UNLOCKING THE POTENTIAL: MEDIATING EFFECT OF CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT AND ONLINE SHOPPING MOTIVATION ON MMO PLAYERS' WILLINGNESS TO PAY MORE

This study aims to investigate the effect of MMO players' addiction levels on their willingness to pay. It examines this effect by mediating online shopping motivation and customer engagement variables. The impact of environmental factors on willingness to pay, even when the level of dependency remains fixed, has been investigated with online shopping motivation and customer engagement. We collected data on the attitudes and perceptions of online game participants through a questionnaire. Data suitable for the study were obtained from 772 people. According to this sample size, the power of the study was calculated as 96.5%. After the participants' demographics were explained, the analyses were performed with SEM. The results confirm that willingness to pay is affected by the level of online game addiction. Among online shopping motivations, early adoption, stimulation-seeking, and customer engagement variables, both separately and together, increase consumers' willingness to pay. This paper provides a clear view on behaviour of an increasing number of online gamers by examining the purchasing and payment behaviour of MMO players.