Investigating the Potential of Different Gamification Approaches Designed to Motivate Smart Charging – a Cross-Cultural Comparison

This study explores the potential of various gamification approaches to enhance user motivation for smart charging of electric vehicles, with a particular focus on cross-cultural preferences. Four distinct gamification strategies - rewards, streaks, feedback, and social comparison - were each implemented in a dedicated smart charging app design. To evaluate them, six focus groups were conducted with 30 participants from Germany, Ireland, China, and India, enabling both qualitative and quantitative insights into user perceptions and preferences. The findings indicate that, while reward-based gamification was generally the most appealing, it provided the greatest motivation when coupled with monetary incentives. Additionally, app designs that incorporated positively reinforcing elements were preferred over a non-gamified alternative. Cultural differences primarily influenced the appeal of social comparison. Based on the results, the paper provides actionable recommendations for designing culturally sensitive gamified applications to support the transition to smart charging behaviours.