Purchasing behaviour on aesthetic items in online video games with real currency : The case of Counter Strike: Global Offensive

Over the last decade, buying in-game content with real money has become a more common practice among players in order to unlock exclusive content in video games. Prior research has mainly focused on those functional digital items that provide an advantage to the buyer. This thesis aims to determine the underlying factors that influence video game players to purchase purely aesthetic virtual items.Prior studies on the field of video games, gaming business models and purchasing behaviour were reviewed and a theoretical framework focused on behavioural sciences, psychology and customer culture related theories was designed to interpret the results of a quantitative study. The popular FPS (First Person Shooter), Counter Strike Global Offensive was the selected game to carry out the study. A web-based questionnaire was distributed in various specialized online forums, providing a total of 1006 respondents. A linear regression was the selected method to test the formulated model. Results showed a strong influence of emotional and symbolic perceived values in the purchase intention of aesthetic virtual items, while gaming experience and enjoyment had a minor impact