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Why Teens Purchase Virtual Products and Services in Social Virtual Worlds?

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Nordic Contributions in IS Research (SCIS 2011)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing ((LNBIP,volume 86))

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Abstract

Purchasing virtual products and services in virtual worlds is a rapidly growing form of online consumer behavior, especially among the younger generations. The aim of the paper is to why teens spend real money in virtual goods and services. We investigate the reasons for virtual purchasing behavior in world’s most popular social virtual world, Habbo Hotel. Using content analysis, we classify the reasons for purchasing into four higher order gratifications, namely elevated experience, hedonic and social factors as well as functional activities. The results demonstrate that virtual purchasing is a vehicle for enhancing and customizing the valued aspects in the user experience.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Turku School of Economics, University of Turku, Finland

    Matti Mäntymäki

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  1. Matti Mäntymäki
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Economics, Department of Management, University of Turku,, Rehtorinpellonkatu 3, 20500, Turku, Finland

    Hannu Salmela

  2. Department of Information Technologies / IAMSR, Åbo Akademi University, Joukahainengatan 3-5 A, 20520, Åbo, Finland

    Anna Sell

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Mäntymäki, M. (2011). Why Teens Purchase Virtual Products and Services in Social Virtual Worlds?. In: Salmela, H., Sell, A. (eds) Nordic Contributions in IS Research. SCIS 2011. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, vol 86. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-22766-0_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-22766-0_5

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-22765-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-22766-0

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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