Digital Play and the Actualization of the Consumer Imagination

Molesworth, Mike; Denegri‐Knott, Janice

doi:10.1177/1555412006298209

Cited by 46 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Similarly, once a player has bought a game like Gran Turismo, he may experience in a day the ownership of more cars than most would buy in a lifetime. Again, here there is commercial interest in brand placement that may subsidize such DVC, but also the possibility for substitution, where players replace the desiring effort required in material consumption with imaginative work directed within the games themselves (Molesworth and Denegri-Knott 2007a). The implication is that along with cultural transformation there is the possibility for disruption to existing markets as well as the rapid rise of new ones.…”

Section: Financial Flows Between the Digital Virtual And The Materialsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Concepts and practices of digital virtual consumption

Denegri‐Knott

Molesworth

2010

Consumption Markets & Culture

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175

114

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Despite the popularity of online spaces that simulate aspects of consumption-like experiences (online virtual worlds, video games and interactive functions on online retailers) conceptual tools that aim to comprehend such consumer practices are yet to emerge. In an effort to better understand them this paper puts forward a taxonomy that may help us capture emerging consumer behavior in the digital virtual terrain in relation to virtual and material consumption. This may be read as a fluid template that considers the movement between what resides in consumer imaginations as ideal or virtual, its actualization in material and now also digital virtual spaces. We then offer examples of the practices that are emerging, specifically the increase in imaginative resources that interactive media provide; practices that actualize probable, everyday commodities and experiences in the digital virtual and practices that actualize fantastic commodities and experiences in the digital virtual. Finally, we discuss the potential for these to produce new consumer subjectivities and new markets, and as a result we conclude with a discussion of the implications of such developments for consumer cultures, noting the potential for both liberatory/celebratory and critical discourse as well as avenues for future research.

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Section: Financial Flows Between the Digital Virtual And The Materialsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Concepts and practices of digital virtual consumption

Denegri‐Knott

Molesworth

2010

Consumption Markets & Culture

Self Cite

175

114

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“…Nelson, 2002; Molesworth, 2006). There is some research on consumer practices in online virtual spaces (Molesworth and Denegri‐Knott, 2007), as the e‐commerce literature had developed significantly, but the central marketing and consumer behaviour issues for the entertainment software industry are yet to be significantly addressed. In particular, there has been no overall model of consumer decision making, which examines key attributes and benefits, attitude formation, social influence and situational factors affecting purchase intention, and thus no such model which has been empirically tested.…”

Section: The Entertainment Software Industrymentioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling consumer entertainment software choice: An exploratory examination of key attributes, and differences by gamer segment

Prugsamatz¹,

Lowe²,

Alpert³

2010

J of Consumer Behaviour

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From virtually nowhere 20 years ago to sales of US$9.5 billion in 2007, the video game industry has now overtaken movie industry box-office receipts in terms of annual sales, and blockbuster video games can out perform blockbuster movies for opening-week sales. This dramatic growth is likely to continue in coming years. Yet there has been little scholarly attention to consumers within the industry. This research fills this gap by providing a comprehensive study of consumer behaviour in the gaming industry, using the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB); a widely used, robust and reliable consumer research instrument. The study elicits key salient attributes for the major constructs in the TPB model -attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioural control -and shows how these key constructs affect purchase intention. To avoid aggregation error in analysing overall market data, this study segments the market and examines differences in perspective by gamer type. We therefore examine differences in these key salient attributes by gamer type to understand consumer motivations better. As the first systematic study to examine consumer behaviour issues in the gaming industry, this study provides useful insights to consumers' behaviour in a large, growing industry. Consumer perceptions and behaviour toward entertainment software is complex and this study is not the final word, but it is the first available empirical evidence and can thus move forward the discussion from speculation to replication, extension, and alternative approaches. For managers in this industry, this study demonstrates how a comprehensive model can be applied to entertainment software.

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“…the hero's birth) and perceived them as essential to their understanding and enjoyment of the game. Although we acknowledge that computer games are interactive media possessing the characteristics of both play and narrative (Molesworth and Denegri‐Knott, ) we make a further contribution by showing how the rules of play in computer games can be designed in ways that encourage consumers to experience narrative story plots during digital play and therefore engage them in co‐authored, interactive storytelling.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Play as co‐created narrative in computer game consumption: The hero's journey in Warcraft III

Buchanan‐Oliver

Seo

2012

J of Consumer Behaviour

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Computer games are now a significant consumption activity in consumer culture. Informed by interdisciplinary studies and drawing on data from in‐depth interviews with players of the Warcraft III computer game, we explore the relationship between play and storytelling during digital play. Understanding that such play is determined by systems of game rules and that computer game characters and settings are capable of conveying cultural meanings to players, we found that the rules of play in computer games can be designed in ways that encourage consumers to co‐create meaningful story plots derived from their knowledge of myth and fiction. In the case of Warcraft, these plots resembled the archetypal plot of the hero's journey. We conclude that computer games immerse consumers in a form of playful consumption that engages them in memorialised, co‐authored storytelling. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Digital Play and the Actualization of the Consumer Imagination

Cited by 46 publications

References 11 publications

Concepts and practices of digital virtual consumption

Concepts and practices of digital virtual consumption

Modelling consumer entertainment software choice: An exploratory examination of key attributes, and differences by gamer segment

Play as co‐created narrative in computer game consumption: The hero's journey in Warcraft III

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