What Makes Female Players Pay for Female Mobile Games?

Abstract

Extant mobile game research has paid great attention to men who play mobile games while ignoring female players. Although “willingness to pay” (WTP) is regarded as an important dependent variable in gaming research, few studies have explored this variable from an anthropomorphic perspective. To fill these gaps in the literature, this study aims to study the antecedents of WTP, with a focus on virtual in-game items and the mediating effect of work/play motivation. Based on the determinants of anthropomorphism, this work examines certain aspects of mobile games, including servant role in mobile games, a sense of communion, and the attractiveness of the characters. This study explores the effects of such characteristics on work/play motivation, as well as its influence on WTP. A game called “Love and Producer” was selected for this study, and the feedback from 230 female respondents was analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The results show that the servant role and the attractiveness of the characters affect female players’ desire to work with the characters, and the communion and the attractiveness of the characters affect female players’ desire to play with these characters. The female players’ desire to work and play with the characters directly influenced their willingness to pay for virtual game items. Moreover, the mediating effect that playing games has on female players’ desire to work/play with the characters was also validated. This article introduces new information on female game character design and interactivity in games.