Modeling the Antecedents of Game Usage and Purchase Behavior – 2011

Modeling the Antecedents of Game Usage and Purchase Behavior

Robert Davis and Bodo Lang

Robert Davis: Associate Professor

Faculty of Creative Industries and Business, rdavis@unitec.ac.nz, Phone: ++ (649) 815 4321, Postal Address: Unitec Institute of Technology, Department of Management and Marketing, Private Bag 92025, Auckland, New Zealand.

Bodo Lang: Senior Lecturer, Department of Marketing, b.lang@auckland.ac.nz.

Postal Address: University of Auckland Business School, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand.

Acknowledgements: Manukau Institute of Technology for project funding, Chyi Main Ong for the early work on the model and Josefino San Diego for data analysis assistance.

Author Biographies

Robert Davis: Associate Professor: Faculty of Creative Industries and Business. Published research on interactive marketing in the International Journal of Mobile Marketing, International Journal of Mobile Communications, Journal of Advertising Research, Marketing Science, Journal of Service Research, Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education, Communications of the ACM, the Journal of Information Technology, Strategic Direction, International Journal of Bank Marketing, Australasian Marketing Journal and the University of Auckland Business Review.

Bodo Lang: Senior Lecturer: Department of Marketing, The University of Auckland Business School, b.lang@auckland.ac.nz.

Bodo’s career is a blend of the commercial and academic sectors. His commercial career began in advertising, he then worked for a global management consulting firm and he has also held a management position at a global market research firm. The other half of Bodo’s career has been spent in academia, where Bodo has worked as a Lecturer and Senior Lecturer for a number of different institutions. To date Bodo’s research has been published in a range of international outlets, such as the Journal of Business Research, the Journal of Advertising, the International Journal of Bank Marketing and Advances in Consumer Research. His research has also been published in numerous trade publications and he has presented his work at a variety of international conferences.

Modeling the Antecedents of Game Usage and Purchase Behavior

Abstract

This research models the relationship between the consumers’ game purchase and usage behavior and ease of use, complexity and perceived control. In, 2009, 493 consumers in Auckland, New Zealand were randomly recruited to respond face-to-face to complete a structured questionnaire. The analysis tested the conceptual model with confirmatory factors analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM). The modeling tested game usage and purchase across 4 model types; (1) the original model (all games) and then the alternative models, (2) Sports/Simulation/Driving, (3) Role Playing Game (RPG)/Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG)/Strategy and (3) Action/Adventure/Fighting. The analysis tested the conceptual model with confirmatory factors analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM). The modeling tested game usage and purchase across the 4 model types; (1) the original model (all games) and then the alternative models, (2) Sports/Simulation/Driving, (3) Role Playing Game (RPG)/Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG)/Strategy and (3) Action/Adventure/Fighting. In our confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling, all of our models had adequate model fit with the exception of the original model. Our path coefficients for the 3 game types concluded that all our hypotheses be accepted indicated a strong impact between; (1) ease of use and complexity, (2) control and ease of use, (3) ease of use and purchase (only Role Playing Game (RPG)/Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG)/Strategy). Research implications are discussed.

Key Words: usage, purchase, computer games, structural equation modeling.