The purpose of this research is to develop and test a model explaining users’ intention to adopt online games in China. Through theories from diverse fields of information systems research, the authors aim to examine and validate antecedents of users’ intentions to play online games.
The model proposes subjective norms and perceived control as antecedents to technology acceptance model (TAM) related beliefs, while suggesting convenience of operator, reality of design, provision of information and sense of belonging as antecedents of flow. The authors study the causal relations between the antecedents and usage intention by using structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the causalities in the proposed model.
The results indicate that perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEOU), flow and subjective norms are direct predictors of Chinese online games users’ intentions. Subjective norm and sense of belonging are shown to be important predictors of PU, while provision of information reveals an important negative influence on PU. At the same time, system quality shows no significant influence on PU. Perceived control and convenience of operator are both antecedents of PEOU. Furthermore, except for the sense of belonging, the proposed four antecedents of flow are tested for their effect on PU.
This research systematically includes relevant antecedents in MIS research to test online game users’ intention to adopt online games. It also provides some managerial insights that can guide Chinese online game companies to improve their games to attract users, and help foreign online game companies to make strategic plans to enter the huge Chinese online game market.
