Net gain: expanding markets through virtual communities
Net gain: expanding markets through virtual communities
The Economic Leverage of the Virtual Community
International Journal of Electronic Commerce
Virtual item sales as a revenue model: identifying attributes that drive purchase decisions
Electronic Commerce Research
Online gaming: a scoping study of massively multi-player online role playing games
Electronic Commerce Research
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This study investigates the monetary value of virtual goods in the context of 24 most popular massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). Building on classic economic theory, we approach this issue through a combination of experimentation and cross-sectional time series data analysis. Our findings suggest that more intensive social networking and flatter social hierarchical structures are associated with lower monetary value of virtual goods across various MMORPGs. Instead, a larger base of active users increases the potential demand and thus the monetary value of virtual goods in the short run. A steeper social hierarchical structure further strengthens the effect. The implication is that social networking and hierarchical structure can be two effective angles for game developers or policy makers to address the issue of real-money trading of virtual goods.