Consumers’ Adoption and Use of E-Currencies in Virtual Markets in the Context of an Online Game

Abstract

Virtual worlds have created unique economies whose outcome is e-currencies, which link the electronic universe and reality. This article aims to examine how perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived risks, and perceived trust significantly impact consumers’ virtual currencies’ behaviour. The study tested and used an adapted TAM model in the context of virtual currencies using structural equation modelling. The partial least square method of structural equation modelling is employed to test the proposed research model. The study utilises an online survey to obtain data from 205 virtual currency consumers. The data set was analysed using SmartPLS 3 software. The results showed that the best predictor of consumers’ intention to use virtual currencies is perceived usefulness, followed by perceived ease of use. Perceived trust predicts consumers’ perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. These findings reveal that virtual currencies are seen as useful and easy to use. Consumers trust them enough but notice the risks they carry. They can also accept problems associated with them when it comes to their intention to use them.

Customer retention through service quality and satisfaction: using hybrid SEM-neural network analysis approach

“…The ease of use of the M-Comm attaches the perception of service quality for the M-Comm portal. The current study result connects with the finding that Gawron and Strzelecki (2020) promulgated that e-services' ease of use is necessary for the perception of quality and acceptance of e-services. Our finding advocates that the assessability promoted OSQ, enabling users to instantly gather and acquire necessary product-level information for prospective users to choose quickly.…”

“…Delivery of a relevant consumer experience is the hallmark of marketing activities ( Zhang and Prybutok, 2005 ). The positive and engaging customer experience delights the customer and leads to the retention of the customer or rebuying of the product/service by the satisfied customers ( Gawron and Strzelecki, 2020 ). The firms can retain the customer by delivering quality services and enriching the users' experiences with the appropriate SQ attributes that instigate customer satisfaction that promotes customer retention ( Chen et al., 2021 ; Nani and Lina, 2021 ).…”

“…Rapid technological growth has reached a stage whereby consumers use personal smart devices that offer reasonable processing speed and performance on desktops and laptops ( Chi, 2018 ). The emerging worldwide web has also significantly transformed human interaction for leisure or commerce purposes ( Ali, 2016 ; Gawron and Strzelecki, 2020 ). Currently, electronic commerce (E-Comm) is the leading business activity at the firm and personal levels ( Rita et al., 2019 ).…”

Trust, Media Credibility, Social Ties, and the Intention to Share towards Information Verification in an Age of Fake News

“…If trust is present, a person may forego actions that they would normally perform in the absence of this relationship. It can be assumed that where there is a high level of trust, recipients of news refrain from verifying the source from which they obtain information because they rely on people who are considered trustworthy [ 30 ]. Based on the above, we propose the following hypothesis:…”

Internet Celebrities’ Impact on Luxury Fashion Impulse Buying

“…Although the Internet has overturned many established rules of business, earning consumers' trust to obtain a competitive advantage is a pervasive concern in many buyerseller relationships [61,62]. Trust is "the willingness of a party to be vulnerable to the actions of another party based on the expectation that the other will perform a particular action, irrespective of the ability to monitor or control that other party" [63].…”