Pub Date : 2025-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.ijresmar.2025.02.007
Olga Ungureanu , Rutger van Oest , Nico Schauerte
Video game players frequently face trade-offs between investing in in-game purchases to improve their currently owned game version and upgrading to a newer, improved version altogether. This decision is significant, as upgrading usually implies losing all acquired in-game items, which are typically incompatible with the newer game version. From the game publisher’s perspective, in-game purchases may deter upgrading and cannibalize newer game versions. However, these purchases may also increase game usage, making upgrading more likely. We consider these two paths with opposite effects. We use over four years of longitudinal data from a major video game publisher, containing individual players’ gaming, in-game purchasing, and upgrading behavior. We find evidence for both paths, with a stronger negative path for cannibalization and a weaker positive path via increased game usage. Furthermore, the net effect of in-game purchases on upgrading is contingent on two salience-related moderators, with recency of in-game purchases reinforcing the positive path and buzz about an upcoming game version attenuating the negative and reinforcing the positive path.
{"title":"Add on or move on: Do in-game purchases help or hurt upgrading to newer game versions?","authors":"Olga Ungureanu , Rutger van Oest , Nico Schauerte","doi":"10.1016/j.ijresmar.2025.02.007","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijresmar.2025.02.007","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Video game players frequently face trade-offs between investing in in-game purchases to improve their currently owned game version and upgrading to a newer, improved version altogether. This decision is significant, as upgrading usually implies losing all acquired in-game items, which are typically incompatible with the newer game version. From the game publisher’s perspective, in-game purchases may deter upgrading and cannibalize newer game versions. However, these purchases may also increase game usage, making upgrading more likely. We consider these two paths with opposite effects. We use over four years of longitudinal data from a major video game publisher, containing individual players’ gaming, in-game purchasing, and upgrading behavior. We find evidence for both paths, with a stronger negative path for cannibalization and a weaker positive path via increased game usage. Furthermore, the net effect of in-game purchases on upgrading is contingent on two salience-related moderators, with recency of in-game purchases reinforcing the positive path and buzz about an upcoming game version attenuating the negative and reinforcing the positive path.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48298,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Research in Marketing","volume":"42 4","pages":"Pages 1105-1124"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145749952","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.ijresmar.2025.10.004
Renana Peres , Martin Schreier , David A. Schweidel , Alina Sorescu
{"title":"Special section: Frontiers of Mediated Markets: Algorithms, Aesthetics, and Actors","authors":"Renana Peres , Martin Schreier , David A. Schweidel , Alina Sorescu","doi":"10.1016/j.ijresmar.2025.10.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijresmar.2025.10.004","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":48298,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Research in Marketing","volume":"42 4","pages":"Pages 1163-1165"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145760562","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.ijresmar.2025.04.008
Alex Baudet , Marie-Agnès Parmentier
This research investigates how families negotiate the intensification of competitive gaming, focusing on both focal consumers (gamers) and peripheral consumers (parents, siblings, or partners). Drawing on ethnographic, netnographic, and interview data, the study addresses how a virtual practice evolves as gamers become more committed and how its virtual and physical elements affect not only gamers’ experiences but also those of non-gamers. The authors have found that the negotiation of the practice follows an iterative process of evaluation, circumscription, and reconfiguration, leading to shifts in household norms, noise management, and spatial arrangements. As gaming transitions into a more immersive, virtual phase, its partial visibility can alienate non-gamers or heighten tensions regarding autonomy and shared routines. This study also shows that misalignments between material arrangements, doings, and meanings underpin many of the conflicts—yet they can be mitigated through supportive design choices, offline–online integration, and third-party mediation. This research highlights the pivotal role that peripheral consumers play in shaping emerging digital consumption practices. It concludes with practical and policy-level implications, offering strategies that product developers, community organizers, and educators can implement to foster household harmony and preserve gaming’s communal potential.
