mobile games dissertation
TRANSCRIPT
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By
Gilbert Giovanni Widjaja
August, 2016
Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment
of the Degree of
Master of Science
In
Business Management (Entrepreneurship)
The Determining Factors which Influences the Buying
Behaviour of Mobile Gaming in Singapore
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Declaration
I declare that the work undertaken for this MSc Dissertation has been
undertaken by myself and the final Dissertation produced by me. The work has not
been submitted in part or in whole in regard to any other academic qualification.
Title of Dissertation:
The Determining Factors which Influences the Buying Behaviour of
Mobile Gaming in Singapore.
Name: Gilbert Giovanni Widjaja
Signature:
Date: 26th August 2016
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Acknowledgements
This Dissertation would not have been completed without the help and
guidance of multiple personnel who aided the researcher in solving the problems and
challenged posed by the discussion of the topic. The researcher would like to first
and foremost give praise to God for the grace and strength that is given to
researcher to complete this dissertation. The researcher would also like to express
thanks and admiration for the wisdom and advice that they have given to researcher
while he is undertaking the dissertation paper:
- Dr. Kristen Marshall as the Edinburgh Napier University dissertation
supervisor in this module.
- Dr. Jesus Canduela as Edinburgh Napier University Dissertation Module
Leader.
- Dr. Tan Boon Leing as the PSB Academy ENU local supervisor
- Dr. Sim Kiah Seng from PSB Academy for giving the researcher advise in
the early stages of research proposal
The researcher would also like to thank all the participants who had taken part
in participating in the survey questionnaire, as their responses and answers have
greatly benefited the researcher in unveiling the questions and implications of the
study. The researcher would like to express apologies for any potential imperfections
and flaws found in this dissertation, and would appreciate any constructive
comments and feedbacks given to improve this dissertation.
Kind regards,
Gilbert Giovanni
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Abstract
Mobile games counts as one of the more personal and accessible forms of
entertainment in this modern era of technology, one where the customers would
often be willing to pay for better services. The popularity of mobile games are
expected to continue growing exponentially as more and more mainstream mobile
phones and devices being sold now are capable of running almost every mobile
games. In this research, the researcher will conduct a study which explores the
determining factors which influences the buying behavior of mobile gaming in
Singapore. Based on many literature reviews concerning mobile gaming, buyer
behavior, and other important factors which affects the state of mobile gaming
market, the research has constructed a set of aims and objectives and will conduct a
quantitative online survey questionnaire involving mobile game users in Singapore to
measure the degree and influence of how the determining factors being significant to
mobile gaming. The results of the Dissertation are interesting in understanding the
mobile game buying decision making process, as it can provide insight to mobile
game developers and marketers in how they should approach the market in regards
with the mobile game users’ interest and buying behavior in Singapore. With the
growth of mobile games climbing up steady within mobile phone users, a better
understanding about the factors that attracts the interest of potential mobile game
users must be clarified to improve the development of new mobile game products
and services.
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Table of Contents
Declaration ...................................................................................................... 2
Acknowledgements ......................................................................................... 3
Abstract ........................................................................................................... 4
Table of Figures ............................................................................................... 8
Chapter 1: Introduction .................................................................................... 9
1.1 Introduction ......................................................................................... 9
1.2 Background ....................................................................................... 10
1.3 Aims and Objectives ............................................................................. 12
1.4 Significance of Study ............................................................................ 13
Chapter 2: Literature Review ......................................................................... 14
2.1 Buyer Behavior ..................................................................................... 14
2.1.1 Need Recognition .......................................................................... 19
2.1.2 Information Search ......................................................................... 20
2.1.3 Evaluation of Alternatives ............................................................... 20
2.1.4 Purchase Decision ......................................................................... 21
2.1.5 Post purchase behavior ................................................................. 21
2.2 Current state of mobile gaming entertainment in Singapore ................ 23
2.3 Brand Experience ................................................................................. 27
2.4 Brand Image ......................................................................................... 29
2.5 Customer Loyalty ................................................................................. 31
2.6 Customer Expectation .......................................................................... 33
Chapter 3 Methodology ................................................................................. 36
3.1 Quantitative and Qualitative Research method .................................... 36
3.2 Target Population ................................................................................. 38
3.3 Description of Variables ....................................................................... 39
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3.4 Sample Size ......................................................................................... 40
3.5 Data Collection method ........................................................................ 41
3.6 Pilot test ............................................................................................... 42
3.7 Data Analysis Method .......................................................................... 43
3.8 Validity and reliability ............................................................................ 44
3.9 Limitations ............................................................................................ 46
