Mobile phone has become an important part of our daily activities and is used for business, personal life, and entertainment. Mobile games taking 51% of online game market. In-app items are one of the primary sources of revenue for online game. Thus, it is important to analyze mobile gamer as customer-related factors that influenced mobile gamer on purchase intention and actual purchase of In-App game item.

Despite the increasing sales and trend in mobile game, there are limited studies examined factors influencing mobile gamers to purchase In-App game items.

Therefore, this study aims to examine mobile gamer’s decision-making process for In-App Item based on Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) involving antecedent factors: playing habit, income, and gender. Data from 326 Asian respondents being used and analyzed using SPSS25 and SmartPLS 3. This study applies SEM technique with confirmatory factor analysis to test relationships. This study compares behavior of Indonesian and Taiwanese respondent, also female and male respondent.

This study finds that attitude and perceived behavioral control have a significant influence on purchase intention towards game In-App item. Social influence significantly influences attitude in all group, but only influences purchase intention in Asian, Taiwanese, and female group. Only Asian, Taiwanese, and Male actual purchase influenced directly by perceived behavioral control. Purchase intention is a strong determinant of actual purchase in all group.

These insights may provide a basis for further research and for game developer to develop effective strategies to increase purchase In-App game items.

Mobile phone has become an important part of our daily activities and is used for business, personal life, and entertainment. Mobile games taking 51% of online game market. In-app items are one of the primary sources of revenue for online game. Thus, it is important to analyze mobile gamer as customer-related factors that influenced mobile gamer on purchase intention and actual purchase of In-App game item.

Despite the increasing sales and trend in mobile game, there are limited studies examined factors influencing mobile gamers to purchase In-App game items.

Therefore, this study aims to examine mobile gamer’s decision-making process for In-App Item based on Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) involving antecedent factors: playing habit, income, and gender. Data from 326 Asian respondents being used and analyzed using SPSS25 and SmartPLS 3. This study applies SEM technique with confirmatory factor analysis to test relationships. This study compares behavior of Indonesian and Taiwanese respondent, also female and male respondent.

This study finds that attitude and perceived behavioral control have a significant influence on purchase intention towards game In-App item. Social influence significantly influences attitude in all group, but only influences purchase intention in Asian, Taiwanese, and female group. Only Asian, Taiwanese, and Male actual purchase influenced directly by perceived behavioral control. Purchase intention is a strong determinant of actual purchase in all group.

These insights may provide a basis for further research and for game developer to develop effective strategies to increase purchase In-App game items.

