https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/107375 2026-04-22T14:39:48Z 2026-04-22T14:39:48Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/107551 2023-03-23T07:25:40Z 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: The impact of gamification features on consumer brand engagement : a study on the Maltese fast-food industry Abstract: Purpose: Gamification has become a popular strategy adopted by many organisations in recent years, with the belief that including gamification elements will boost consumer engagement and loyalty. This study's primary purpose is to investigate the effects of gamification features on customer brand engagement. The research study focuses on the use of gamification in the fast-food industry of Malta. These results are intended to benefit marketers and executives, as these findings will allow them to determine which essential gamification features generate consumer engagement in Maltese fastfood brands. Moreover, this thesis was considered relevant due to the lack of literature on the issue of gamification and its influence on the Maltese fast-food sector. Design: A digital questionnaire was conducted for Maltese fast-food consumers between the ages of 18 and 60 as part of the research's quantitative approach. The data was analysed using SmartPLS, IBM SPSS and Microsoft Excel. Findings and Implications: The research findings from 403 respondents indicate that all gamification features tested (points, progress bars, virtual currency, and levels) have a significant and favourable influence on all aspects of consumer brand engagement. It was also determined that across all dimensions of user brand engagement (emotional, cognitive, and social), 'points' had the most positive impact. In addition, it was discovered that 'virtual currency' has a more significant impact on the emotional and cognitive components of consumer brand engagement, while 'progress bars' had a more significant impact on the emotional aspect. These results suggest that all gamification features available in the Maltese fast-food industry effectively create brand engagement. In addition, these findings were also found to be consistent with prior research. Based on the study's empirical results, it was recommended that executives and practitioners consider implementing achievement gamification features (points, progress bars, virtual currency, and levels) into their gamified applications, as these elements can increase consumers' emotional, cognitive, and social brand engagement. Originality and Value: This research study is beneficial to both academics and professionals. The research investigated how achievement gamification elements impact the dimensions of customer brand engagement. The report also gives insights into how businesses can optimise customer engagement through gamification. Description: M.Sc.(Melit.)

2022-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/107550 2023-03-23T07:11:40Z 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: The relationship between emotional intelligence and psychological wellbeing in the workplace Abstract: The dynamic aspect of the world of work, accompanied by personal struggle, can pose several challenges to employees, limiting job performance. Moreover, as the world shifts rapidly between health, employment, and political crises, employee well-being has come to the forefront of employers' priorities. As organisations look to discover the key to maintaining a healthy workforce, levels of emotional intelligence have been mentioned as possible indicators. In light of this, the research focused on determining if emotional intelligence is correlated with psychological well-being. Quantitative surveys were used to determine whether there is scope for organisations to invest in developing higher degrees of emotional intelligence within their staff. The findings suggested that all facets of emotional intelligence and psychological well-being had a significant and positive correlation, except for the Autonomy and Utilising Emotions subscales. Gender, age and company tenure were also found to influence the main variables to varying degrees. As a result of these observations, several practical and theoretical implications were highlighted. Description: M.Sc.(Melit.)

2022-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/107530 2023-11-24T10:43:20Z 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: The perceived value of employer brands in the I gaming industry Abstract: Employer branding can be defined as how prospective and current employees perceive the company brand as an employer. A crucial aspect of employer branding is the value associated with or perceived to the psychological contract. This brings together internal and external efforts carried out by the employer in order to move up the ranks as an employer of choice. The employer brand encapsulates psychological, economic, and functional benefits associated with an employer. Employer branding aims to cement the organisation’s position as an employer of choice by promoting these benefits. The talent pool for the iGaming Industry available in the Maltese islands is not growing proportionally to the demand for human resources. The industry is experiencing a low retention rate of employees, with individuals leaving their current employers for other organisations that primarily offer better financial incentives. The recruit process and training of replacement staff directly impacts the production rate and service quality of the organisations who are affected. The research seeks to gain insight into what employees’ value in organisations that practice employer branding. It also seeks to identify the branding process and the messages that employees hear. This research will focus on the perceived value and thereby allude to the relevance and impact of employer branding in the iGaming industry in Malta. In so doing, this study aims to identify: ● What the perceived value of employer branding is. ● What dimension of employer branding which members of staff in the iGaming industry deem relevant. Description: M.Sc.(Melit.)

2022-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/107529 2023-03-22T07:15:23Z 2022-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Customer relationship management : game providers and casino operators in the iGaming industry Abstract: Purpose: In the iGaming market, the number of Game Providers and Casino Operators is on the rise. This leads to both parties fighting for market share by forming a competitive edge. The purpose is to explore the degree to which Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is employed by both Game Providers and Casino Operators within the iGaming industry. Methodology: A qualitative approach was chosen, namely semi-structured interviews with twelve individual experts, six from the Game Providers segment and six from the Casino Operators. Analysis occurred by generating transcripts where coding was performed using XMIND and a thematic study of the transcripts was performed for each of the interviews. Results: This research found that CRM is given importance and highly utilised within the industry, however with respect to Game Providers, it is mainly used for data storage, thus this concept could be given more importance and utilised in a better manner. Conversely, Casino Operators give CRM critical importance to strengthen the relationships with the player, where the notions of personalisation and segmentation are highly considered. Practical Implications: The results of this research will derive benefits towards the industry, whereby both Game Providers and Casino Operators will possess a clearer understanding of how CRM is adopted by firms within the industry and the importance it is given. Originality: The unique value expressed is the amalgamation of how the CRM approach is implemented within the highly competitive iGaming industry. Limitations and Further Research: Lastly, the limitations including the time constraint were discussed, this study provides room for further research such as exploring the positive and negative attributes associated with this study and so forth. Description: M.Sc.(Melit.)

2022-01-01T00:00:00Z