A Conceptual Framework for Gamification-Based Community Financial Literacy Capacity-Building: Integrating Self-Determination Theory and Nudge Theory

Low financial literacy continues to constrain household resilience, micro-enterprise growth, and inclusive community development worldwide, even as most community-based financial literacy programs still rely on lecture-style delivery that struggles to sustain adult participants' engagement. Meanwhile, gamification - the use of game design elements in non-game contexts - has accumulated strong evidence of motivational and learning benefits in classroom and financial-technology settings, yet no integrative conceptual model currently guides community service practitioners in applying gamification to offline or low-connectivity community training. This conceptual paper addresses that gap by proposing the Gamified Community Financial Literacy Capacity-Building Model (GC-FLCM), an integrative framework synthesizing Self-Determination Theory, Nudge Theory, Family Financial Socialization Theory, Social Cognitive (self-efficacy) Theory, community capacity-building theory, and andragogy. Using a conceptual synthesis method, the framework maps specific gamification mechanics onto the psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, and aligns learning content with the OECD/INFE core competency domains for adult and MSME financial literacy. The model is organized into four iterative stages - Diagnose and Design, Autonomy-Supportive Onboarding, Guided Mastery Loop, and Habit Consolidation and Sustainability - and incorporates a tiered, blended low-tech/high-tech design to mitigate digital-divide exclusion, alongside explicit ethical safeguards against the manipulative "dark side" of gamification documented in prior literature. The paper contributes a novel, theory-grounded, practice-ready blueprint for community service organizations, extension agencies, and cooperative movements, and outlines an agenda for future empirical validation.