Exploring Individuals’ Switching Behaviour: An Empirical Investigation in Social Network Games in China

Authors

Xiaoyu Xu, Information Systems Science, Department of Management, Turku School of Economics, University of Turku, FinlandFollow
Hongxiu Li, Information Systems Science, Department of Management, Turku School of Economics, University of Turku, FinlandFollow
Jukka Heikkilä, Information Systems Science, Department of Management, Turku School of Economics, University of Turku, FinlandFollow
Yong Liu, MediaTeam, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Oulu, FinlandFollow

Abstract

Social network game (SNG) is attracting more and more players and becoming a promising market for game providers. Competing game providers are also constantly providing substitutes to attract SNG players to switch among SNGs. In prior IS literature few studies have tried to investigate the switching behaviour. In order to explore IS user’s switching behaviour in SNGs, we examine the determinants of individuals’ switching intention to alternative SNGs and their discontinuing use of the current SNG. We propose and test a research model with 541 responses from Chinese SNG gamers collected via an online survey. The research model suggests that satisfaction, subjective norm, alternative attractiveness and variety-seeking behaviour have significant effects on individuals’ switching intention. Finally, we made a discussion on these findings as well as limitations and future study.

Recommended Citation

Xu, Xiaoyu; Li, Hongxiu; Heikkilä, Jukka; and Liu, Yong, "Exploring Individuals’ Switching Behaviour: An Empirical Investigation in Social Network Games in China" (2013). BLED 2013 Proceedings. 34.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/bled2013/34