REFERENCES

Achchuthan, S., & Thirunavukkarasu, V. 2016. Quest for green consumerism in Sri Lankan context: An application of comprehensive model.
Ajzen, I. 1991. The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50(2): 179-211.
Ajzen, I. 2002. Constructing a TPB questionnaire: Conceptual and methodological considerations.
Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. 1980. Understanding attitudes and predicting social behaviour.
Akhter, S. H. 2003. Digital divide and purchase intention: Why demographic psychology matters. Journal of Economic Psychology, 24(3): 321-327.
Alzahrani, A. I., Mahmud, I., Ramayah, T., Alfarraj, O., & Alalwan, N. 2017. Extending the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to explain online game playing among Malaysian undergraduate students. Telematics and Informatics, 34(4): 239-251.
Athyal, J. M. 2015. Religion in Southeast Asia: An Encyclopedia of Faiths and Cultures: An Encyclopedia of Faiths and Cultures: ABC-CLIO.
Bagozzi, R. P., Yi, Y., & Baumgartner, J. 1990. The level of effort required for behaviour as a moderator of the attitude–behaviour relation. European Journal of Social Psychology, 20(1): 45-59.
Bajtelsmit, V. L., & VanDerhei, J. L. 1997. Risk aversion and pension investment choices. Positioning pensions for the twenty-first century, 45: 66.
Bamberg, S. 2003. How does environmental concern influence specific environmentally related behaviors? A new answer to an old question. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 23(1): 21-32.
Bamford, W., Coulton, P., & Edwards, R. 2006. A surrealist inspired mobile multiplayer game: Fact or fish? Paper presented at the 1st World Conference for Fun'n Games.
Barclay, D., Higgins, C., & Thompson, R. 1995. The Partial Least Squares (pls) Approach to Casual Modeling: Personal Computer Adoption Ans Use as an Illustration.
Bearden, W. O., Netemeyer, R. G., & Teel, J. E. 1989. Measurement of consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence. Journal of consumer research, 15(4): 473-481.
Bleize, D. N., & Antheunis, M. L. 2017. Factors influencing purchase intent in virtual worlds: a review of the literature. Journal of Marketing Communications: 1-18.
Bronfenbrenner, M. 2017. Income Distribution Theory: Taylor & Francis.
Brown, A. 1996. Chapter 6 Class Notes: University of Delaware.
Cashdan, E. 1998. Are men more competitive than women? British Journal of Social Psychology, 37(2): 213-229.
Chang, W. C. 2002. Online game software design factor and user satisfaction. Tamkang University.
Chatman, J. A., Polzer, J. T., Barsade, S. G., & Neale, M. A. 1998. Being different yet feeling similar: The influence of demographic composition and organizational culture on work processes and outcomes. Administrative Science Quarterly: 749-780.
Chen, C.-H., Yang, J.-H., Chiang, C. W. K., Hsiung, C.-N., Wu, P.-E., Chang, L.-C., Chu, H.-W., Chang, J., Song, I. W., Yang, S.-L., Chen, Y.-T., Liu, F.-T., & Shen, C.-Y. 2016. Population structure of Han Chinese in the modern Taiwanese population based on 10,000 participants in the Taiwan Biobank project. Human Molecular Genetics, 25(24): 5321-5331.
Chen, C., & Leung, L. 2016. Are you addicted to Candy Crush Saga? An exploratory study linking psychological factors to mobile social game addiction. Telematics and Informatics, 33(4): 1155-1166.
Chia-Husn, F. 2007. Consumer behavior of online game player 2007. Shih Hsin University.
Chin, W. W., Marcolin, B. L., & Newsted, P. R. 2003. A partial least squares latent variable modeling approach for measuring interaction effects: Results from a Monte Carlo simulation study and an electronic-mail emotion/adoption study. Information systems research, 14(2): 189-217.
Christensen, C., & Prax, P. 2012. Assemblage, adaptation and apps: Smartphones and mobile gaming. Continuum, 26(5): 731-739.
Cialdini, R. B., Kallgren, C. A., & Reno, R. R. 1991. A focus theory of normative conduct: A theoretical refinement and reevaluation of the role of norms in human behavior, Advances in experimental social psychology, Vol. 24: 201-234: Elsevier.
Coulton, P., Čopič Pucihar, K., & Bamford, W. 2008. Mobile social gaming. Paper presented at the Workshop on Social Interaction and Mundane Technologies 2008.
Cronbach, L. J. 1971. Test validation. In R. L. Thorndike (Ed.). Educational Measurement (2nd ed.). Washington, D. C.: American Council on Education.
de Kervenoael, R., Schwob, A., Palmer, M., & Simmons, G. 2017. Smartphone chronic gaming consumption and positive coping practice. Information Technology & People, 30(2): 503-519.