{"title":"Focal and peripheral consumption journeys across virtual and physical realities: A study of online gaming","authors":"Alex Baudet , Marie-Agnès Parmentier","doi":"10.1016/j.ijresmar.2025.04.008","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijresmar.2025.04.008","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This research investigates how families negotiate the intensification of competitive gaming, focusing on both focal consumers (gamers) and peripheral consumers (parents, siblings, or partners). Drawing on ethnographic, netnographic, and interview data, the study addresses how a virtual practice evolves as gamers become more committed and how its virtual and physical elements affect not only gamers’ experiences but also those of non-gamers. The authors have found that the negotiation of the practice follows an iterative process of evaluation, circumscription, and reconfiguration, leading to shifts in household norms, noise management, and spatial arrangements. As gaming transitions into a more immersive, virtual phase, its partial visibility can alienate non-gamers or heighten tensions regarding autonomy and shared routines. This study also shows that misalignments between material arrangements, doings, and meanings underpin many of the conflicts—yet they can be mitigated through supportive design choices, offline–online integration, and third-party mediation. This research highlights the pivotal role that peripheral consumers play in shaping emerging digital consumption practices. It concludes with practical and policy-level implications, offering strategies that product developers, community organizers, and educators can implement to foster household harmony and preserve gaming’s communal potential.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48298,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Research in Marketing","volume":"42 4","pages":"Pages 1020-1038"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145749950","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.ijresmar.2024.08.003
Larissa Elmor , Guilherme A. Ramos , Yan Vieites , Bernardo Andretti , Eduardo B. Andrade
Environmental sustainability is often depicted as an important attribute of consideration among consumers. Even if multiple barriers may prevent them from “walking the talk,” a common implicit assumption is that consumers think about sustainability but choose a less eco-friendly route once confronted with such obstacles (e.g., higher prices). Absent from the literature, however, is a systematic investigation of the extent to which sustainability thoughts even come to consumers’ minds. Across six studies using a diverse set of measurements (free and aided elicitation), time of purchase (past or contemporaneous), consumer contexts (online or brick-and-mortar settings), levels of consequentialism (hypothetical or incentive-compatible), and samples (Brazil, UK, and US; N=7,942), our research consistently demonstrates that most consumers neglect the products’ environmental impact when making purchase decisions of fast-moving consumer goods. Environmental sustainability considerations are low in absolute terms, relative to other attributes, and even compared to participants’ own injunctive norms. Cognitive accessibility and contextual salience help explain the phenomenon. Considerations increase among consumers with strong environmental goals (e.g., high on biospheric values), for products highly prototypical of the sustainability cause (e.g., plastic bags), and when consumers are prompted with sustainability cues prior to choice (e.g., eco-labels). Methodological, managerial, and policy implications are discussed, and a simple framework to promote environmental sustainability consideration is proposed.
{"title":"Environmental sustainability considerations (or lack thereof) in consumer decision making","authors":"Larissa Elmor , Guilherme A. Ramos , Yan Vieites , Bernardo Andretti , Eduardo B. Andrade","doi":"10.1016/j.ijresmar.2024.08.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijresmar.2024.08.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Environmental sustainability is often depicted as an important attribute of consideration among consumers. Even if multiple barriers may prevent them from “walking the talk,” a common implicit assumption is that consumers think about sustainability but choose a less eco-friendly route once confronted with such obstacles (e.g., higher prices). Absent from the literature, however, is a systematic investigation of the extent to which sustainability thoughts even come to consumers’ minds. Across six studies using a diverse set of measurements (free and aided elicitation), time of purchase (past or contemporaneous), consumer contexts (online or brick-and-mortar settings), levels of consequentialism (hypothetical or incentive-compatible), and samples (Brazil, UK, and US; <em>N</em>=7,942), our research consistently demonstrates that most consumers neglect the products’ environmental impact when making purchase decisions of fast-moving consumer goods. Environmental sustainability considerations are low in absolute terms, relative to other attributes, and even compared to participants’ own injunctive norms. Cognitive accessibility and contextual salience help explain the phenomenon. Considerations increase among consumers with strong environmental goals (e.g., high on biospheric values), for products highly prototypical of the sustainability cause (e.g., plastic bags), and when consumers are prompted with sustainability cues prior to choice (e.g., eco-labels). Methodological, managerial, and policy implications are discussed, and a simple framework to promote environmental sustainability consideration is proposed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48298,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Research in Marketing","volume":"42 4","pages":"Pages 1203-1228"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142176541","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.ijresmar.2025.02.003
Xia Wang , Ying Ding , Ying Hu
In the era of influencer economy, it is prevalent for influencers to show their faces in user-generated videos (UGVs). However, a comprehensive understanding of who benefits most from face presence and the optimal strategies for how and when to incorporate faces into UGVs is limited. Through four studies—analyses of one large-scale real-world dataset, two controlled experiments, and an eye-tracking study—we systematically examine the impact of face presence on consumer engagement. Our findings indicate that face presence in UGVs is generally associated with higher consumer engagement; however, this relationship weakens for influencers with larger follower bases (over 160,000). Additionally, moderate face presence (30–40% of video frames) yields the highest engagement. Furthermore, early face presence is particularly effective in grabbing attention and driving engagement for influencers with smaller follower counts (fewer than 100,000). These insights advance the understanding of dynamics between face presence in UGVs and consumer engagement and offer actionable guidelines for strategically managing faces in UGVs.