Chapter 4: Findings and Analysis .................................................................. 47
4.1 Data Description ................................................................................ 47
4.2 Validity and Reliability ....................................................................... 51
4.3 Testing of Hypotheses .......................................................................... 53
4.3.1 Hypothesis 1: Brand experience influences and measures the
Buying Behaviour of product or services in the Mobile Gaming product. ........... 54
4.3.2 Hypothesis 2: Brand Image influences and measures the Buying
Behaviour of Mobile Gaming Product or services. ............................................. 55
4.3.3 Hypothesis 3: Positive outcome of Customer Loyalty contributes
positively to the buying behaviour of the mobile gaming product and services .. 56
4.3.4 Hypothesis 4: High Customer Expectation Contributes positively
towards buying behaviour of mobile gaming product and services .................... 57
4.4 Discussion of Hypothesis Results ........................................................ 58
4.4.1 Hypothesis 1 .................................................................................. 58
4.4.2 Hypothesis 2 .................................................................................. 59
4.4.3 Hypothesis 3 .................................................................................. 60
4.4.4 Hypothesis 4 .................................................................................. 61
4.5 Implication of the Survey Findings ........................................................ 62
5. Conclusion and Recommendations ...................................................... 65
5.1 Comprehensive Summary ................................................................. 65
5.2 Managerial Implications ..................................................................... 69
5.3 Limitations ......................................................................................... 70
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5.4 Recommendations for Future Research ............................................... 72
5.5 Final Conclusion ................................................................................ 73
6. References ........................................................................................... 74
7. Appendix ............................................................................................... 83
7.1 Gantt Chart ........................................................................................ 83
7.2 Survey Questionnaire ........................................................................ 86
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Table of Figures
Table 1 Consumer Spending on Entertainment by income group 2013 ....................... 11
Table 2 Dimensions of Emotional States (Solomon, et al 2007) ................................... 17
Table 3 Five Stage Buying Decision Process Model ....................................................... 19
Table 4 Possible levels of customer expectations ........................................................... 34
Table 5 Gender Specification .............................................................................................. 48
Table 6 Age range ................................................................................................................ 49
Table 7 Occupation ............................................................................................................... 49
Table 8 Validity Figures ........................................................................................................ 51
Table 9 Reliability Figures.................................................................................................... 51
Table 10 Pearson Chi Square for Hypothesis 1 ............................................................... 54
Table 11 Pearson Chi Square for Hypothesis 2 ............................................................... 55
Table 12 Pearson Chi Square for Hypothesis 3 ............................................................... 56
Table 13 Pearson Chi Square for Hypothesis 4 ............................................................... 57
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Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Introduction
This dissertation is conducted to examine the determining factors which
positively influence buying behaviour of Mobile Gaming in Singapore, while
emphasizing the customer perspective in the entertainment industry. The main focus
of this dissertation will be about determining the significant factors which boosts the
mobile gaming success and how it can affect the success of a promotional
campaign. The main idea would be to discover how to carefully execute a marketing
scheme that ensures the customers would buy the products or services. The end
result of the scheme has a purpose of gaining success and optimal profit from the
products or services.
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1.2 Background
The entertainment industry can be considered as one of the largest, most
profitable business in the world, with an average household spending approximately
$2,482 on entertainment activity in year 2013, accounting to 4.9% of total household
spending. The entertainment industry falls under the category of indulgence in the
Hofstede’s cultural dimension as the main component in understanding the business
implementations (Hofstede, 2016). The entertainment spending amount is always
dependent with household income, which means the higher the household income,
the higher will people spend on entertainment activities in general. As depicted in
Figure 1, the percentage of household fee spent in entertainment differs by category,
as the budget spent on entertainment increases exponentially by each tier of income
group, with the lowest income group spent 4.5%, and the highest group spent about
5.2% on entertainment purposes, which explains that not only entertainment budget
increases within higher income groups, but it is still a fairly big percentage in the
lower income brackets, indicating the need for entertainment for people with different
economic backgrounds regardless of income (Statistics, 2015).
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Table 1 Consumer Spending on Entertainment by income group 2013
Sourced from Bureau of Labor Statistics (2015)
With Figure 1 showing that entertainment will be ever present part of every
household’s daily life, measures have been taken in managing how to market the
entertainment product in order to attract customers in buying the entertainment
brands and boost the consumers’ expectation about the product or service. A
successful management of customer expectation can increase the value of customer
loyalty, which in turn possibly results to an increase of the product sales value
(Parasuraman, et al., 1988). Further discussion regarding the independent variables
influencing the buying behaviour of mobile gaming customers will be explored in the
next chapters of the dissertation.
