IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/jmarka/v12y2024i1d10.1057_s41270-023-00252-4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

I will buy virtual goods if I like them: a hybrid PLS-SEM-artificial neural network (ANN) analytical approach

Author

Listed:
  • Nadjim Mkedder

    (University of Abou Bekr Belkaid Tlemcen)

  • Fatma Zeynep Özata

    (Anadolu University)

Abstract

Despite the popularity of Free-to-Play (F2P) games in recent years, the motivations behind players’ intention to purchase virtual goods in F2P games still require further investigations. This study aims to address this dilemma by investigating the antecedents of functional, emotional, and social values in shaping the purchase intention of virtual goods in F2P games. Using purposive sampling, data were collected through a survey from 352 F2P game participants in the United States. A hybrid PLS-SEM-Artificial Neural Network (ANN) modeling approach was employed to examine the impact of these factors on the intention to purchase virtual goods. The results reveal that perceived value positively influences the purchase intention of virtual goods. The findings also show that functional, emotional, and social values significantly impact the perceived value and purchase intention of virtual goods. Further, perceived value mediates the relationship between quality, achievement, enjoyment, aesthetics, customization, self-presentation, and the intention to purchase virtual goods. The ANN results reveal that quality and social presence are the most critical factors since they achieve the greatest normalized importance ratio compared to the others. The model illustrated considerable explanatory evidence for purchase intention in the context of F2P games. Additionally, this research significantly strengthens the marketing literature by developing an understanding of the intention to buy virtual goods in F2P games. The proposed model can provide insights for F2P game providers to design their games and marketing strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • Nadjim Mkedder & Fatma Zeynep Özata, 2024. "I will buy virtual goods if I like them: a hybrid PLS-SEM-artificial neural network (ANN) analytical approach," Journal of Marketing Analytics, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 42-70, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:jmarka:v:12:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1057_s41270-023-00252-4
    DOI: 10.1057/s41270-023-00252-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41270-023-00252-4
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41270-023-00252-4?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 search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Konuk, Faruk Anıl, 2019. "The influence of perceived food quality, price fairness, perceived value and satisfaction on customers’ revisit and word-of-mouth intentions towards organic food restaurants," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 103-110.
    2. Wu, Shu-Ling & Hsu, Chiu-Ping, 2018. "Role of authenticity in massively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPGs): Determinants of virtual item purchase intention," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 242-249.
    3. Hollebeek, Linda D. & Abbasi, Amir Zaib & Schultz, Carsten D. & Ting, Ding Hooi & Sigurdsson, Valdimar, 2022. "Hedonic consumption experience in videogaming: A multidimensional perspective," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    4. Hao Chen & Haitao Chen, 2022. "Investigating the intention to purchase virtual goods in social networking service games: a self-presentation perspective," Behaviour and Information Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(6), pages 1171-1184, April.
    5. Lucas W. L. Liew & Vasilis Stavropoulos & Baxter L. M. Adams & Tyrone L. Burleigh & Mark D. Griffiths, 2018. "Internet Gaming Disorder: the interplay between physical activity and user–avatar relationship," Behaviour and Information Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(6), pages 558-574, June.
    6. Wang, Le & Luo, Xin (Robert) & Li, Han, 2022. "Envy or conformity? An empirical investigation of peer influence on the purchase of non-functional items in mobile free-to-play games," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 308-324.
    7. Leong, Lai-Ying & Hew, Teck-Soon & Ooi, Keng-Boon & Wei, June, 2020. "Predicting mobile wallet resistance: A two-staged structural equation modeling-artificial neural network approach," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    8. Hussain, Ali & Abid, Muhammad Farrukh & Shamim, Amjad & Ting, Ding Hooi & Toha, Md Abu, 2023. "Videogames-as-a-service: How does in-game value co-creation enhance premium gaming co-creation experience for players?," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    9. Mäntymäki, Matti & Salo, Jari, 2015. "Why do teens spend real money in virtual worlds? A consumption values and developmental psychology perspective on virtual consumption," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 124-134.
    10. Shmueli, Galit & Ray, Soumya & Velasquez Estrada, Juan Manuel & Chatla, Suneel Babu, 2016. "The elephant in the room: Predictive performance of PLS models," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(10), pages 4552-4564.
    11. Wedel, Michel & Bigné, Enrique & Zhang, Jie, 2020. "Virtual and augmented reality: Advancing research in consumer marketing," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 443-465.
    12. Gupta, Shipra & Coskun, Merve, 2021. "The influence of human crowding and store messiness on consumer purchase intention– the role of contamination and scarcity perceptions," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    13. Hamari, Juho & Hanner, Nicolai & Koivisto, Jonna, 2020. ""Why pay premium in freemium services?" A study on perceived value, continued use and purchase intentions in free-to-play games," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    14. Sheth, Jagdish N. & Newman, Bruce I. & Gross, Barbara L., 1991. "Why we buy what we buy: A theory of consumption values," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 159-170, March.
