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Understanding the effect of flow on user adoption of mobile games

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Abstract

Mobile games as an emerging service have not received wide adoption among users; especially, presenting a compelling experience to users may be crucial to their usage. Drawing on the flow theory, this research identified the factors affecting user adoption of mobile games. The results indicated that perceived ease of use, connection quality and content quality affect flow. Among them, content quality has the largest effect. Flow, social influence and usage cost determine usage intention. The results imply that service providers need to improve users’ experience in order to facilitate their adoption and usage of mobile games.

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Acknowledgments

This work was partially supported by a grant from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (71001030) and a grant from Zhejiang Provincial Zhijiang Social Science Young Scholar Plan (G94).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Management, Hangzhou Dianzi University, Hangzhou, 310018, People’s Republic of China

    Tao Zhou

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  1. Tao Zhou
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Correspondence to Tao Zhou.

Appendix: Measurement scales and items

Appendix: Measurement scales and items

  • Perceived ease of use (PEOU) (adapted from Jung et al. [15])

  • PEOU1: Learning to use this mobile game is easy for me.

  • PEOU2: Skillfully using this mobile game is easy for me.

  • PEOU3: I find this mobile game easy to use.

  • Connection quality (CNQ) (adapted from Kim and Hwang [19])

  • CNQ1: This mobile game has a rapid initial connection speed.

  • CNQ2: This mobile game has a rapid data transferring speed.

  • CNQ3: This mobile game has a stable connection.

  • Content quality (CTQ) (adapted from Jung et al. [15])

  • CTQ1: This mobile game provides up-to-date contents.

  • CTQ2: This mobile game provides attractive contents.

  • CTQ3: This mobile game provides contents pertaining to my needs.

  • Social influence (SOI) (adapted from Venkatesh et al. [38 ])

  • SOI1: People who influence my behavior think that I should use this mobile game.

  • SOI2: People who are important to me think that I should use this mobile game.

  • Flow (FLOW) (adapted from Lee et al. [22 ])

  • FLOW1: When using this mobile game, my attention is focused on the activity.

  • FLOW2: When using this mobile game, I feel in control.

  • FLOW3: When using this mobile game, I find a lot of pleasure.

  • Usage cost (COST) (adapted from Wu and Wang [42 ])

  • COST1: The access cost of using this mobile game is expensive.

  • COST2: The transaction fee of using this mobile game is expensive.

  • COST3: I feel that the usage cost of this mobile game is expensive.

  • Usage intention (USE) (adapted from Lee [23])

  • USE1: Given the chance, I intend to use this mobile game.

  • USE2: I expect my use of this mobile game to continue in the future.

  • USE3: I have intention to use this mobile game.

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Zhou, T. Understanding the effect of flow on user adoption of mobile games. Pers Ubiquit Comput 17, 741–748 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00779-012-0613-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00779-012-0613-3

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