What chemical makes you happy?

There are four major chemicals in the brain that influence our happiness (DOSE):

  • Dopamine
  • Oxytocin
  • Serotonin
  • Endorphins

Each of these chemicals plays a different role in happiness. And guess what? They are all triggered by gamified experiences. Let’s dig a little deeper.

Dopamine is what we normally think of as the happiness drug. However, that’s a big misconception. Dopamine is actually involved more with anticipation than the actual “happiness” feeling. Nicole describes it as a striving emotion.

Oxytocin is the neurochemical that has allowed us to become social creatures. It makes us feel empathy which helps us feel close and bonded to others when it’s released.

If you’re in a good mood, you’ve got serotonin to thank. And if you’re in a bad mood, you’ve got serotonin to blame. It’s a regulator. Interestingly, 80 percent of serotonin exists in the gut and it is governed by your state of hunger (yes, this is why you’re hangry).

Endorphins are responsible for masking pain or discomfort, which explains their association with the “fight or flight” response. When it comes to designing happiness, endorphins help you “power through.” Nicole, for example, is an avid runner. Endorphins allow her to push farther and harder as she works towards distance goals.

Together these chemicals create desirable brain states (and keep people coming back).

Experiences that release the DOSE neurochemicals make us happy, which makes us want more of the same. Does a desire to return to the same experience sound like a desire you probably want to have for your customers? Yes, it certainly does; it creates customer loyalty. Gamified user experiences created with neuroscience in mind keep consumers coming back for more.

Whether those experiences are created to keep employees returning to your LMS for more gamified training or to keep readers revisiting your site for more gamified content, this scientifically-backed approach works. It’s the reason gamification is expected to grow into a multi-billion industry, and the reason you should be thinking about how to include gamified experiences into your technology.

The Takeaways

There are four primary chemicals in the brain that affect happiness: dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins By designing gamified experiences that activate these chemicals, you can increase your users’ happiness and loyalty.