Examining Users’ Continuance Usage Intention of Sports Mobile Game: A Flow Theory Perspective

• Main Authors: Bo-TingLi, 李柏霆
• Other Authors: Chun-Hsiung Liao
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2018
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/p7q3x9

碩士 === 國立成功大學 === 電信管理研究所 === 106 === Universal internet connections and advanced smartphones have made mobile games widely accepted by the public. People enjoy sports mobile game during commuting, lunch breaks, or leisure time, and they provide huge business opportunities for game operators. In particular, continuance usage intention is one of the most influential factors for revenue drivers. The aim of this study is, based on flow theory and consumer value, to understand how users immerse in sports mobile game and continue playing them. The constructs of skill, challenge, and flow are considered as flow experiences, and the constructs of perceived hedonic value and perceived utilitarian value are considered as consumer value. In the theoretical framework, the levels of the constructs are measured, and the causal relationships among flow experiences, consumer value, and sports mobile game continuance usage intention are investigated. Further, the mediating roles of perceived hedonic value and perceived utilitarian value on the linkage of flow to continuance usage intention are examined. Questionnaires are posted to sports mobile game forums on the Bulletin Board System and Reddit from March 2018 to April 2018, and a total of 403 effective responses are collected. A descriptive statistics analysis is conducted to understand the demographics of the respondents, game usage experience, and the characteristics of each variable. The ANOVA results reveal that there are significant differences in characteristics among the three study groups: light users, moderate users, and heavy users. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) indicates that six factors in this model are extracted with eigenvalues of 1.0 or greater and that the total cumulative variance is 64.059%. In the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), the criteria for measurement model fit, chi-square/df (2.027), GFI (0.892), AGFI (0.867), CFI (0.931), and RMSEA (0.051) demonstrate good model fit with the data. The structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis reveals that all the paths are found to be significant, with t-values higher than 1.96, indicating that user ability and the difficulty level of NBA 2K18 both have a positive effect on flow; flow is positively related to perceived hedonic value, perceived utilitarian value, and sports mobile game continuance usage intention, and perceived hedonic value and perceived utilitarian value are positively related to sports mobile game continuance usage intention. In addition, both perceived hedonic value and perceived utilitarian value are found to partially mediate flow and sports mobile game continuance usage intention. Finally, practical strategies drawn from the results are provided for mobile game operators when developing new games.