TY - JOUR

T1 - "The (real) world is not enough:" Motivational drivers and user behavior in virtual worlds

AU - Eisenbeiss, Maik

AU - Blechschmidt, Boris

AU - Backhaus, Klaus

AU - Freund, Philipp Alexander

PY - 2012/2

Y1 - 2012/2

N2 - Virtual worlds (VWs) have become increasingly prominent during the past decade, populated by individual users and more recently, even “real world” firms. To effectively use a VW for business purposes, a relevant question for those firms pertains to why people use VWs and which motivational drivers might influence their participation behavior. This study offers an early analysis of the topic by extending a social influence model to explain participation behavior in a new, marketing-relevant context and identify specific motivational drivers of VW participation. Socializing, creativity, and escape emerge as individual drivers. Accounting for user heterogeneity also reveals four latent segments, each characterized by a distinct motivational driver, and one segment that reflects mixed motives. The segments differ substantially in their descriptive characteristics (e.g., usage intensity, overall spending behavior). These results have significant implications for research, VW operators, and companies doing business in VWs.

AB - Virtual worlds (VWs) have become increasingly prominent during the past decade, populated by individual users and more recently, even “real world” firms. To effectively use a VW for business purposes, a relevant question for those firms pertains to why people use VWs and which motivational drivers might influence their participation behavior. This study offers an early analysis of the topic by extending a social influence model to explain participation behavior in a new, marketing-relevant context and identify specific motivational drivers of VW participation. Socializing, creativity, and escape emerge as individual drivers. Accounting for user heterogeneity also reveals four latent segments, each characterized by a distinct motivational driver, and one segment that reflects mixed motives. The segments differ substantially in their descriptive characteristics (e.g., usage intensity, overall spending behavior). These results have significant implications for research, VW operators, and companies doing business in VWs.

KW - Psychology

KW - Educational science

U2 - 10.1016/j.intmar.2011.06.002

DO - 10.1016/j.intmar.2011.06.002

M3 - Journal articles

VL - 26

SP - 4

EP - 20

JO - Journal of Interactive Marketing

JF - Journal of Interactive Marketing

SN - 1094-9968

IS - 1

ER -