Across Economics and Psychology: Development and Validation of the In‐Game Purchase Motivation Scale

This study is aimed at developing and validating a measurement scale for motivations behind in‐game purchases, integrating economic and psychological aspects. Two separate samples of Italian gamers were used to develop a five‐factor scale (utility, enjoyment, investment, reputation, and self‐realization) capable of explaining a substantial portion of in‐game spending behavior. In the first study, 573 gamers were recruited, and an initial four‐factor scale measuring psychological motivations behind in‐game purchases was internally and externally validated, explaining 5.4% of the variance in in‐game purchases. In the second study, conducted with 284 gamers, the self‐realization factor was added, increasing the scale’s explanatory power to 8% for the amount of money spent on in‐game purchases. When controlling for variability attributed to the game type (i.e., analyzing just participants who spent money over a specific game), we observed an increase in the explanatory power of the scale from 5.4% to 12% for the initial four‐factor model in Study 1 and from 8% to 27.5% for the evolved five‐factor model in Study 2. The results indicate that gamers who purchase virtual items are driven by diverse psychological motivations that play a critical role in their spending behavior. This study provides a tool for identifying risk factors for potentially problematic purchase behaviors and offers insights for game developers and marketing professionals interested in optimizing user engagement strategies.