People -do- care about pointless things like 'achievements' and such. I'm actually kind of ashamed that I care, but I -do- care. I am more likely to fully explore a site or product if there are external goals in play.
So maybe, instead of gamification, it's incentivization? Definitely a harder word to say and type out, but it's more indicative of what's going on and has less negative connotation.
Another issue is that people think gamification is the new SEO. Gamification will not magically bring new users to your site. It's as you said, about incentivizing or engaging with your current users.
His perceived ineptitude of the practitioners involved is a large part of why Bogost is calling out gamification as a marketing term here. Game designers don't call it gamification. Game designers make games.
I don't need games or rewards or incentives to buy products that meet these criteria.
In fact majority of people base purchase decisions on unrelated psychological factors such as making them feel good about themselves or validating their "success" or completion/reward mechanics. It is what advertising/marketing industries are ALL about, few massmarket products are sold or bought on their merits.