Motivation of Virtual Goods Transactions Based on the Theory of Gaming Motivations

In recent years, there is an increasingly growth in the transactions of virtual goods among online game players. Few studies have examined the perceived values of virtual goods and how gaming motivation drives the purchase of virtual goods. In this paper, we took one popular online game “World of Warcraft” as a case study, using structural equation model, and explored the relationship between gaming motivations and virtual goods’ multi-dimensional values, as well as the inter-relationship of multi-dimensional values of virtual goods. Results showed that achievement motivation and discovery motivation had a positive effect on the perceiving of virtual goods’ functional value; self-expression motivation and the perceiving of social value were positively related. Among the multi-dimensional consumption values, the perception of functional values has a weak positive effect on the perception of emotional values; the perception of social values plays as a significant intermediate variable between the perceiving of functional values and emotional values.