Gender differences in the perception and acceptance of online games

With the proliferation of online games, understanding users’ intention to play online games has become a new issue for academics and practitioners. Prior studies have investigated the factors affecting behavioural intention to play online games. However, little research has been conducted to investigate the gender differences in the acceptance of online games. Thus, this study is to investigate the effects of perceived playfulness and its potential antecedents (ie, computer self-efficacy, computer anxiety, challenge, speed and feedback) on the behavioural intention to play online games, and to examine the gender differences in the perception and acceptance of online games. Data collected from 281 respondents in Taiwan were tested against the research model using analysis of variance and structural equation modelling approaches. The theoretical and practical implications of the results were discussed. Introduction There has been an explosive growth of online game players over the past few years. Statistics indicate that Internet users visit game-playing sites more often and stay longer than for any other Internet sites (Draenos, 2000); thus, playing online games has become one of the most popular entertainment/learning activities on the Internet. One of the most used online games is the massive multiplayer online game (MMOG). An MMOG is a computer game that is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players simultaneously, and is played on the Internet (Wikipedia, 2006b). Bonk and Dennen (2005) also suggest that the massive multiplayer online game is an advanced Online game in this study refers to massive multiplayer online game. British Journal of Educational Technology Vol 39 No 5 2008 787–806 doi:10.1111/j.1467-8535.2007.00773.x © 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2007 British Educational Communications and Technology Agency. Published by Blackwell Publishing, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA. distributed-learning technology that can offer unique education, training and performance support opportunities. In general, players like online games because these offer the illusion of transcending space and time. Players can play any roles they like in a virtual reality scenario and interact with other players. Because online games allow players to play together without seeing or knowing each other in the context of the Internet, they may satisfy various human desires that players cannot pursue in the real world. Communicating through online games may provide people with opportunities to experience new forms of social contacts without any real social presence (King, 1996). Therefore, the online game world is regarded not only as a temporary medium for playing games but also as a social place where new sorts of human relations are formed (Baek, Song & Seo, 2004). With the proliferation of online games, understanding hedonic systems/online game acceptance has become a hot topic in the fields of educational technology and information systems (eg, Hsu & Lu, 2004, 2007; Kiili, 2005; van der Heijden, 2003, 2004). Many researchers have suggested that perceived playfulness or perceived enjoyment has a significant influence on the behavioural intention to use hedonic systems/online games (cf, Chung & Tan, 2004; Dickinger, Arami & Meyer, 2006; Hsu & Lu, 2007; Moon & Kim, 2001; Teo, Lim & Lai, 1999; van der Heijden, 2003, 2004). For example, Moon and Kim (2001) extended and empirically validated the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) for the context of the World Wide Web (WWW) by adding an intrinsic motivation factor, perceived playfulness, to the TAM. They found that perceived playfulness has a significant positive influence on behavioural intention to use WWW. Chung and Tan (2004) suggest that perceived playfulness (similar to perceived enjoyment) is an important determinant of user acceptance of general-information-searching websites, and that while Moon and Kim’s (2001) research found perceived playfulness as part of TAM, no attempt was made to further identify possible variables (antecedents) that influence perceived playfulness. In addition, little research has been conducted to examine the gender differences in the perception and acceptance of online games. Thus, the main purpose of this study is to empirically investigate the antecedents of perceived playfulness and to explore the gender differences in the perceptions and acceptance of online games. This empirical study will be useful to researchers in developing and testing theories relating to online game acceptance, as well as to practitioners in understanding the strategies for designing and promoting online learning games. The rest of this paper is organised as follows. In Section 2, we establish the theoretical foundation for the research model. It is followed by the description of the survey instruments and data collection methods used in this study. Next, we present the hypotheses testing results. Finally, the theoretical and practical implications and directions for future research are discussed. Theoretical background Unlike prior studies augmenting the TAM (eg, Carter & Bélanger, 2005; Chen, Gillenson & Sherrell, 2002; Gefen, Karahanna & Straub, 2003; Luarn & Lin, 2005; Moon & Kim, 2001; Teo et al, 1999; Wang, 2003; Yi, Jackson, Park & Probst, 2006), the current study 788 British Journal of Educational Technology Vol 39 No 5 2008 © 2007 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2007 British Educational Communications and Technology Agency. is to investigate the direct and/or indirect effects of perceived playfulness and its potential antecedents on the behavioural intention to play online games, and to examine the gender differences in the perception and acceptance of online games. According to previous literature (Agarwal & Prasad, 1999; Chung & Tan, 2004; Davis, 1993; Hong, Thong, Wong & Tam, 2002; Igbaria, Gamers & Davis, 1995; Jackson, Chow & Leitch, 1997; Venkatesh, 2000), this study identifies two main categories of external antecedent variables of perceived playfulness: individual differences and system characteristics. The research model tested in this study is shown in Figure 1. The research model suggests that two individual difference variables (ie, computer self-efficacy and computer anxiety) can influence behavioural intention directly or indirectly through perceived playfulness and that three system characteristics (ie, challenge, feedback and speed) can only influence behavioural intention through the mediation of perceived playfulness. Besides, gender difference was hypothesised to affect users’ perceptions of online games and moderate the relationships between the constructs in the research model. This section elaborates on the theory base and derives the hypotheses. Perceived playfulnes Intrinsic motives are believed to play an important role in computer usage. Intrinsic motivation refers to the pleasure and satisfaction from performing a behaviour (Deci & Ryan, 1987), while extrinsic motivation emphasises performing a behaviour to achieve specific goals/rewards (Vellerand, 1997). Hsu and Lu (2007) suggest that ‘the main purpose of participating in online games community is for leisure and pleasure, not to achieve specific goals nor improve performances’. Thus, they replaced TAM’s perceived usefulness with perceived enjoyment, an intrinsic motivator, to explain the continuance Challenge