How does gender swapping impact online gamer loyalty? The perspective of interdependence theory
| Published date | 10 September 2018 |
| Date | 10 September 2018 |
| Pages | 647-662 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-08-2016-0230 |
| Author | Fan-Chen Tseng,Ching-Ter Chang,Hsing-Chen Lee,Ching-I Teng |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Information behaviour & retrieval,Collection building & management,Bibliometrics,Databases,Information & knowledge management,Information & communications technology,Internet,Records management & preservation,Document management |
How does gender swapping
impact online gamer loyalty?
The perspective of
interdependence theory
Fan-Chen Tseng
Department of Multimedia and M-Commerce, Kainan University, Taoyuan, Taiwan
Ching-Ter Chang
Graduate Institute of Business and Management,
Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan and
Department of Thoracic Medicine,
Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou, Taiwan
Hsing-Chen Lee
Graduate Institute of Business and Management, Chang Gung University,
Taoyuan, Taiwan, and
Ching-I Teng
Graduate Institute of Business and Management,
Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan;
Department of Rehabilitation, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou, Taiwan and
Department of Business and Management,
Ming Chi University of Technology, Taishan, Taiwan
Abstract
Purpose –Gender swapping –when gamers choose avatars of the opposite gender to their own –is a
common feature of online gaming behavior, and recent studies have explored the reasons for it. However, no
study has yet examined the role gender swapping plays in determining gamers’continual engagement with
communication via online games, i.e., online gamer loyalty. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to examine
this issue and develop hypotheses based on interdependence theory in the online gaming context.
Design/methodology/approach –Responsesfrom a survey of 255 onlinegamers were used for theanalysis.
Findings –Analytical results using structural equation modeling indicate that gender-swapping behavior is
negatively related to social intelligence, which in turn is negatively related to network convergence (the extent
of sharing a common social circle), thus contributing to relational switching costs and online gamer loyalty.
Originality/value –This study is the first to examine how gender swapping affects online gamer loyalty.
Keywords Loyalty, Online game, Social intelligence, Gender swapping, Network convergence,
Relational switching cost
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Online gaming has been a recent focus of the communications literature (e.g. De Grove et al.,
2015; Song and Jung, 2015; Taylor et al., 2014). Among the issues explored, gender swapping
(when gamers choose avatars of the opposite gender to their own) is a common behavior, i.e.,
more than half of online gamers swapped their avatar genders (Hussain and Griffiths, 2008),
indicating the relevance of such behavior in gaming communication. Online Information Review
Vol. 42 No. 5, 2018
pp. 647-662
© Emerald PublishingLimited
1468-4527
DOI 10.1108/OIR-08-2016-0230
Received 27 August 2016
Revised 25 April 2017
24 October 2017
Accepted 12 January 2018
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1468-4527.htm
The authors thank the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan (MOST 103-2410-H-182-011-MY3)
and Chang Gung Memorial Hospital (BMRP644) for financial support.
647
Gender
swapping
and loyalty
The online gaming literature has examined the motivations for gender swapping
(Chou et al., 2014) and its antecedents and consequences (Song and Jung, 2015),
demonstrating that it is a contemporary issue. Specifically, online gamers swapped their
avatar gender to obtain enjoyment from enhanced social interactions, acquire free gifts,
fool others and experience fantasy (Chou et al., 2014). Moreover, perceived benefits and
perceived anonymity predict gender-swapping behavior (Song and Jung, 2015).
The literature indicates that gender-swapping behavior may benefit gamers by allowing
them to receive benefits from other gamers and to experience virtually been transformed
into the opposite gender.
Regarding the behavior used to obtain benefits, the interdependence theory (Rusbult,
1980) has been successfully employed to explain how online gamers depend on each other,
i.e., interdependence (Teng et al., 2012). Therefore, the present study adopted this theory as
its theoretical underpinning.
However, the literature has not examined how the interdependence theory can explain
the role of gender-swapping behavior in the formulation of online gamers’social networks
and online gamer loyalty, thus indicating a research gap. Studies that fill this gap should
deepen our understanding of whether and how gender-swapping behavior encourages
gamers to engage in further communication with other gamers. Furthermore, online gamer
loyalty increases the sustainability of the game providers who operate such communication
media, indicating the importance of research into this issue.
Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the role of gender swapping in
determining the formulation of gaming social networks and online gamer loyalty. Based on
a review of the pertinent literature, we constructed hypotheses on the impacts of gender
swapping on online gamer loyalty and the process underlying such impacts. Data were
collected from an online survey that obtained 255 valid responses. Structural equation
modeling (SEM) was performed to test the hypotheses. We discuss the results, compare
them with the previous studies, list the limitations and then summarize the study.
This paper is organized as follows: this section introduces the importance and the
purpose of this study. The next section reviews the literature and develops the hypotheses.
The methods section explains the sampling process, data collection and measures used.
The results section reports the sample profile and the test results, and the discussion section
elaborates upon the findings and limitations. Finally, the conclusion is presented.
Literature review and hypotheses
Gender swapping
Gender is a social construction. That is, gender, unlike sex, is not a biological divide.
Therefore, gender may be highly related to issues involving social interactions, which
suggeststhat gender is suitable for this study.Moreover, the term “gender swapping”(gamers
using avatars whose genders differ from their own) has been used in various areas, i.e.,
e-business (Chou et al., 2014), psychology (Hussain and Griffiths, 2008) and communication
(Roberts and Parks, 1999; Song and Jung, 2015).
In online games, gamers are represented by avatars that have meanings to their owners
(e.g. a way of communicating to others) and thus can be important for making strong
impressions on other gamers, particularly in terms of attractiveness (Westerman et al., 2015).
When choosing avatars, one important characteristic gamers much consider is gender, as
evidenced by the fact that online gamers frequently use avatars whose genders are different
from their own, i.e., gender swapping (Hussain and Griffiths, 2008; Roberts andParks, 1999).
Research into the topic is warranted because gender swapping should enhance gamers’
enjoyment (Chou et al., 2014) and motivate them to exhibit socially amiable behavior
(Song and Jung, 2015),which supports the argument thatgender swapping may be influential
with regard to gamers’communication behavior.
648
OIR
42,5
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