Why users purchase virtual products in MMORPG? An integrative perspective of social presence and user engagement

Abstract

Purpose Prior studies on virtual product purchase have focused on external technological factor but have paid less attention to internal user factors. Thus, drawing upon the social presence and user engagement theories, the purpose of this paper is to develop a research model considering both technological factors and user factors and empirically examine the validity of the proposed research model. Design/methodology/approach A survey from 214 World of Warcraft players was conducted to test the proposed research model, and structural equation modelling approach (specifically, PLS) was used to test the proposed hypotheses. Findings The data analysis results suggest that both social presence and user engagement positively influence the intention to purchase virtual products. Furthermore, two technological factors, interactivity and sociability, are found to affect social presence, and two social factors, social ties and social identity, are found to affect user engagement. Originality/value This study proposes a dual factor framework (i.e. technological and user factors) to investigate the factors influencing the intention to purchase by integrating the social presence perspective and user engagement perspective. The findings would be beneficial for service provider of massively multiplayer online role-playing games to recognize that triggering user demand is of equal importance with offering better technologies and suggest new ways to promote users’ virtual product purchase intentions.

The Role of Virtual Communities in Gambling and Gaming Behaviors: A Systematic Review

“… Content analytic 48 N/A N/A Gambl. PG forum Jin et al ( 2017 ) Quantit. Cross-sectional 214 < 21–36+ 8.4% Gaming MMORPG Kaptein et al ( 2015 ) Quantit.…”

“…According to reviewed studies, online gaming communities inherently exist inside the game. This is especially true with MMORPGs (Badrinarayanan et al 2014 , 2015 ; Ben-Ur et al 2015 ; Fang et al 2009 ; Gui 2018 ; Hota and Derbaix 2016 ; Jin et al 2017 ; Park et al 2018 ; Pinto et al 2015 ). MMORPG playing typically takes place in guilds, that is, long-lasting social groups where players collaborate in order to better game success.…”

“…Membership of a guild becomes an important and extended part of the identity, which becomes manifested in game-related consumption (Pinto et al 2015 ). Both technological (i.e., interactivity, social presence) and user factors (i.e., social ties, social identity) have strong positive relationships with the users’ purchase intentions; further, social ties and social identities affect user engagement and community satisfaction (Jin et al 2017 ).…”

Value-informed pricing for virtual digital products: Evidence from Chinese MMORPG industry

“…Thus, a large portion of the revenue of MMORPG providers depends on their sales of virtual in-game accessories (e.g., weapons and food) rather than the purchase price of the title itself (Nojima, 2007), because virtual in-game accessories indicate different levels of skill and ability, and all of which may be carried over into subsequent gaming sessions (Wu, Chen, & Cho, 2013). This is also why MMORPGs attract a huge amount of loyal users who are willing to pay money for virtual items when compared with other kinds of online games (Jin, Sun, Wang, & Zhang, 2017). Thus, the pricing strategy of such online games as MMORPG has significant differences when compared with traditional industrial products or even most typical digital products (e.g., software, music; Ke, Ba, Stallaert, & Zhang, 2012).…”

Examining the effects of network externalities, density, and closure on in-game currency price in online games

“…Moreover, empirical research on social interactions in MMORPGs has demonstrated that in-game social interactions are an important element in promoting players' enjoyment (Cole and Griffiths, 2007;Jia et al, 2015;Lin et al, 2015) and continuance intention to play (Chang et al, 2014). Another study on MMORPGs reported a positive relationship between players' in-game social interactions and their intention to purchase virtual products ( Jin et al, 2017). Therefore, we infer that players are willing to pay more in MMORPGs when they develop a high-density network in the game.…”