Understanding the behavioural intention to play online games. An extension of the theory of planned behaviour
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14684520911001873 |
| Date | 25 September 2009 |
| Published date | 25 September 2009 |
| Pages | 849-872 |
| Author | Ming‐Chi Lee |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
Understanding the behavioural
intention to play online games
An extension of the theory of planned
behaviour
Ming-Chi Lee
Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering,
National Pingtung Institute of Commerce, Pingtung City, Taiwan
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether flow experience, perceived enjoyment,
and interaction affect people’s behavioural intention to play online games and whether gender, age and
prior experience have moderating effects on online game acceptance.
Design/methodology/approach – This study extends the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) with
flow experience, perceived enjoyment, and interaction to propose a theoretical model to explain and
predict people’s behavioural intention to play online games. This model is examined through an
empirical study involving 458 participants using structural equation modelling techniques. In
addition, a competing model based on the technology acceptance model (TAM) is proposed to evaluate
whether TPB is more suitable than TAM to explain the use of online games. The two action-theoretical
models are compared in terms of their predictive power and their practical utility.
Findings – Although both models explain the players’ intention to play online games very well, the
extended TPB model provides a better fit and explanatory power. Notably, this study finds that flow
experience is a more important factor than perceived enjoyment in influencing customer acceptance of
online games. Further analysis reveals that gender is a key moderator of online game acceptance.
Practical implications – Online game developers need to search for flow experience building
strategies that might assist in engaging players. This study suggests that game developers should
consider focusing more on establishing the interactions between players (social interaction) and online
games (human-computer interaction) in their marketing strategies.
Originality/value – This study is significant for two reasons. First, it synthesises the theory of
planned behaviour with psychological and interaction factors and, second, it presents a blueprint for
an entertainment-oriented technology acceptance model.
Keywords Video games, Behavio ur, Social interaction
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
As the internet has become widespread, it has been used to trade various kinds of
content (Grover and Teng, 2001). One of the most popular online activities is games in
which a person can play not only with the computer but also with other people
connected via the internet (Gorriz and Medina, 2000). The rapid growth of the internet
has made the game industry a highly profitable e-commerce application in recent years
(Ha et al., 2007). The value of the global online game market has rapidly expanded from
US$3 billion in 2002 to US$9 billion in 2007 (Datamonitor, 2007). There is a need,
therefore, to understand what factors affect players’ acceptance of online games. This
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Behavioural
intention to play
online games
849
Refereed article received
9 July 2008
Approved for publication
18 May 2009
Online Information Review
Vol. 33 No. 5, 2009
pp. 849-872
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
1468-4527
DOI 10.1108/14684520911001873
information can assist game developers in designing popular games or help vendors
make adjustments to their marketing strategies.
Enjoyment is the single most important goal for online game players (Sweetser and
Wyeth, 2005). If players do not enjoy the game, they will not play it. Ha et al. (2007)
suggested that games are intended to provide entertainment, enjoyment and
relaxation. Previous research has focused narrowly on perceived enjoyment to explain
why people play online games (Hsu and Lu, 2004; Song and Lee, 2007; Sweetser and
Wyeth, 2005). However, perceived enjoyment of games may not be enough to motivate
customers to continue to play games, since the enjoyment of most games is temporary
(Song and Lee, 2007). Sweetser reveals that players often try new online games even
though they enjoy games already being played (Sweetser and Wyeth, 2005).
Recently, the concept of flow experience has been introduced to explain the adoption
of information technologies such as e-learning, online shopping and games (Pilke,
2004). Flow experience refers to optimal and very pleasing activities ex perienced by
individuals with full involvement, concentration and a sense of time distortion. When
in the flow state, people become absorbed in their activity, lose their self-consciousness
and are unable to recognise changes in their surroundings. Therefore, this study
adopts the flow experience as a predictor of online game adoption. In addition onlin e
games are typically multiplayer games that enable users to fantasise and be
entertained. Interaction is an important feature of multiplayer games, which allows
thousands to play simultaneously. This feature may also play an important role in the
attraction of players to games.
Although the above three factors might have varying influences on player
acceptance of online games, little is known about the relationships among these factors
and how they influence the players’ behavioural intention to play online games. Hence,
there is a need to synthesise and integrate them into a new theoretical model to
examine their relationships and evaluate to what extent these concepts affect players’
behavioural intention to play online games.
In order to provide a solid theoretical basis for examining players’ behavioural
intention, this paper draws on two schools of thought regarding the nomological
structure of the theory of reasoned action (TRA):
(1) the technology acceptance model (TAM) (Davis et al., 1989); and
(2) the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) (Ajzen, 1991).
Although online games are considered a type of information technology (IT) (Ha et al.,
2007; Hsu and Lu, 2004, 2005), their entertainment orientation distinguishes them from
traditional task-oriented IT (Choi and Kim, 2004; Hsu and Lu, 2004). People play online
games for pleasure as well as entertainment, not to achieve specific goals or improve
job performance (Sweetser and Wyeth, 2005). While it has been widely applied to
task-based IT acceptance, TAM would not be suitable to explain players’ intentions
regarding online games. This is because perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease
of use (PEOU) in TAM cannot reflect feelings of favourableness or unfavourableness
toward playing online games. Moreover, TAM does not include the influence of social
and control factors on behaviour, and such factors have been found to significantly
influence online usage behaviour (Bosnjak et al., 2006; Chen et al., 2007; Hsu and Chiu,
2004; Hung and Chang, 2005; Lam and Hsu, 2006; Liao et al., 2007; Lin, 2007).
OIR
33,5
850
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