Below is the abstract of the study. Thank you for everyone that took part!
-Niina Hirvonen
CHOOSING ONLINE ROLEPLAYING GAME: PURCHASE PROCESS AND CONSUMER PERCEIVED VALUE
Research objectives
The goal of this thesis is to discover how consumers select their massively multiplayer online game (MMO-game) and which criteria they use to evaluate the games they play. The thesis begins by describing MMO-games, along with their associated player demographics and segmentation. Then the thesis examines the consumer purchase process and its feasibility in analysing the MMO-games from the theoretical point of view. In addition to this the theory of consumer perceived value and the value dimensions is considered, the value dimensions examined being price, quality, emotional and social, and then adapting these four dimensions to MMO-games researched in an empirical study.
Source material and research methods
The empirical study was made as an Internet-survey that was published in Internet-discussion forum targeted at MMO-gamers. The first part of the survey focused on player demographics and game-related statistics, the second part of the survey measured consumers’ perceptions of the value of the targeted MMO-game and the importance of these value claims. The survey was open over a weekend and received 246 replies of which 239 forms were individual replies filled enough for the analysis. The answers were analysed with SAS-program using summary statistics, cross tabulation, t-test and factor analysis.
Reserach results
Most of the replies to the survey were from young male students. According to the results the choice set of the MMO-games is limited. Most of the respondents did not even consider other games before buying a new one. Also the social networks showed to be very important as most of the players had found their game by the recommendation of their friend, spouse or a member of their family. Five values were found in the factor analysis of the value statements of the survey. These five dimensions reflect the special features of the MMO-game values. Personal satisfaction dimension composed of many emotional and quality statements reflecting the personal evaluation of the gaming experience. Temporal sustainability dimension consists of player evaluations of the continuity of the fulfilment that the game offers. Dissatisfaction dimension indicates the dissatisfaction of even the most devout users towards some aspects of the game. Price and social dimensions were similar then in the previous studies. Also the study revealed an interesting phenomenon of the social stigma of the gamers to the non-gamers. This seemed to be especially prominent among the female gamers.
