Does fun or freebie increase in-app purchase? Analyzing effects of enjoyment and item experience intention to purchase mobile game contents

摘要

The goal of this study is to enhance the understanding of factors that affect intention to purchase virtual items in mobile games. The effects of gameplay motivation and item experience are evaluated on intention to purchase. An online survey was conducted in a leading mobile game and we used partial least squares modeling for the empirical analysis. The results shows that play frequency and social interaction are positively associated with intention to purchase, while the level of stage is negatively associated with intention to purchase. Moreover, a player's experience with a virtual item is positively related to intention to purchase the item. Although the level of stage is negatively associated with purchase intention of a user, free-item experience positively meditates the effect of expertise on intention to purchase the item. This implies that offering free items is an effective way for all users, not just novices but also skillful players. Furthermore, purchased-item experience has the largest effect on intention to purchase among suggested factors. This presents that players who purchased in-app items are more likely to purchase again. Thus, game developers need to consider more carefully about paying users for continuous purchasing. Drawing on the empirical findings, managerial implications and directions for future research are provided.