Influencing Path of Player-avatar Identification on Virtual Item Consumption in Online Games

doi:10.19722/j.cnki.1008-7729.2018.0153

JOURNAL OF BEIJING UNIVERSITY OF POSTS AND TELECOM ›› 2018, Vol. 20 ›› Issue (5): 1-7.doi: 10.19722/j.cnki.1008-7729.2018.0153

1. Business School, HuaQiao University, Quanzhou 362021, China;2. Economics and Business
Administration, Fuzhou University of Foreign Studies and Trade, Fuzhou 350202, China;3. Economics and
Business Administration, Xiamen University of Technology, Xiamen 361021, China

Received:2018-06-19 Online:2018-10-31

Abstract

Abstract: Online game virtual item consumption has become one of the main sources of profit for game operators. With the development of mobile games, the virtual item market shows great potential. The mobile games′ setting currently focuses on fairness, and the consumption of virtual item does not affect the outcome of the game directly. From the perspective of player-avatar identification, enjoyment perception and flow experience are taken as intermediary variables to construct the model of influencing path of player-avatar identification on virtual item consumption. Through empirical study, it is found that: first, player-avatar identification, enjoyment perception, flow experience and virtual item purchase intention are all pairwise correlated; second, player-avatar identification can directly predict virtual item purchase intention; third, player-avatar identification affects virtual item purchase intention through two indirect paths: the mediating role of flow experience, and the chain mediating role of enjoyment perception and flow experience.

Key words: player-avatar identification, virtual item, enjoyment perception, flow experience, consumer behavior

CLC Number:

HAO Lu-jie1,2，L Qing-hua1，JIANG Qing-quan3. Influencing Path of Player-avatar Identification on Virtual Item Consumption in Online Games[J]. JOURNAL OF BEIJING UNIVERSITY OF POSTS AND TELECOM, 2018, 20(5): 1-7.

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