A team of faculty members from the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration at Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski" actively participated in the International Scientific Conference "Management and Engineering" (ISCME’25), held from July 7–9, 2025, at the Technical University of Sofia. The team presented in Section 1: "Management and Strategic Leadership". The conference was jointly organized by the Technical University of Sofia, Universiti Sains Malaysia, and the Global Academic Forum on Technology Innovation and Management (GAFTIM), Dubai, with technical sponsorship from IEREK-Springer and indexing in Scopus.

The authorship team includes Prof. Dr. Neviana Krasteva, Prof. Dr. Tsvetan Davidkov, Senior Assistant Professor Dr. Aleksey Potebnya, and PhD candidate Rumen Petkov. The paper, identified with ID 72 and titled "Applying the Octalysis Framework and Behavioral Psychology to FMCG Campaigns: Evidence from Bulgaria and Romania", was presented in person by Dr. Aleksey Potebnya.

The study explores how game design mechanics and behavioral insights can be effectively applied in the creation of marketing campaigns within the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector, drawing on examples from Bulgaria and Romania. Real market data was used to compare the outcomes of two strategic approaches:

• The first strategy applies Yu-kai Chou’s Octalysis gamification framework, incorporating elements such as missions, social influence, competition, and intrinsic motivation to foster deeper user engagement and sustainable behavioral change.
• The second strategy draws on classical behavioral psychology and behaviorist principles, including:
• Scarcity – through time-limited offers;
• Anchoring – by setting an initial high price followed by a discount;
• Reciprocity – via free gifts or samples to encourage customer engagement;
• Social proof – leveraging testimonials and popularity among other consumers.

The presentation sparked a lively discussion on the potential of gamification in management and marketing contexts. Participants explored how these methods could enhance motivation, engagement, and strategic behavior among both consumers and employees. The exchange of insights and perspectives highlighted the broader applicability of gamification across various domains of organizational management.

The research is part of the project “Gamification in Education for Building an Effective System of Competencies in the Context of Industry 5.0” (contract no. КП-06-Н85-3/05.12.2024), funded by the National Science Fund of the Ministry of Education and Science of Bulgaria.