Future Achievement in Online Games

Online games are popular electronic business applications and received considerable attentions from recent studies (Lim & Lee, 2009; Teng, 2008; Teng et al., 2008). Some gamers switch to other games, indicating the necessity to investigate antecedents of gamer loyalty. Achievement attainment is one key motivator of online gaming (Yee, 2006). Strong desire to attain achievements may shape future achievement as a relevant goal with a clear end-state. The goal-setting theory (Locke, 1996) posits that a relevant goal with a clear end-state can effectively motivate individuals to attain the goal. Applying this theory to online gaming, strong desire for future achievement is likely to motivate gamers to play online games repetitively for attaining future achievements. This study thus investigated if desire for future achievement predicts gamer loyalty. The sample comprised 307 online gamers. The study measure exhibited satisfactory reliability and validity by satisfying the criteria in the literature. This study utilized regression analysis with gamer loyalty as the dependent variable. Independent variables were desire for future achievement and flow. Control variables were gender, age, education, income, gaming history (in months), and weekly usage (in hours). The analytical results indicated that gamer loyalty was positively related to desire for future achievement (β = .46, t = 8.45, p \u3c .01), supporting the study hypothesis. This study also echoed the literature (Choi & Kim, 2004) by indicating a marginally positive relation between flow and gamer loyalty (β = .07, t = 1.36, p \u3c .10). This finding suggests game providers maintain gamer desire for future achievements. Game providers may demonstrate hard-to-see spectacular sound and light effects for attracting gamers to trigger and experience such effects by themselves

Examination of Four Channels of Flow

The four channels of flow (Csikszentmihalyi & Csikszentmihaly, 1988) posit that high and low levels of skills and challenges comprise flow, boredom, frustration, and apathy. This theory has been frequently applied to explanation of flow formulation. This theory, however, lacks empirical evidences on if high/low skill/challenge formulates the four channels. Empirical evidence of the formulation of the four channels of flow is necessary for ensuring its validity. This study thus sampled 253 online gamers to examine whether skills and challenges formulate the four channels of flow. Consistent with the theory of the four channels of flow, this study found that gaming skill is positively related to flow and boredom, whereas negatively related to frustration and apathy. Challenge encountered in gaming is positively related to flow, frustration, whereas negatively related to apathy. However, this study did not observe a theoretical negative relation between challenge and boredom, indicating the necessity for future research

How Can Information Systems Strengthen Virtual Communities? Perspective of Media Richness Theory

Media richness was known as important in designing information and communication technologies (ICTs). However, no studies have examined how the four aspects of media richness could help fuel users’ commitment to virtual communities, indicating a gap. Hence, we use media richness theory and initiate to use its key elements (i.e., message certainty and message unequivocality) to construct a research framework. We collected 1,971 responses from virtual communities in online games and used structural equation modeling for testing the hypotheses. We found that immediate feedback and personal focus are positively related to message certainty and message unequivocality that are further positively related to network convergence and interdependence, thus contributing to commitment to virtual communities. This study is the first formally incorporating and testing the key elements of media richness, i.e., message certainty and message unequivocality, and examining how media richness of information systems could fuel users’ commitment to virtual communities

Gamers’ Behavior Via Avatars In Online Games

Gamers use avatars to represent themselves to interact with others in online games. However, gamers’ behavior via avatars has received insufficiently attention by electronic commerce scholars, warranting further study on this issue. Positive interactions among online gamers should foster their loyalty to the game. Therefore, this study investigated how avatar design affects gamers’ behavior via avatars. This study obtained responses from more than one thousand online gamers that were used for further analyses. Criteria were set to exclude some invalid responses, so as to increase data validity. Moreover, reliability and validity were checked by using six tests, demonstrating the adequate performance in psychometric properties. Structural equation modeling was conducted for analyses. This study found that avatar design has an important impact on gamers’ behavior via avatars. Specifically, positive perceptions on avatar design motivate the gamers to exhibit positive behavior via avatars. Findings of this study provide feasible means for electronic commerce managers to encourage gamers’ positive interactions and thus should create strong virtual communities and subsequently loyal gamers

AI Design to Innovation

Artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to create various innovations for changing human workplaces. AI is characterized by features of learning and self-growth. Efficient AI learning should depend on human inputs, particularly from human professionals (e.g., doctors and nurses). Hence, professionals’ intention to facilitate AI innovation is critical. However, little is known about how to design AI to strengthen such intention, warranting our research to answer this question. We use expectancy-value theory to identify three potential AI design elements and examine how they enhance the perception that AI enhances professionals’ capabilities and their intention to facilitate AI innovation. These elements are contextual-specific features of AI, extending the expectancy-value theory to the novel AI technologies. We will test our model by using two-wave data of nursing professionals’ responses. The results are expected to assist AI designs that effectively motivate professionals to facilitate AI innovations

