SEATTLE – May 21, 2012 – Scott Rigby, Ph.D, Founder of Immersyve Inc., has joined the executive team of Bobber Interactive. A worldwide expert in the application of the Self Determination Theory (SDT), and the author of The Personal Experience of Needs Satisfaction (PENS), and Glued to Games (with Richard Ryan, Ph.D), Scott has joined Bobber Interactive as its Chief Engagement Officer and Behavioral Economist.
“Dr. Rigby has been an advisor to Bobber for more than a year,” Eric Eastman, Bobber CEO, explained. “We’ve been working closely with him on two partnerships with Fortune 150 Financial Institutions. Bobber is building Immersyve’s IP directly into our technology and, with Scott on board, we expect to accelerate this development to the greater benefit of our financial customers.”
“Gamification is not a silver bullet,” said Scott Dodson, Bobber COO & Product Owner. “Implementations in this sector need to go beyond a simple schema of ‘points, levels, and badges’. People’s financial needs, values, and relationships run much deeper and are life-long. And although the ability to gather behavioral data has exploded over the past decade—that’s simply not enough. To truly keep a customer for a decade or a lifetime, and authentically meet their financial needs, they must be intrinsically motivated. The reasons ‘why’ they take action are far more important than the actions they take as the result of short term tactics and manipulations. To generate lasting, meaningful changes in behavior, you need to build products which can predictably sustain engagement. And when it comes to the meaningful application of this behavioral science to customer behavior, no one understands how to do this better than Scott Rigby.”
SDT and PENS are supported by over thirty years of research by hundreds of scientists worldwide. Centered on measuring people’s experience of competence, autonomy and relatedness, the models have proven to be very effective at predicting outcomes across a range of industries and demographics.
Scott Rigby describes the decision to join the Bobber team: “Bobber has built a technology platform intended to drive the satisfaction of intrinsic needs. There is simply no other gamification platform designed from this perspective from the ground up. Bobber is also the only company in its space which has been able to successfully penetrate the financial vertical, integrating design expertise with the unique needs and regulatory environment of financial services. The need to demonstrate financial responsibility and to save money—especially among young adults—is also more than just a business opportunity. It’s deeply needed to improve the well-being of individuals, families, and society. Joining Bobber to address these issues was an easy decision. The opportunity to have a major impact on financial well-being is compelling.”
About Bobber Interactive
Bobber Interactive is an award-winning fin-tech company that helps financial partners acquire and engage Gen Y customers. Bobber provides financial institutions with customer engagement solutions that drive high value online behavior and monetization through its proprietary technology platform.
Official website | Facebook | @BobberInteract
About Scott Rigby, Ph.D.
Scott Rigby is a thought leader in the emerging area of “gamification.” He is a leading behavioral/motivational scientist, as well as a serial entrepreneur building innovative interactive products and providing strategic and creative consulting to Fortune 100 and 500 companies worldwide, in markets ranging from media, electronic entertainment, health care and finance. He is the CEO of Immersyve, Inc and the principal investigator on several grants awarded by the National Institutes of Health looking to enhance learning and sustain motivation for healthy lifestyle change.
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