Leveraging the Numerosity Effect to Influence Perceived Expensiveness of Virtual Items
Leveraging the Numerosity Effect to Influence Perceived Expensiveness of Virtual Items
复制标题
利用数量效应影响虚拟物品的感知昂贵程度
DOI：
10.1287/isre.2020.0955
复制
发表时间：
2021-03-01
影响因子：
4.9
通讯作者：
Lin, Zhijie
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Huang, Yunhui;Lim, Kai H.;Lin, Zhijie
销售虚拟物品（例如，服装、武器或虚拟家具）是在线游戏运营商的主要收入来源之一。因此，探讨哪些具体因素和设计属性可能会影响虚拟物品的销售成为一个重要的问题。本研究借鉴了以往关于货币数量的研究，将其置于网络游戏环境中，以发展一些基于理论的预测，即网络游戏货币数量如何影响玩家的感知昂贵性，从而影响他们对虚拟物品的购买意愿。为了验证这些预测，我们进行了六个实验，研究大型多人在线游戏（MMO）中的数字效应，玩家可以根据汇率将真实的货币兑换为游戏货币，以购买虚拟物品。结果表明：（1）当游戏货币汇率不显著时（例如，没有提及游戏货币兑换率或者玩家在他们的账户中具有足够的游戏货币），如果价格在数量上高（相对于低），则玩家认为虚拟物品更贵;但是（2）当游戏货币兑换率显著时（例如，游戏货币汇率被提及，并且没有额外的信息表明它是不相关的），如果价格在数量上高（相对于低），则玩家认为虚拟物品更便宜;此外，（3）在后一种情况下，数量通过感知昂贵性的中介作用增加了玩家对非社交虚拟物品的购买意愿，但不是社交虚拟物品。我们值得注意的发现有助于现有的文献数字，并为MMO中虚拟货币系统的设计提供指导。
Selling virtual items (e.g., clothing, weapons, or virtual furniture) serves as one of the major revenue sources for online game operators. Therefore, exploring what specific factors and design attributes may affect the sales of virtual items has become an important issue. This research draws upon prior studies on currency numerosity, contextualizing them to online game contexts to develop several theory-based predictions about how online game currency numerosity affects players' perceived expensiveness and consequently their purchase intention of virtual items. To test these predictions, we conducted six experiments that investigate numerosity effects in massive multiplayer online games (MMOs) where players can exchange real money for game currency based on an exchange rate in order to purchase virtual items. Results indicate the following: (1) when the game currency exchange rate is not salient (e.g., game currency exchange rate is not mentioned or players have sufficient game currency in their account), players consider a virtual item as more expensive if the price is high (versus low) in numerosity; but (2) when the game currency exchange rate is salient (e.g., game currency exchange rate is mentioned and no additional information indicates that it is irrelevant), players consider a virtual item as cheaper if the price is high (versus low) in numerosity; in addition, (3) in the latter case, numerosity increases players' purchase intention of nonsocial, but not social, virtual items through the mediating effect of perceived expensiveness. Our notable findings contribute to the existing literature on numerosity and provide guidance for the design of virtual currency systems in MMOs.