Why do teens spend real money in virtual worlds? A consumption values and developmental psychology perspective on virtual consumption

What drives subscribing to premium in freemium services? A consumer value‐based view of differences between upgrading to and staying with premium

“…As pointed out by Corley and Gioia () and Hambrick (), focusing on a relevant practical problem not only strengthens the practical utility of the study but is a good starting point for theory development and making a theoretical contribution. Moreover, the extant literature on user behavior in freemium services (Bapna & Umyarov, ; Mäntymäki & Salo, ; Vock et al, ; Wagner et al, ) provides only fragmented pieces of empirical research with little effort toward an integrative theoretical understanding of the role and influence of consumption values in consumer decision making in freemium services. Due to this lack of theory, our study initiates a new discussion on freemium consumer behavior and thus is well positioned to make a theoretical contribution based on the revelatory insights (Corley & Gioia, ; Huff, ; Weber, ; Weber, ) in the area of freemium service users' post‐adoption behavior.…”

“…Despite the widespread and constantly increasing adoption of the freemium model as well as the emerging research on consumer behavior in the freemium context (Hamari, Hanner, & Koivisto, ; Koch & Benlian, ; Mäntymäki & Salo, ; Nan, Wu, Li, & Tan, ; Vock, van Dolen, & de Ruyter, ; Wagner, Benlian, & Hess, ), the differences between the factors driving basic users to upgrade from free to premium subscriptions and those that drive premium users to retain their paid subscriptions are not well understood. Indeed, prior freemium research suggests that there is no correlation between the attitudes toward the free and premium versions (Wagner et al, ); service quality perceptions explain the intention to play freemium games but not the intention to spend money in them (Hamari et al, ); and that premium users experience higher levels of gratifications such as enjoyment than basic ones (Mäntymäki & Islam, ).…”

Why Do Small and Medium-Size Freemium Game Developers Use Game Analytics?

“…As a result, companies employing the freemium model strive to monetize their user base by striving to convert the users of the free version into paying customers [12,13,14]. Freemium games typically employ micro-transactions and advertising as the main monetization strategies [15].…”

“…Second, the players can be provided with the opportunity to buy "time", either to bypass waiting enforced by the game mechanics or to skip repetitive "grinding" phases [15], or to unlock additional levels or areas of the game. Third, virtual items and benefits compared to the non-paying users can be bundled into a premium user account or a subscription [12]. Fourth, in-game advertising and potentially offering an ad-free upgraded version against a fee can be used to monetize the players.…”

A problémás internethasználat pszichoszociális háttértényezői és prevenciós lehetőségei

“…A virtuális világokban, online játékokban nem ritka, hogy a látogatók komoly pénzeket is fordítanak arra, hogy prémium felhasználókká váljanak, különféle bónuszokat, plusz funkciókat vásároljanak. Emögött az állhat, hogy ez a státusz kifejezésének online módja, fokozza a játék/oldal élvezetét, a felhasználók még hangsúlyosabban kifejezhetik ezáltal az elköteleződést és a csoporttagságot (Mäntymäki és Salo, 2015).…”