IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/joreco/v92y2026ics0969698926000792.html

A multi-study examination of gamers’ switching intention and behavior from pirated to authentic video games: Moral cleansing and push-pull-mooring

Author

Listed:
  • Wang, Houcai
  • Tang, Zhenya Robin
  • Amin, M.A. Shariful

Abstract

Piracy continues to be a complex and evolving challenge for the video game industry. Gamers' transition from pirated to authentic video games refers to the actions taken by individuals who had previously used pirated video games but have now chosen to legally purchase and play authentic games. This work aims to examine what drives gamers' switching from pirated to authentic games. We based our research model on the push-pull-mooring framework and moral cleansing theory and validated it through a multi-study design that combined a scenario-based experiment and an online survey. Our results indicate that guilt not only positively influences gamers’ switching directly but indirectly through perceived security risks, perceived convenience, socializing, and descriptive norms. Our research adds to the current literature of digital piracy, platform switching intention and behavior, and moral cleansing. The implications of our research findings for the online gaming industry and other practitioners are further discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang, Houcai & Tang, Zhenya Robin & Amin, M.A. Shariful, 2026. "A multi-study examination of gamers’ switching intention and behavior from pirated to authentic video games: Moral cleansing and push-pull-mooring," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joreco:v:92:y:2026:i:c:s0969698926000792
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2026.104799
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969698926000792
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jretconser.2026.104799?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:joreco:v:92:y:2026:i:c:s0969698926000792. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-retailing-and-consumer-services .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.