WHY ARE PEOPLE WILLING TO REPURCHASE VIRTUAL GOODS IN ONLINE MOBILE GAMES? UNDERSTANDING GAMERS PERCEPTIONS AND BEHAVIORAL INTENTION

• Main Author: Zhafir Afif, Muhammad
• Format: Theses
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/66668
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

The expansion of the free-to-play online mobile games applications market has made virtual goods (VG) a crucial revenue-generating element in games. As a result, the repurchase of goods must be investigated further as one of the methods for increasing revenue. This study aims to explain the value of virtual goods, interpret the relationship between purchasing motivation and enhanced gaming experience, and assess the relationship between purchasing motivation and enhanced gaming experience on users' intention to repurchase. Consequently, the research was conducted using a sequential mixed exploratory method. The focus group discussion method was used in an exploratory study to determine the general perception of mobile online users regarding the factors influencing their decision to repurchase. The exploratory outcomes include general constructs, measurement items, and the proposed model. Then, the exploratory results in constructs and measurement items are modified and validated by prior literature studies to be utilized in explanatory research. The resulting constructs include perceived values (price, quality, social, and emotional), purchasing motivation (utilitarian and hedonic), enhanced gaming experience (utilitarian and hedonic), perceived ease of purchase, and repurchase intent. Before the questionnaire was distributed to users who had purchased virtual goods within the previous three months, it was validated by marketing-expert academics and subjected to a pre-test questionnaire with 33 respondents. Three hundred twenty-one valid responses were obtained and will be analysed using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Partial Least Square–Structure Equation Modelling (PLSSEM). Using PCA, an evaluation of perceived values (price, quality, social, and emotional) is conducted, and it is discovered that price and quality values become a new construct called functional values. Using PLS-SEM, the most recent hypothetical models are analysed based on the PCA outcomes, which serve as construct indicators. The PLS-SEM results indicate that users with utilitarian purchasing motivation perceive virtual goods to have functional and social values. Meanwhile, users with hedonistic purchasing motivations perceive emotional value in virtual goods. In addition, users with utilitarian and hedonic purchasing motivations correlate with a utilitarian and hedonic enhanced gaming experience. Therefore, utilitarian users purchase virtual goods to obtain the game's primary functionality to enhance their gaming experience. In contrast, hedonic users purchase virtual goods to increase their level of enjoyment while gaming. Lastly, purchasing motivation (utilitarian and hedonic) influences repurchase intention significantly. In contrast, the enhanced gaming experience only has a hedonic effect, meaning it only affects repurchase through a decorative gaming experience. Comparing the significance of the effect between purchasing motivation and enhanced hedonic gaming experience using the value of ?, it is discovered that enhanced hedonic gaming experience has a more significant impact than purchasing motivation. The findings of this study can then provide theoretical and managerial benefits. This study theorizes better-perceived values for virtual goods, where post-experience value analysis is necessary because virtual goods can only be perceived based on experience. In addition, this study explains that improved gaming experience is one of the factors that users consider when deciding to repurchase. Based on user perceptions of virtual goods, this study assists game developers in designing and adapting more effective marketing targets. According to the findings of this study, there are two types of users: utilitarian and hedonistic. For utilitarian users, it is recommended to sell and design functional virtual goods that are useful for improving character abilities, task completion to accelerate achievement, and e to improve their characters or storylines. As for hedonic users, repurchasing is influenced by altering the character's appearance to distinguish it from other user characters and being noticed by other users. Keywords: Online Mobile Game, Virtual Goods, Perceived Values, Gamers' Purchasing Motivation, Gaming Experience, Repurchase Intention