Social Networks And Online Gamer Loyalty

Online social networks are popular issues in electronic commerce and information systems areas. However, the social network issues have received relatively little attention from scholars in online gaming contexts. Online games experience a strong growth in revenue and popularity. Therefore, this study chose to focus on social networks in online games. In online gaming studies, online gamer loyalty has been one of the recent issues. Therefore, this study consulted classic psychological theories to construct a theoretical model which contains specific hypotheses to explain how social networks impact the formulation of online gamer loyalty. This study collected the responses from more than one thousand online gamers. The demographic and gaming behavior distributions resemble those of the online gamer populations, indicating the representativeness of the study sample. This study used measurement items from the literature and slightly modified them according to the research contexts. This study used confirmatory factor analysis and various indices to verify the measurement psychometric properties, including reliability, validity, and model fit. The analytical results supported adequate psychometric properties of the measurement used in this study. Moreover, this study used the structural equation modeling technique to examine the study hypotheses. The analytical results indicated that the hypothesized aspects of social networks impact online gamer loyalty, as predicted. Furthermore, this study examined the mechanism underlying such impact. This study is the first one examining how the hypothesized aspects of social networks contribute to the development of online gamer loyalty. Findings of this study provide insights for managers of electronic business (i.e., e-business) managers to retain loyal gamers, sustain stable revenues, and build competitive advantages, demonstrating the relevance of this study to ebusiness managers

Personality Facets and Customer Loyalty in Online Games

Online games have attracted numerous customers and brought stable revenues to game providers. However, some customers frequently switch to other games, and thus, it is important to identify which customers are likely loyal customers. The literature has identified openness, conscientiousness, and extraversion as predictors for loyalty in online games (Teng, Huang, Jeng, Chou, & Hu, 2008). However, the three broad traits contain multiple facets. Thus research addressing the three broad traits may mix the influences of multiple facets. Thus this study investigates the influences of personality facets on online game customer skill, challenge, flow experience, and loyalty. The sample comprised 994 online gamers. This study employed structural equation modeling for analysis, and found that (1) ideas and achievement striving are positively related to skill, (2) achievement striving, competence, and excitement-seeking are positively related to challenge, (3) gregariousness is positively related to interdependence, (4) fantasy, skill, challenge, and interdependence are positively related to customer likelihood of experiencing flow, and (5) experienced flow is positively related to customer loyalty. The study findings suggest managers improve gamer skill and challenge when gamers are in their early stages in online games, boosting their likelihood of experiencing flow and thus building their loyalty. Managers are also suggested to target individuals who are high in personality facets such as ideas, achievement striving, competence, excitement- seeking, to effectively build a loyal customer base. Educators are also suggested to notice students who are high in those personality facets, because these students may continuously play online games when they begin to play

Focusing On The High-End Or Low-End? Local Attacking With Network Externality

Network externality can encourage adoption when a network is growing in size. Network externality, however, can also encourage abandoning when a network is getting small. Therefore, the challenger’s action focusing on persuading a part of the market can eventually affect the whole market when network externality is at work. This paper discusses two local attacking strategies, namely, “focusing on the high-end” and “focusing on the low-end”, and compares their effects. The conclusions show that the former strategy generally exhibits stronger eventual effects than the latter. Although direct effects are local, the eventual effects could be global when network externality is strong and/or consumers have small differences in their reservation prices. Based on our results, the incumbent should set a price keeping all installed users away from being stranded. If any installed user gives up the incumbent’s technology, he or she may be the fuse to trigger the chain reaction. Thus, a better approach is to “make the fuse wet”. To the challenger, local attacking strategies work better when network externality is strong and/or reservation prices of installed users are nearly the same

Media Richness and User Continuance to Instant Messaging

Media richness determines adoption of information systems. Insufficient research was done for investigating its influence on user continuance of using instant messaging applications. This study used classic IS and psychological theories to construct a research framework. This study gathered more than 200 responses by using an online form. LISREL software was used to conduct structural equation modeling technique to test the research framework. The findings indicated that various but not all dimensions of media richness positively contribute to users’ continuance to use instant messaging applications. Specific dimensions provide insights for managers to design their applications to effectively retain their users

More Than Flow: Revisiting the Theory of Four Channels of Flow

Flow (FCF) theory has received considerable attention in recent decades. In addition to flow, FCF theory proposed three influential factors, that is, boredom, frustration, and apathy. While these factors have received relatively less attention than flow, Internet applications have grown exponentially, warranting a closer reexamination of the applicability of the FCF theory. Thus, this study tested the theory that high/low levels of skill and challenge lead to four channels of flow. The study sample included 253 online gamers who provided valid responses to an online survey. Analytical results support the FCF theory, although a few exceptions were noted. First, skill was insignificantly related to apathy, possibly because low-skill users can realize significant achievements to compensate for their apathy. Moreover, in contrast with the FCF theory, challenge was positively related to boredom, revealing that gamers become bored with difficult yet repetitive challenges. Two important findings suggest new directions for FCF theory