题　目：An empirical study of play duration and in-app purchase behavior in mobile games

嘉　宾：Yifan Jiao, Ph.D. candidate, HKU Business School

主持人：刘佳璐  助理教授  上海交通大学安泰经济与管理学院

时　间：2022年12月2日（周五） 14:00-15:30

地　点：腾讯会议 (校内师生如需会议号和密码，请发送电邮至xuziqing@sjtu.edu.cn获取)

内容简介:

In the context of free-to-play (FTP) mobile games, this paper seeks to examine one question: Which factors affect a player’s play duration or in-app purchases (of virtual items)? This research question has not been examined in the research literature. But it is an important one because the revenue of an FTP game developer is based on in-app ads watched by players (which depend on play duration) and in-app purchases. Using different regression models to analyze weekly data associated with 100,000 players’ activities and expenditures of an FTP mobile game over a 3-year period, we provide three key results and their implications. First, game performance has an “inverted U” effect. Players with exceptionally good/bad performance in 1 week tend to play for a shorter duration and make fewer purchases in the following week. This result implies that a game developer should monitor a player’s performance and offer rewards to prevent players from dropping out. Second, virtual item novelty has a positive effect. Players who acquired new virtual items in 1 week tend to play for a longer duration and make more purchases in the following week. This result suggests that, to entice players to extend their play and increase their expenditure, the game developer should design customized virtual items with personalized pricing. Third, social interaction has a positive effect. Players who are “clan members” or played more with friends in 1 week tend to play for a longer duration and make more purchases in the following week. Hence, the game developer can benefit from this result by developing incentive for players to invite their friends to play together.

演讲人简介：

Yifan Jiao is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Innovation and Information Management at HKU Business School. Her research primarily focuses on the digital platforms, and she is interested in investigating practical questions that help businesses engage and retain customers and design monetization strategies on social media and online game platforms. Her research has been published in Production and Operations Management (POM) and Service Science. She also has several papers under revision at Manufacturing & Service Operations Management (M&SOM) or under review at Management Science.

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