Understanding Perceived Enjoyment and Continuance Intention in Mobile Games

Objective of the Study Existing studies of consumer behaviours in mobile games have largely focused on pre-adoption phase while completely ignored the post-adoption behaviours. Additionally, while intrinsic factors such as perceived enjoyment is often reckoned as one of the most important factors affecting consumer behaviours in gaming context, little research has attempted to understand their antecedents. The present study aimed to fill these research gaps and its objective was twofold. Firstly, it examined the role of perceived enjoyment as the driver of mobile game’s continual use. At the same time, it aimed to explore the antecedents of perceived enjoyment in mobile games. The present study limits its scope within the context of casual games only. Methodology Conceptually, the study examined design aesthetics, perceived ease of use, variety, novelty, perceived interactivity, perceived challenge, perceived control and their impact on perceived enjoyment which in turn affect continuance intention. Empirical data was collected using convenient sampling method through online survey, which was distributed on different mobile game forums and social networking sites. The survey resulted in a sample size of 220 valid responses. A two-step structural equation modelling (SEM) was employed as the analysis method for this study. Findings The study identified three key factors that drive perceived enjoyment in casual mobile games: design aesthetic, perceived ease of use and novelty. Together these constructs can explain 59% of variance for users’ perceived enjoyment. Perceived enjoyment had significant effect on continuance intention, explaining 34% of variance in continuance intention.