    15. Lim, Xin-Jean & Cheah, Jun-Hwa & Ng, Siew Imm & Kamal Basha, Norazlyn & Liu, Yide, 2021. "Are men from Mars, women from Venus? Examining gender differences towards continuous use intention of branded apps," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    16. Ozkara, Behcet Yalin & Ozmen, Mujdat & Kim, Jong Woo, 2017. "Examining the effect of flow experience on online purchase: A novel approach to the flow theory based on hedonic and utilitarian value," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 119-131.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tan, Teck Ming & Makkonen, Hannu & Kaur, Puneet & Salo, Jari, 2022. "How do ethical consumers utilize sharing economy platforms as part of their sustainable resale behavior? The role of consumers’ green consumption values," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    2. Afful-Dadzie, Eric & Lartey, Samuel Odame & Clottey, David Nii Klote, 2022. "Agricultural information systems acceptance and continuance in rural communities: A consumption values perspective," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    3. Mark Ng & Monica Law & Lubanski Lam & Celine Cui, 2023. "A study of the factors influencing the viewers’ satisfaction and cognitive assimilation with livestreaming commerce broadcast in Hong Kong," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 1565-1590, September.
    4. Li Jiang & Mei Zhao & Hao Lin & Lvyu Yang, 2022. "How Do Consumer Innovation Characteristics and Consumption Value Shape Users’ Willingness to Buy Innovative Car Safety Seats?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-28, December.
    5. Chakraborty, Debarun & Siddiqui, Aaliyah & Siddiqui, Mujahid & Rana, Nripendra P. & Dash, Ganesh, 2022. "Mobile payment apps filling value gaps: Integrating consumption values with initial trust and customer involvement," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    6. Ja-Shen Chen & Piyanoot Kamalanon & Thanyamai P. Janupiboon, 2022. "Company websites and mobile apps versus social media: which service experience creates more customer value for online travel agencies?," Service Business, Springer;Pan-Pacific Business Association, vol. 16(4), pages 1081-1110, December.
    7. Chakraborty, Debarun & Siddiqui, Mujahid & Siddiqui, Aaliyah & Paul, Justin & Dash, Ganesh & Mas, Francesca Dal, 2023. "Watching is valuable: Consumer views – Content consumption on OTT platforms," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    8. Hussain, Ali & Abid, Muhammad Farrukh & Shamim, Amjad & Ting, Ding Hooi & Toha, Md Abu, 2023. "Videogames-as-a-service: How does in-game value co-creation enhance premium gaming co-creation experience for players?," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    9. Jayaswal, Pragya & Parida, Biswajita, 2023. "The role of augmented reality in redefining e-tailing: A review and research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    10. Cheng, Junjun & Chen, Bo & Huang, Zihang, 2023. "Collective-based ad transparency in targeted hotel advertising: Consumers’ regulatory focus underlying the crowd safety effect," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    11. Saarijärvi, Hannu & Mitronen, Lasse & Yrjölä, Mika, 2014. "From selling to supporting – Leveraging mobile services in the context of food retailing," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 26-36.
    12. Ioana Gutu & Daniela Tatiana Agheorghiesei & Alexandru Tugui, 2023. "Assessment of a Workforce Sustainability Tool through Leadership and Digitalization," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-30, January.
    13. Pengji Wang & Adrian T. H. Kuah & Qinye Lu & Caroline Wong & K. Thirumaran & Emmanuel Adegbite & Wesley Kendall, 2021. "The impact of value perceptions on purchase intention of sustainable luxury brands in China and the UK," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 28(3), pages 325-346, May.
    14. Terason Sid, 2021. "Predicting Sports Facility Revisit Intentions Based on Experience and Mediating Effects of Perceived Value," Polish Journal of Sport and Tourism, Sciendo, vol. 28(3), pages 35-41, September.
    15. Bryan Cheng-Yu Hsu & Yu-Feng Wu & Hsin-Wei Chen & Man-Lai Cheung, 2020. "How Sport Tourism Event Image Fit Enhances Residents’ Perceptions of Place Image and Their Quality of Life," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-14, October.
    16. Debora Bettiga & Lucio Lamberti & Emanuele Lettieri, 2020. "Individuals’ adoption of smart technologies for preventive health care: a structural equation modeling approach," Health Care Management Science, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 203-214, June.
    17. Baier-Fuentes, Hugo & Andrade-Valbuena, Nelson A. & Huertas Gonzalez-Serrano, Maria & Gaviria-Marin, Magaly, 2023. "Bricolage as an effective tool for the survival of owner-managed SMEs during crises," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    18. Kautish, Pradeep & Paço, Arminda & Thaichon, Park, 2022. "Sustainable consumption and plastic packaging: Relationships among product involvement, perceived marketplace influence and choice behavior," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    19. Neringa Ivanauskiene & Vilte Auruškeviciene & Vida Skudiene & Sarunas Nedzinskas, 2012. "Customer perceptions of value: case of retail banking," Organizations and Markets in Emerging Economies, Faculty of Economics, Vilnius University, vol. 3(1).
    20. Jin, Ting & Prentice, Catherine & Shao, Wei, 2021. "Identifying antecedent conditions for luxury brand purchase," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).

    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:pal:jmarka:v:12:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1057_s41270-023-00252-4. 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.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/ .

    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.