Social Influence and Willingness to Pay for Online Video Games

Social influence is an important factor in guiding individual behavior, including purchase decisions. The online gaming industry has demonstrated itself to be one of the most successful business sectors to integrate the Internet into its business models. The purpose of the study is to investigate the influence an individual’s social environment has on willingness-to-pay a subscription fee for an online video game. Specifically, social influence is conceptualized as occurring on three levels within an individual’s social environment: the micro-, meso-, and macro-levels. Using a survey research methodology, this study examines the effects that these influences have on expected benefit, willingness-to-pay, and each other