Game on! The Role of First Impression for Online Games Adoption
(A2023-114115)

AUTHORS

Mihai Orzan, Bucharest University of Economic Studies; Zara Adina, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Marketing Faculty; Gheorghe Orzan, Bucharest University of Economic Studies; Stefan Caescu, Bucharest University of Economic Studies

ABSTRACT

Individuals all over the world are spending an ever-increasing amount of their leisure and entertainment time playing online games. Although considerable research addresses online gaming consequences or addiction, relatively little focus is directed to the entire process from trigger to loyalty as a progressive user experience. Our paper is exploring the process of game adoption and the antecedents of long-term game engagement in an online context, using a data set from an online survey of a sample of 1038 respondent, with answers gathered from various online communities in Romania, India and Turkey. We include in our theoretical model constructs important in the gaming industry such as gamer profile, perceived benefits and risks of online gaming and we introduce the novel concept of first-time user experience as a precursor of the attitude towards playing. The model provides novel business implications for more effective designs and better marketing campaigns in emerging countries.