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Abstract

Online games are popular electronic business applications and received considerable attentions from recent studies (Lim & Lee, 2009; Teng, 2008; Teng et al., 2008). Some gamers switch to other games, indicating the necessity to investigate antecedents of gamer loyalty. Achievement attainment is one key motivator of online gaming (Yee, 2006). Strong desire to attain achievements may shape future achievement as a relevant goal with a clear end-state. The goal-setting theory (Locke, 1996) posits that a relevant goal with a clear end-state can effectively motivate individuals to attain the goal. Applying this theory to online gaming, strong desire for future achievement is likely to motivate gamers to play online games repetitively for attaining future achievements.

This study thus investigated if desire for future achievement predicts gamer loyalty. The sample comprised 307 online gamers. The study measure exhibited satisfactory reliability and validity by satisfying the criteria in the literature. This study utilized regression analysis with gamer loyalty as the dependent variable. Independent variables were desire for future achievement and flow. Control variables were gender, age, education, income, gaming history (in months), and weekly usage (in hours). The analytical results indicated that gamer loyalty was positively related to desire for future achievement (β = .46, t = 8.45, p < .01), supporting the study hypothesis. This study also echoed the literature (Choi & Kim, 2004) by indicating a marginally positive relation between flow and gamer loyalty (β = .07, t = 1.36, p < .10).

This finding suggests game providers maintain gamer desire for future achievements. Game providers may demonstrate hard-to-see spectacular sound and light effects for attracting gamers to trigger and experience such effects by themselves.

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