Why People Continue to Play Online Games: In Search of Critical Design Factors to Increase Customer Loyalty to Online Contents

TLDR

Online gaming has prompted many feature proposals to boost log‑on time, yet little research explains why players persist or which design elements most influence their time spent. The study proposes a theoretical model linking customer loyalty, flow, personal interaction, and social interaction to explain continued play of online network games. The authors validate the model with a large‑scale survey and analyze existing online games to pinpoint design features tied to the theoretical concepts. People continue to play online games when they experience optimal play, achieved through effective personal interaction—via appropriate goals, operators, and feedback—and pleasant social interaction facilitated by suitable communication places and tools, with implications for e‑commerce and cyber communities.

Abstract

As people increasingly play online games, numerous new features have been proposed to increase players' log-on time at online gaming sites. However, few studies have investigated why people continue to play certain online games or which design features are most closely related to the amount of time spent by players at particular online gaming sites. This study proposes a theoretical model using the concepts of customer loyalty, flow, personal interaction, and social interaction to explain why people continue to play online network games. The study then conducts a large-scale survey to validate the model. Finally, it analyzes current online games to identify design features that are closely related to the theoretical concepts. The results indicate that people continue to play online games if they have optimal experiences while playing the games. This optimal experience can be attained if the player has effective personal interaction with the system or pleasant social interactions with other people connected to the Internet. Personal interaction can be facilitated by providing appropriate goals, operators and feedback; social interaction can be facilitated through appropriate communication places and tools. This paper ends with the implications of applying the study results to other domains such as e-commerce and cyber communities.