people. 7.7% or 9 people who have already consulted the psychiatric listening cell during this period. The IES-R score is calculated at 41.94 or in favor of a post-traumatic stress disorder prevalent in this sample, with a score of avoidance at 12.76, intrusion of memories at 18.58 and hyperactivity at 10.58. Conclusion: unwanted psychological impacts are prevalent among our healthcare professionals.

Impact of COVID-19 on Mental Health of Chinese Residents in Its Initial Stage

This study aims to investigate the effect of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on the Chinese public’s mental health during its early stage. We collected the data through an online questionnaire survey. Specifically, we adopted the impact of event scale-revised (IES-R) and state-trait anxiety inventory (STAI) to assess symptomatic responses to exposure to traumatic life events and public anxiety, respectively, in the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. Then, we evaluated the differences in the scores among various socio-demographic groups using Kruskal-Wakkis H tests and t-tests and analyzed the IES-R, state anxiety (SA) score, and trait anxiety (TA) score using the Pearson correlation analysis. Finally, we conducted a path analysis to determine the mediating role of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms (measured by the IES-R) in the relationship between TA and SA. The results show that the average of the SA and TA scores were 48.0 ± 10.4 and 38.0 ± 8.2, respectively; the respondents who suffered from mild, moderate, and severe psychological impacts because of the health crisis accounted for 21.9, 5.2, and 13.1%, respectively; farmers have the highest IES-R score than others; people with the highest income have the lowest SA level; a significant positive correlation existed between the IES-R and STAI scores; and TA produces both direct and indirect (through the IES-R) effects on SA. Overall, the general Chinese public exhibited much higher anxiety levels than normal in the early days of the pandemic outbreak. Accordingly, we strongly recommend psychological counseling and intervention support to mitigate the adverse psychological impacts of such an event.

The Psychological Impact of COVID-19 on Front Line Nurses: A Synthesis of Qualitative Evidence

Caring for people with COVID-19 on the front line has psychological impacts for healthcare professionals. Despite the important psychological impacts of the pandemic on nurses, the qualitative evidence on this topic has not been synthesized. Our objective: To analyze and synthesize qualitative studies that investigate the perceptions of nurses about the psychological impacts of treating hospitalized people with COVID-19 on the front line. A systematic review of qualitative studies published in English or Spanish up to March 2021 was carried out in the following databases: The Cochrane Library, Medline (Pubmed), PsycINFO, Web of Science (WOS), Scopus, and CINHAL. The PRISMA statement and the Cochrane recommendations for qualitative evidence synthesis were followed. Results: The main psychological impacts of caring for people with COVID-19 perceived by nurses working on the front line were fear, anxiety, stress, social isolation, depressive symptoms, uncertainty, and frustration. The fear of infecting family members or being infected was the main repercussion perceived by the nurses. Other negative impacts that this review added and that nurses suffer as the COVID-19 pandemic progress were anger, obsessive thoughts, compulsivity, introversion, apprehension, impotence, alteration of space-time perception, somatization, and feeling of betrayal. Resilience was a coping tool used by nurses. Conclusions: Front line care for people with COVID-19 causes fear, anxiety, stress, social isolation, depressive symptoms, uncertainty, frustration, anger, obsessive thoughts, compulsivity, introversion, apprehension, impotence, alteration of space-time perception, somatization, and feeling of betrayal in nurses. It is necessary to provide front line nurses with the necessary support to reduce the psychological impact derived from caring for people with COVID-19, improve training programs for future pandemics, and analyze the long-term impacts.

Psychological Impacts and Implications of Aging During a Pandemic

Despite numerous losses associated with advanced age, older adults typically fare better than their younger counterparts in terms of psychological well-being. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately threatened the physical and mental well-being of older adults. How have older versus younger adults been doing? The goal of our symposium is to shed light on this question though presentations of intriguing research findings regarding the psychological impacts of the pandemic on older adults. Stone and Mak will describe their work examining momentary changes in affect, activities, locations, and social interactions over time during the first several months of the pandemic for older individuals. Mikels and colleagues will report on completed and ongoing work illuminating the complex ways in which certain older adults have been faring well during the pandemic, whereas others not so much, with attention to underlying factors. Jeste will discuss a diverse line of research that has examined the relationships between loneliness, social isolation, and compassion in older adults before and during the pandemic. Chi and Carstensen will report on completed and ongoing research that links work and prosocial behavior to wellbeing with consideration of associated age differences. Collectively, these presentations will describe the complex and multifaceted psychological impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on older individuals, revealing the multiple ways in which they are resilient as well as vulnerable.

Analysis of Psychological Impact on Diabetes Patients in The Era of Pandemic Covid-19: A Literature Review

Introduction: Diabetics have several psychological problems associated with diabetes and its complications, which could be exacerbated during the Covid-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study is to analyze the types of psychological responses, efforts to prevent and overcome psychological impacts, and the results of efforts to deal with the psychological impacts experienced by diabetes in the Covid-19 pandemic era based on empirical studies in the last two years.Method: Journal search using a database Scopus, Science Direct. Proquest, and PubMed. The framework used to review is PICOS with inclusion criteria, namely English-language journals from 2019 to 2020. The study is divided into three major themes.Results: Of the ten studies that met the inclusion criteria, it was found that the types of psychological responses experienced by people with diabetes during the Covid-19 pandemic were stress, depression, and anxiety. Efforts to deal with psychological problems include telepsychiatry, telemedicine, telehealth, teleconsultation, self-care, and social support. The results obtained were in the form of low satisfaction levels, lifestyle changes, an increase in glycemic control, low anxiety levels, and high optimism with the Covid-19 situation, and a minimal impact on the psychological status of people with diabetes.Conclusion: It is important to pay attention to the psychological health of diabetics during the Covid-19 pandemic, and serious resources, planning, and action are needed to tackle this problem.