{"title":"The impact of face presence in user-generated videos on consumer Engagement: Insights into How, When, and who","authors":"Xia Wang , Ying Ding , Ying Hu","doi":"10.1016/j.ijresmar.2025.02.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijresmar.2025.02.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In the era of influencer economy, it is prevalent for influencers to show their faces in user-generated videos (UGVs). However, a comprehensive understanding of who benefits most from face presence and the optimal strategies for how and when to incorporate faces into UGVs is limited. Through four studies—analyses of one large-scale real-world dataset, two controlled experiments, and an eye-tracking study—we systematically examine the impact of face presence on consumer engagement. Our findings indicate that face presence in UGVs is generally associated with higher consumer engagement; however, this relationship weakens for influencers with larger follower bases (over 160,000). Additionally, moderate face presence (30–40% of video frames) yields the highest engagement. Furthermore, early face presence is particularly effective in grabbing attention and driving engagement for influencers with smaller follower counts (fewer than 100,000). These insights advance the understanding of dynamics between face presence in UGVs and consumer engagement and offer actionable guidelines for strategically managing faces in UGVs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48298,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Research in Marketing","volume":"42 4","pages":"Pages 1323-1342"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145760584","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.ijresmar.2024.12.003
Hsiu-Yu Hung , Ajay Kumar , V. Kumar , Chih-Cheng Lin , Kim Hua Tan
Understanding player co-creation dynamics on gaming platforms is crucial for fostering engagement and driving innovation in digital marketing. This study investigates these dynamics on the Roblox platform, proposing an integrated framework that connects platform capabilities with player-driven orchestration actions and the pursuit of diverse goals − a model applicable to various digital marketing contexts. We identify three types of gaming platform affordances and three types of developers’ orchestration actions, ultimately shaping co-creation activities in terms of creative and social engagement. Using web crawling and text mining methodologies, we analyze a large, longitudinal dataset from Roblox developers engaged in co-creation projects. We employ three observable metrics to quantify co-creation activities, applying different perspectives including equality-based, effort-based weighted, and specialized measures of creative and social engagement. Our findings confirm the direct effects of platform affordances and orchestration actions on co-creation activities, with post-hoc analyses revealing goal fulfillment as an important antecedent mechanism. To validate our results, we conducted a two-stage survey with 206 experienced Roblox developers, providing additional robustness to our empirical findings. This research advances our understanding of digital co-creation and offers practical implications for designing more engaging and innovative gaming platforms. As gaming and digital marketing converge, particularly in the evolving metaverse landscape, this study underscores the importance of leveraging co-creation dynamics to enhance user engagement and drive platform growth.
{"title":"Exploring player cocreation dynamics on the gaming platform: Interplay of goal fulfillments, orchestration actions, and platform affordances","authors":"Hsiu-Yu Hung , Ajay Kumar , V. Kumar , Chih-Cheng Lin , Kim Hua Tan","doi":"10.1016/j.ijresmar.2024.12.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijresmar.2024.12.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Understanding player co-creation dynamics on gaming platforms is crucial for fostering engagement and driving innovation in digital marketing. This study investigates these dynamics on the Roblox platform, proposing an integrated framework that connects platform capabilities with player-driven orchestration actions and the pursuit of diverse goals − a model applicable to various digital marketing contexts. We identify three types of gaming platform affordances and three types of developers’ orchestration actions, ultimately shaping co-creation activities in terms of creative and social engagement. Using web crawling and text mining methodologies, we analyze a large, longitudinal dataset from Roblox developers engaged in co-creation projects. We employ three observable metrics to quantify co-creation activities, applying different perspectives including equality-based, effort-based weighted, and specialized measures of creative and social engagement. Our findings confirm the direct effects of platform affordances and orchestration actions on co-creation activities, with post-hoc analyses revealing goal fulfillment as an important antecedent mechanism. To validate our results, we conducted a two-stage survey with 206 experienced Roblox developers, providing additional robustness to our empirical findings. This research advances our understanding of digital co-creation and offers practical implications for designing more engaging and innovative gaming platforms. As gaming and digital marketing converge, particularly in the evolving metaverse landscape, this study underscores the importance of leveraging co-creation dynamics to enhance user engagement and drive platform growth.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48298,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Research in Marketing","volume":"42 4","pages":"Pages 1125-1142"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145749953","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.ijresmar.2025.09.007
Roman Welden , Laurel Johnston , Jonathan Hasford
As the market for livestreaming video game content grows, there is an increasing need to understand how consumers evaluate livestreamers. We propose that gender stereotypes associated with video games spill over into consumer judgments of livestreamers, their content, and the brands they promote. Specifically, consumers have different expectations of performance for female and male livestreamers, which, when violated, lead to negative downstream consequences for streamers and brands that support them. Across a pilot study and five experiments (n = 2402), we demonstrate that when livestreamers violate expectations of video game performance, consumers high in emotional intelligence (EI) are less likely to engage with them. Specifically, consumers high in EI are less likely to engage with a female (male) streamer when they perform well (poorly). Additionally, we find that while marketing interventions can enhance evaluations of brand partners among high EI consumers, they are less effective in altering consumer evaluations of female streamers. These findings contribute to our understanding of consumer engagement with livestreamers, the role of gender in video game subcultures, and the impact of consumer EI on consumption.