Deutsch, M., & Gerard, H. B. 1955. A study of normative and informational social influences upon individual judgment. The journal of abnormal and social psychology, 51(3): 629.
Domina, T., Lee, S.-E., & MacGillivray, M. 2012. Understanding factors affecting consumer intention to shop in a virtual world. Journal of retailing and consumer services, 19(6): 613-620.
EEDAR. 2017. Deconstructing Mobile & Tablet Gaming 2017: EEDAR.
Escobar-Rodríguez, T., & Bonsón-Fernández, R. 2017. Analysing online purchase intention in Spain: fashion e-commerce. Information Systems and e-Business Management, 15(3): 599-622.
F. Hair Jr, J., Sarstedt, M., Hopkins, L., & G. Kuppelwieser, V. 2014. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) An emerging tool in business research. European Business Review, 26(2): 106-121.
Feijoo, C., Gómez-Barroso, J.-L., Aguado, J.-M., & Ramos, S. 2012. Mobile gaming: Industry challenges and policy implications. Telecommunications Policy, 36(3): 212-221.
Field, A. 2017. Discovering Statistics Using IBM SPSS Statistics: SAGE Publications.
Fishbein, M., & Ajzen, I. 1975. Belief, attitude, intention and behavior: An introduction to theory and research.
Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. 1981. Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of marketing research: 39-50.
Gefen, D., & Straub, D. 2005. A practical guide to factorial validity using PLS-Graph: Tutorial and annotated example. Communications of the Association for Information systems, 16(1): 5.
Goldman, A., & Johansson, J. K. 1978. Determinants of search for lower prices: An empirical assessment of the economics of information theory. Journal of Consumer Research, 5(3): 176-186.
Guo, Y., & Barnes, S. 2007. Why people buy virtual items in virtual worlds with real money. SIGMIS Database, 38(4): 69-76.
Guo, Y., & Barnes, S. 2009. Virtual item purchase behavior in virtual worlds: an exploratory investigation. Electronic Commerce Research, 9(1-2): 77-96.
Guo, Y., & Barnes, S. 2011. Purchase behavior in virtual worlds: An empirical investigation in Second Life. Information & Management, 48(7): 303-312.
Guo, Y., & Barnes, S. J. 2012. Explaining purchasing behavior within World of Warcraft. Journal of Computer Information Systems, 52(3): 18-30.
Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. 2013. Multivariate Data Analysis: Pearson Education Limited.
Hair, J. F., Sarstedt, M., Ringle, C. M., & Mena, J. A. 2012. An assessment of the use of partial least squares structural equation modeling in marketing research. Journal of the academy of marketing science, 40(3): 414-433.
Halimia, A. B., Chavoshb, A., Soheiliradc, S., Esferjanid, P. S., & Ghajarzadehe, A. 2011. THE IMPACT OF CULTURE ON YOUNG CONSUMER’S INTENTION TOWARDS ONLINE SHOPPINGH IN MALAYSIA. Business and Economics Research, 1: 120-123.
Hamari, J. 2015. Why do people buy virtual goods? Attitude toward virtual good purchases versus game enjoyment. International Journal of Information Management, 35(3): 299-308.
Hamari, J., & Lehdonvirta, V. 2010. Game design as marketing: How game mechanics create demand for virtual goods.
Hamilton, J., McIlveen, H., & Strugnell, C. 2000. Educating young consumers–a food choice model. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 24(2): 113-123.
Han, H., Hsu, L.-T., & Sheu, C. 2010. Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior to green hotel choice: Testing the effect of environmental friendly activities. Tourism Management, 31(3): 325-334.
Hanner, N., & Zarnekow, R. 2015. Purchasing behavior in free to play games: Concepts and empirical validation. Paper presented at the System Sciences (HICSS), 2015 48th Hawaii International Conference on.
Henseler, J., Ringle, C. M., & Sinkovics, R. R. 2009. The use of partial least squares path modeling in international marketing, New challenges to international marketing: 277-319: Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Hinz, R. P., McCarthy, D. D., & Turner, J. A. 1997. Are women conservative investors? Gender differences in participant-directed pension investments. Positioning pensions for the twenty-first century, 91: 103.
Ho, C.-H., & Wu, T.-Y. 2012. Factors affecting intent to purchase virtual goods in online games. International Journal of Electronic Business Management, 10(3): 204.
