Abstract
With keen competition in the online game industry, game developers and publishers are finding new ways to induce players’ to spend money on subscriptions and virtual items. As the online game itself provides a highly engaging environment, this study examines online sales from the perspective of customer engagement. We propose a research model that examines why game players actively engage in playing online games, and how such engagement can contribute to sales of online games, empirically testing the model using 377 online game players. The results support our research hypotheses and illustrate the effect of customer psychological engagement on stimulating game players’ spending in online games. In particular, both psychological and behavioral engagement exerted a positive influence on online sales, and the dimensions and antecedents of psychological engagement were also identified. The findings of this study are expected to provide some suggestions for game developers and publishers on promoting the sales of digital items/goods. This study also adds to the current understanding of customer psychological engagement by identifying its antecedents and consequences in the context of online games.
Highlights
The advent of high-speed broadband services, personal computers, and mobile technology has cultivated a fertile ground in which online games have flourished
To address the research objectives introduced at the beginning of this paper, we have advanced a theoretical model that captures the antecedents and consequences of customer engagement in online games
The findings demonstrated that both psychological and behavioral engagement determined the amount of money spent in online games
Summary
The advent of high-speed broadband services, personal computers, and mobile technology has cultivated a fertile ground in which online games have flourished. The online game business is a compelling domain that attracts a huge level of investment. The online game industry has a huge market potential, competition within the industry is fierce due to the many product substitutes. With the global popularity of and growing demand for online games, there are hundreds of companies competing with each other, offering a wide variety of games ranging from text-based to massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs). There are many options in almost every online gaming domain. To dominate the competition in the online game industry, online game developers and publishers are seeking new ways to offer the best gaming experience for players, and to induce players to spend money on subscriptions and virtual items
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