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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Weisha Wang
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
The consumption of virtual items and other forms of in‐game content is rapidly increasing in the Massively Multiple Player Online Role‐Playing Games market. While psychological need satisfaction obtained through purchasing virtual items to achieve hedonic game experience remains at the center of the debate, most of these studies neglect the eudaimonic game experience and do not differentiate between the psychological experiences from functional items and nonfunctional items. Our research employs the eudaimonic game experience perspective to explore the psychological need satisfaction individuals achieve through purchasing functional and nonfunctional items. From interviews with 25 players, a novel finding is that, while competence, autonomy, relatedness, and purpose in life contribute to one's eudaimonic game experience, each psychological need has its own unique dimensions for different virtual product types. Competence and purpose in life are needs driven by two factors: inner‐directed consumption intention, emphasizing aspiration for authenticity and personal growth; and other‐directed consumption intention, focusing on motivations that elicit, for example, positive responses from others and receiving social awards. Such results are only apparent for functional items but not for nonfunctional items. In contrast, autonomy and relatedness are needs explained by one's inner‐directed consumption intention, across both product types.
Author(s): Wang W, Hang H
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Psychology and Marketing
Year: 2021
Volume: 38
Issue: 10
Pages: 1847-1862
Print publication date: 01/09/2021
Online publication date: 02/06/2021
Acceptance date: 05/05/2021
Date deposited: 20/01/2022
ISSN (print): 0742-6046
ISSN (electronic): 1520-6793
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21503
DOI: 10.1002/mar.21503
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