Hsiao, K.-L., & Chen, C.-C. 2016. What drives in-app purchase intention for mobile games? An examination of perceived values and loyalty. Electronic commerce research and applications, 16: 18-29.
Hsu, C.-L., Chang, C.-Y., & Yansritakul, C. 2017. Exploring purchase intention of green skincare products using the theory of planned behavior: Testing the moderating effects of country of origin and price sensitivity. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 34: 145-152.
Hsu, C.-L., & Lu, H.-P. 2007. Consumer behavior in online game communities: A motivational factor perspective. Computers in Human Behavior, 23(3): 1642-1659.
Hwong, C. 2016. The Average Mobile Game Day, Vol. 2018.
Jin, D. Y. 2016. Mobile Gaming in Asia: Politics, Culture and Emerging Technologies: Springer Netherlands.
Jin, D. Y., Chee, F., & Kim, S. 2015. Transformative mobile game culture: A sociocultural analysis of Korean mobile gaming in the era of smartphones. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 18(4): 413-429.
Kim, C., & Lee, H. 1996. A taxonomy of couples based on influence strategies: The case of home purchase. Journal of Business Research, 36(2): 157-168.
Kim, H.-M. 2013. Mobile media technology and popular mobile games in contemporary society. International Journal of Mobile Marketing, 8(2).
Ko, C.-H., Yen, J.-Y., Chen, C.-C., Chen, S.-H., & Yen, C.-F. 2005. Gender differences and related factors affecting online gaming addiction among Taiwanese adolescents. The Journal of nervous and mental disease, 193(4): 273-277.
Laakso, M., & Nyman, L. 2014. Innovation opportunities: An overview of standards and platforms in the video game industry. Technology Innovation Management Review, 4(7): 15.
Lee, M.-C. 2009a. Factors influencing the adoption of internet banking: An integration of TAM and TPB with perceived risk and perceived benefit. Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 8(3): 130-141.
Lee, M.-C. 2009b. Understanding the behavioural intention to play online games: An extension of the theory of planned behaviour. Online information review, 33(5): 849-872.
Lee, M.-C., & Tsai, T.-R. 2010. What drives people to continue to play online games? An extension of technology model and theory of planned behavior. Intl. journal of human–computer interaction, 26(6): 601-620.
Lehdonvirta, V. 2009. Virtual item sales as a revenue model: identifying attributes that drive purchase decisions. Electronic commerce research, 9(1-2): 97-113.
Levinson, D., & Christensen, K. 2002. Encyclopedia of Modern Asia: Gale.
Lewellen, W. G., Lease, R. C., & Schlarbaum, G. G. 1977. Patterns of investment strategy and behavior among individual investors. The Journal of Business, 50(3): 296-333.
Lim, R., & Seng, E. Y. 2011. Virtual Goods in Social Games: An Exploratory Study of Factors that Drive Purchase of In-Game Items.
Limayem, M., Hirt, S. G., & Cheung, C. M. 2007. How habit limits the predictive power of intention: The case of information systems continuance. MIS quarterly: 705-737.
Lin, C. L. 2003. Player attributes of Multi-player on online role-playing game. Providence University.
Lin, H., & Sun, C.-T. 2007. Cash Trade Within the Magic Circle: Free-to-Play Game Challenges and Massively Multiplayer Online Game Player Responses. Paper presented at the DiGRA Conference.
Liu, C.-C. 2016. Understanding player behavior in online games: The role of gender. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 111: 265-274.
LiveGamer. 2008. Virtual item monetization: A powerful revenue opportunity for online game publishers and virtual world operators, Vol. 2018.
Lorencia, K. 2017. Factors Influencing Purchase Intention of Asian Population toward Natural Cosmetics:
Comparison of Indonesian and Han Chinese. National Taiwan University Science and Technology.
Lu, H.-P., & Wang, S.-m. 2008. The role of Internet addiction in online game loyalty: an exploratory study. Internet Research, 18(5): 499-519.
Lu, T., & Boutilier, C. 2011. Budgeted social choice: From consensus to personalized decision making. Paper presented at the IJCAI.
Mäntymäki, M., & Salo, J. 2013. Purchasing behavior in social virtual worlds: An examination of Habbo Hotel. International Journal of Information Management, 33(2): 282-290.
McDonald, E. 2017. Newzoo’s 2017 Report: Insights into the $108.9 Billion Global Games Market, Vol. 2018.
McLaughlin, C., Bradley, L., Prentice, G., Verner, E.-J., & Loane, S. 2017. Consumer to Consumer (C2C) Online Auction Transaction Intentions: an Application of the Theory of Planned Behaviour. DBS Business Review, 1.
