Why People Continue to Play Online Games: In Search of Critical Design Factors to Increase Customer Loyalty to Online Contents

Abstract

As people increasingly play online games, numerous new features have been proposed to increase players' log-on time at online gaming sites. However, few studies have investigated why people continue to play certain online games or which design features are most closely related to the amount of time spent by players at particular online gaming sites. This study proposes a theoretical model using the concepts of customer loyalty, flow, personal interaction, and social interaction to explain why people continue to play online network games. The study then conducts a large-scale survey to validate the model. Finally, it analyzes current online games to identify design features that are closely related to the theoretical concepts. The results indicate that people continue to play online games if they have optimal experiences while playing the games. This optimal experience can be attained if the player has effective personal interaction with the system or pleasant social interactions with other people connected to the Internet. Personal interaction can be facilitated by providing appropriate goals, operators and feedback; social interaction can be facilitated through appropriate communication places and tools. This paper ends with the implications of applying the study results to other domains such as e-commerce and cyber communities.

MMORPG gaming and hostility predict Internet Addiction symptoms in adolescents: An empirical multilevel longitudinal study

“…This association can be explained by online satisfaction and immediate gratification due to addressing the gradually increasing level of challenges in MMORPGs (Choi & Kim, 2004;Hull et al, 2013;Wan & Chiou, 2006). More specifically, MMORPGs may trigger high emotional involvement and an increased need to spending time online (Gentile et al, 2011), and thus reinforcing IA.…”

Flow Experience in Cyberspace: Current Studies and Perspectives

“…The practice of playing computer, video, and online games is also a growing area of flow-related investigations (Chen, 2007;Chen & Park, 2005;Choi & Kim, 2004;Chou & Ting, 2003;Hsu & Lu, 2004;Inal & Cagiltay, 2007;Jegers, 2006;Kim, Oh, & Lee, 2005;McKenna & Lee, 1995;Sweetser & Wyeth, 2005;Voiskounsky, Mitina, & Avetisova, 2004. Characteristics of flow have been found usefully realized in a gaming environment for the computer-learning courses adapted for the students of a primary and secondary school (Andersen & Witfelt, 2005).…”

“…Characteristics of flow have been found usefully realized in a gaming environment for the computer-learning courses adapted for the students of a primary and secondary school (Andersen & Witfelt, 2005). Such parameters as a design for a game, including well-organized feedback, and the appropriateness of the gamers' goals have been found to be important for the occurrence of flow (Choi & Kim, 2004). A kind of enjoyment related to a flow experience is introduced to explain that certain text-only games have remained attractive for players over several decades Voiskounsky et al, 2005).…”

“…Rather little can be said about the populations of the habitual cyberspace visitors speaking languages other than English or Chinese (particular research has been done mostly in Taiwan). Some investigations have also been carried out within populations of German-speaking students (Konradt & Sulz, 2001;Konradt et al, 2003;Tzanetakis & Vitouch, 2002;Vollmeyer & Rheinberg, 2006), within Russian gamers Voiskounsky et al, 2005) and hackers (Voiskounsky & Smyslova, 2003a, 2003b within Korean online gamers (Choi & Kim, 2004), and within all the Scandinavian populations of information technologies users -the speakers of Norwegian , Swedish (Montgomery at al., 2004;Sharafi et al, 2006), and Finnish (Pilke, 2004). Pioneer studies have also been carried out in Israel within the groups chatting in Hebrew (Shoham, 2004), within a population of Brazilian journalists actively using information technologies (Manssour, 2003), and within the Turkish children playing social games (Inal & Cagiltay, 2007).…”

“…The former includes all the factors characterizing the latter: Flow, Achievement, Cognition, and Interaction. The latter means social (user-to-user) interaction, not personal interaction between the user and the system -the distinction between the two types of interaction within the gaming environments was introduced by Choi and Kim (2004). Hence, the factor models characterizing the Russian-speaking and the francophone samples are partly similar.…”