{"title":"The impact of gender expectations on the evaluation of video game livestreaming content","authors":"Roman Welden , Laurel Johnston , Jonathan Hasford","doi":"10.1016/j.ijresmar.2025.09.007","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijresmar.2025.09.007","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As the market for livestreaming video game content grows, there is an increasing need to understand how consumers evaluate livestreamers. We propose that gender stereotypes associated with video games spill over into consumer judgments of livestreamers, their content, and the brands they promote. Specifically, consumers have different expectations of performance for female and male livestreamers, which, when violated, lead to negative downstream consequences for streamers and brands that support them. Across a pilot study and five experiments (n = 2402), we demonstrate that when livestreamers violate expectations of video game performance, consumers high in emotional intelligence (EI) are less likely to engage with them. Specifically, consumers high in EI are less likely to engage with a female (male) streamer when they perform well (poorly). Additionally, we find that while marketing interventions can enhance evaluations of brand partners among high EI consumers, they are less effective in altering consumer evaluations of female streamers. These findings contribute to our understanding of consumer engagement with livestreamers, the role of gender in video game subcultures, and the impact of consumer EI on consumption.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48298,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Research in Marketing","volume":"42 4","pages":"Pages 957-974"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145749956","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.ijresmar.2025.02.006
Michiel Van Crombrugge , Stefan Stremersch
Prior research in the video game console industry empirically examined the interdependence of hardware (i.e., console) sales, software (i.e., video game) sales and software supply. Recently, we have witnessed the rise of the subscription model (such as Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass and Sony’s PlayStation Plus) as a new business model among platform owners. The impact of this new business model on platform owner revenues, video game seller revenues, and video game supply are unknown to date. Does this new model fuel growth for all sides of the market or does it come at the expense of console and/or video game sales revenue? We study the past launches of Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass and Sony’s PlayStation Plus on which now the dust has settled enough to examine the commercial consequences thereof. Our research provides first evidence that the introduction of the respective subscription models in proprietary video game console markets: (1) enhanced console revenue, (2) had limited impact on video game revenue (contrary to the cannibalizing effects observed in the music, movie and TV industry), and (3) created a healthier video game supply, either by increasing the quantity of video game introductions (i.e., for PlayStation) or increasing their average quality (i.e., for Xbox).