Moskal, B. M., & Leydens, J. A. 2000. Scoring rubric development: Validity and reliability. Practical assessment, research & evaluation, 7(10): 71-81.
Newzoo. 2017. Top 100 Countries by Game Revenues, Vol. 2018.
Park, B.-W., & Lee, K. C. 2011. Exploring the value of purchasing online game items. Computers in Human Behavior, 27(6): 2178-2185.
Parker, G., Gladstone, G., & Chee, K. T. 2001. Depression in the Planet’s Largest Ethnic Group: The Chinese. American Journal of Psychiatry, 158(6): 857-864.
Penttinen, E., Rossi, M., & Tuunainen, V. K. 2010. Mobile games: Analyzing the needs and values of the consumers. Journal of Information Technology Theory and Application (JITTA), 11(1): 2.
Richardson, I. 2012. Touching the screen: A phenomenology of mobile gaming and the iPhone: Routledge as part of the Taylor and Francis Group.
Richardson, I., & Hjorth, L. 2014. Mobile games: From tetris to foursquare.
Ringle, C., Sarstedt, M., & Straub, D. 2012. A critical look at the use of PLS-SEM in MIS quarterly. Manag. Inf. Syst. Q, 36.
Ronis, D. L., Yates, J. F., & Kirscht, J. P. 1989. Attitudes, decisions, and habits as determinants of repeated behavior. Attitude structure and function: 213-239.
Sifa, R., Hadiji, F., Runge, J., Drachen, A., Kersting, K., & Bauckhage, C. 2015. Predicting purchase decisions in mobile free-to-play games. Proc. of AAAI AIIDE.
Spiro, R. L. 1983. Persuasion in family decision-making. Journal of Consumer Research, 9(4): 393-402.
Statista. 2018. Digital Media Report 2018, Vol. 2018.
Stigler, G. J. 1961. The economics of information. Journal of political economy, 69(3): 213-225.
Tan, C.-S., Ooi, H.-Y., & Goh, Y.-N. 2017. A moral extension of the theory of planned behavior to predict consumers’ purchase intention for energy-efficient household appliances in Malaysia. Energy Policy, 107: 459-471.
Taniar, D. 2008. Mobile Computing: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications: IGI Global.
Tilston, C., Gregson, K., Neale, R., & Douglas, C. 1991. Dietary awareness of primary school children. British Food Journal, 93(6): 25-29.
Triandis, H. C. 1979. Values, attitudes, and interpersonal behavior. Paper presented at the Nebraska symposium on motivation.
Tung, W.-F., & Lan, Y.-J. 2017. Analyzing social choice and group ranking of online games for product mix innovation. Information Systems Frontiers, 19(6): 1301-1309.
U.S.Department. 2007. International Religious Freedom Report 2007, Vol. 2018.
Verplanken, B., & Melkevik, O. 2008. Predicting habit: The case of physical exercise. Psychology of sport and exercise, 9(1): 15-26.
Vinzi, V. E., Chin, W. W., Henseler, J., & Wang, H. 2010. Handbook of Partial Least Squares: Concepts, Methods and Applications: Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Wainer, H., & Braun, H. I. 2013. Test validity: Routledge.
Wee, C. S., Ariff, M. S. B. M., Zakuan, N., Tajudin, M. N. M., Ismail, K., & Ishak, N. 2014. Consumers perception, purchase intention and actual purchase behavior of organic food products. Review of Integrative Business and Economics Research, 3(2): 378.
Wei, P.-S., & Lu, H.-P. 2014. Why do people play mobile social games? An examination of network externalities and of uses and gratifications. Internet Research, 24(3): 313-331.
Wijman, T. 2018. Mobile Revenues Account for More Than 50% of the Global Games Market as It Reaches $137.9 Billion in 2018, Vol. 2018.
Willson, M., & Leaver, T. 2016. Social, Casual and Mobile Games: The Changing Gaming Landscape: Bloomsbury Publishing.
Wohn, D. Y. 2014. Spending real money: purchasing patterns of virtual goods in an online social game. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.
Wood, W. 2000. Attitude change: Persuasion and social influence. Annual review of psychology, 51(1): 539-570.
WorldBank. 2017. World Development Indicators database, 15 December 2017 ed.
Yang, H.-E., Wu, C.-C., & Wang, K.-C. 2009. An empirical analysis of online game service satisfaction and loyalty. Expert Systems with Applications, 36(2): 1816-1825.
Yee, N. 2006. Motivations for play in online games. CyberPsychology & behavior, 9(6): 772-775.
Zatkin, G. 2017. Awesome Video Game Data 2017. Paper presented at the Game Developers Conference, San Francisco.
Zhang, H.-G., Chen, Y.-F., Ding, M., Jin, L., Case, D. T., Jiao, Y.-P., Wang, X.-P., Bai, C.-X., Jin, G., Yang, J.-M., Wang, H., Yuan, J.-B., Huang, W., Wang, Z.-G., & Chen, R.-B. 2010. Dermatoglyphics from All Chinese Ethnic Groups Reveal Geographic Patterning. PLOS ONE, 5(1): e8783.