‘Beating the App’ or Pyrrhic Victories?:Gamification, Workaholism and FoMO in UK Food-Delivery Platforms

This article examines the relationship between the gamification of platform food-delivery work and workaholism. Drawing on a qualitative study, our findings suggest that while financial needs act as a ‘push’ factor, encouraging workers to enter off-line platform work, gamification serves as a ‘pull’ factor - driving an introjected motivation that draws couriers into the compulsive behaviours associated with workaholism. The more exposure that couriers have with these gamified apps, the more likely they are to think that they can ‘beat the app’. However, the algorithm is always one step ahead, resulting in illusory wins or pyrrhic victories for couriers. While gamified apps limit couriers’ choice architecture and the possibilities for counter-gamification, they also reduce couriers’ rational self-reflection, driving couriers to work excessively and compulsively, with couriers exhibiting Clarke et al.’s (2020) four dimensions of workaholism: motivational, behavioural, cognitive, and, in particular, the emotional dimension - the fear of missing out (FoMO).