之前关于电子游戏主机产业的研究便是基于经验去检验硬件（游戏邦注：即主机）销售，软件（游戏邦注：即电子游戏）销售和软件供应的相互依赖性。最近，我们见证了订阅模式（游戏邦注：如微软的Xbox Game Pass和索尼的PlayStation Plus）作为一种新的商业模式在平台所有者中崛起。这种新商业模式对平台所有者收益、电子游戏销售商收益和电子游戏供应的影响目前还不得而知。这种新模式是否会推动市场各方面的发展，还是会以牺牲主机和/或电子游戏的销售收入为代价？我们研究了微软的Xbox Game Pass和索尼的PlayStation Plus过去的发布，现在尘埃落定，足以研究其商业后果。我们的研究提供了第一个证据，证明在专有视频游戏主机市场中引入各自的订阅模式：(1)增加了主机收入，(2)对视频游戏收入的影响有限（与在音乐、电影和电视行业观察到的蚕食效应相反），(3)通过增加视频游戏引入的数量（如PlayStation）或提高其平均质量（如Xbox），创造了更健康的视频游戏供应。
{"title":"The rise of the subscription model in the video game console industry: Unveiling the commercial consequences for platform owners and video game sellers","authors":"Michiel Van Crombrugge , Stefan Stremersch","doi":"10.1016/j.ijresmar.2025.02.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijresmar.2025.02.006","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Prior research in the video game console industry empirically examined the interdependence of hardware (i.e., console) sales, software (i.e., video game) sales and software supply. Recently, we have witnessed the rise of the subscription model (such as Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass and Sony’s PlayStation Plus) as a new business model among platform owners. The impact of this new business model on platform owner revenues, video game seller revenues, and video game supply are unknown to date. Does this new model fuel growth for all sides of the market or does it come at the expense of console and/or video game sales revenue? We study the past launches of Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass and Sony’s PlayStation Plus on which now the dust has settled enough to examine the commercial consequences thereof. Our research provides first evidence that the introduction of the respective subscription models in proprietary video game console markets: (1) enhanced console revenue, (2) had limited impact on video game revenue (contrary to the cannibalizing effects observed in the music, movie and TV industry), and (3) created a healthier video game supply, either by increasing the quantity of video game introductions (i.e., for PlayStation) or increasing their average quality (i.e., for Xbox).</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48298,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Research in Marketing","volume":"42 4","pages":"Pages 1058-1083"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145749947","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.ijresmar.2025.01.006
Eva Ascarza , Oded Netzer , Julian Runge
One of the most significant levers available to gaming companies in designing digital games is setting the level of difficulty, which essentially regulates the user’s ability to progress within the game. This aspect is particularly significant in free-to-play (F2P) games, where the paid version often aims to enhance the player’s experience and facilitate faster progression. In this paper, we leverage a large randomized control trial to assess the effect of dynamically adjusting game difficulty on players’ behavior and game monetization in the context of a popular F2P mobile game. The results highlight the intertwined dynamics of customer retention and monetization in such settings. As expected, offering players an easier game significantly decreases purchases in the specific round played — faced with an easier game, users do not need to resort to in-game purchases to make progress. However, because lowering the game difficulty increases both immediate engagement and long-term retention, lower difficulty levels result in a significant increase in customer spending both in the short and long run. We find substantial heterogeneity in the strength of these effects. Customers who are more prone to making progress in the game exhibit stronger effects in both the short and long run, whereas customers who previously spent money on the game exhibit stronger effects primarily in long-term monetization. We leverage these insights to demonstrate how the focal firm can use game difficulty adjustment to further increase revenues from both advertising and premium services and to recommend personalized product design strategies for freemium apps more broadly.
{"title":"Personalized game design for improved user retention and monetization in freemium games","authors":"Eva Ascarza , Oded Netzer , Julian Runge","doi":"10.1016/j.ijresmar.2025.01.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijresmar.2025.01.006","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>One of the most significant levers available to gaming companies in designing digital games is setting the level of difficulty, which essentially regulates the user’s ability to progress within the game. This aspect is particularly significant in free-to-play (F2P) games, where the paid version often aims to enhance the player’s experience and facilitate faster progression. In this paper, we leverage a large randomized control trial to assess the effect of dynamically adjusting game difficulty on players’ behavior and game monetization in the context of a popular F2P mobile game. The results highlight the intertwined dynamics of customer retention and monetization in such settings. As expected, offering players an easier game significantly decreases purchases in the specific round played — faced with an easier game, users do not need to resort to in-game purchases to make progress. However, because lowering the game difficulty increases both immediate engagement and long-term retention, lower difficulty levels result in a significant increase in customer spending both in the short and long run. We find substantial heterogeneity in the strength of these effects. Customers who are more prone to making progress in the game exhibit stronger effects in both the short and long run, whereas customers who previously spent money on the game exhibit stronger effects primarily in long-term monetization. We leverage these insights to demonstrate how the focal firm can use game difficulty adjustment to further increase revenues from both advertising and premium services and to recommend personalized product design strategies for freemium apps more broadly.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48298,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Research in Marketing","volume":"42 4","pages":"Pages 975-995"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145749951","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-01DOI: 10.1016/j.ijresmar.2025.10.005
P.K. Kannan , Michael Haenlein
{"title":"Introduction to the Special Issue: The Game of Life – The Role of Videogames in Marketing","authors":"P.K. Kannan , Michael Haenlein","doi":"10.1016/j.ijresmar.2025.10.005","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ijresmar.2025.10.005","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":48298,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Research in Marketing","volume":"42 4","pages":"Pages 929-935"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145747875","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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