Are there cultural differences in how we play? Examining cultural effects on playing social network games

Spending real money

“…This may make our results difficult to generalize to all countries or cultures, especially as some studies have found that cultural differences in game play are associated with virtual goods spending [16]. However, these purchasing patterns at the very least may generalize to other collectivist cultures, and could be valuable to countries that are beginning to see rapid developments in micro-transaction revenue models involving virtual goods.…”

“…Purchasing virtual goods is increasingly becoming a common feature of virtual worlds and online games [3,9,16,24]. The global virtual goods market has been rapidly growing: one market report estimated that the global market value of virtual goods was $14.8 billion in 2012 and would increase at an annual growth rate of 12.5% to 2016 [6].…”

Families and social network games

“…Researchers have investigated the social rules governing SNG and in particular politeness norms, and how gameplay ' … contributes to relationship initiation and development' (Wohn et al, 2011, p. 1). More recent work has found that for many players, the habit of playing such games was a stronger predictor of play than any particular motivations (Wohn, 2012), and finally that 'culture plays a small but significant role in explaining why people play social network games and how they play' (Lee & Wohn, 2012, p. 1312) with cultural orientation not directly affecting SNG usage patterns, but instead affecting the outcomes people expect from play itself.…”

Design of graphic and animation in game interface based on cultural value: verification

“…Because culture influenced their behavior and online interaction, many researchers wondered about the importance of culture in virtual interaction [6][7]. Yet, information on the influence of culture on the motivation and behavior of users is limited [4,8]. Therefore, the goal of the research is to identify player preferences on game interface specifically on graphic and animation design based on their cultural factor.…”

“…On top, cultural values are identified as a factor that control how a person acts and believes [3]. Product design such as game usually reflects its designer's culture [4]. Since current game industry is monopolized by American and Japanese, thus the designs are influenced by their respective culture.…”