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1.3 Aims and Objectives
The Purpose of this study is to identify and evaluate the factors which
positively influence the buying behaviour of Mobile Gaming in Singapore. The
significance of this study will also promote ideas in how companies can manage their
marketing activities in a certain way so it generates positive response from the
customers in the mobile gaming industry, thus optimising the effectiveness of the
marketing campaign in Singapore.
The Research Objectives are:
To review the literature around consumer buying behaviour, brand
experience, brand image, customer expectation, customer loyalty and how
those concepts would apply and revolve around the concept of mobile
gaming.
To explore how the determining factors can contribute positively to
buying behaviour in gaming industry through online survey questionnaire
concerning the variables assigned to the research. The determining factors
include Brand Experience, Brand Image, Customer Loyalty, and Customer
expectation.
To process the data gathered using online questionnaire to find if the
Determining variables in the research are significant in influencing the buying
behaviour of Mobile Gaming products.
To understand the potential and business opportunities that can be
obtained by understanding how customers react to mobile gaming products in
Singapore by asking the participants about their experiences with a mobile
gaming product.
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1.4 Significance of Study
The conclusions found from this Dissertation will help understand the buying
behaviour characteristics of mobile game customers, it can also provide insight in
deducing a suitable and accurate way of how to reach and offer mobile game
products to attract the customer’s interest, ensuring the product is received and
perceived positively by the customer, generating more hype and expectation, which
results in customer loyalty. As for Academic Researchers, this study aims to provide
understanding in how to manage customer expectation in entertainment sector
nowadays.
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Chapter 2: Literature Review
2.1 Buyer Behavior
Buyer Behavior plays one of the key roles in determining the factors that can
affect customer expectation for the product to be released, as it plays a vital role in
influencing the final step of buying decision-making process significantly.
(Svatosova, 2013). As depicted in Figure 2, it is important to understand the core
mechanics in online customer behavior in the massively expanding virtual
marketplace, as 20 percent of internet users in several countries has already utilised
online sales service, while 50% of users in America has already utilised online
services to fulfil their daily needs (Constantinides, 2004), with over 210 million users
registered to be utilising online shopping behaviour in 2016, with a possibility of
increasing towards the figure of 224 million users in year 2019 (Statista, 2016).
This Section of the literature review will outline several important points that
serve as a vital concept towards the dissertation. Several topics such as Customer,
Loyalty, Customer Expectation, Brand Experience, and Buyer Behaviour determine
how the audience will respond in how they react in spending in Mobile Gaming
environment for this research.
Online customer buying behaviour is often influenced by a sudden, unplanned
and affective desire to buy something immediately called impulse buying behaviour.
It implies a powerful, often uncontrollable will to buy something that was not planned
in advance due to exposure to products which piques the curiousness and interest of
the buyer, such as new or limited-availability products, which causes the decision to
buy the items to be made quickly and hastily (Dawson & Kim, 2009).
Factors affecting the customer buying behavior can range from several
categories, which may include packaging. Ogba et al. (2010) expressed that one
such factor can include packaging, as they stated that packaging serves as one of
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the techniques that can be utilised to not only achieve functional purpose, but also
have become an important element in branding, positioning, and other
communication in designing an effective marketing communications campaign. In the
case of packaging targeted at children’s products, promoters use the attraction of
interactive cartoon characters to appeal towards the attention of children, making
them interested to buy the product not because they think it’s healthy, but because it
has wonderful characters illustrated in the packaging (Solomon, et al., 2007).
Khedkar (2015) has surmised that giving accurate information regarding the product
and quality has a vital effect on customer satisfaction in online shopping
environment. Liu, et al. (2008) has also stated that accurate informational quality of
products will improve the customer satisfaction in online shopping, giving a
significant positive effect for customer to continue their online shopping activity.
There are several situational effects which influence the thought process of
consumer behaviour, which are:
- Social and Physical Surroundings affects how a person utilises the product
usage and evaluation. The physical dimension of environment such as
décor, odour, environmental ambience and temperature can impact how
people consume their products and services. In some instances, the sheer
presence or lack thereof consumers in the shop or marketplace can
heavily impact the consumer buying decision, for example: when shopping
in a premium class branded products such as Louis Vuitton and Hermes, a
sparsely populated store would actually support a better buying
experience for the shoppers there as it would give the store a more
exclusive and branded feeling. Whereas a sports bar would look much
better and attractive if the place is crowded with people, as a sparsely
populated bar would look depressing and sad for people to visit (Solomon,
et al., 2007). Sandy and Kim (2009) also signify that marketers plays a
large part in influencing the buying behaviour by the customer by placing
marketing cues and stimuli to lure customers into purchase behaviour.
Customers can have an emerging urge to impulsively buy when they see
attractive visual cues such as discounts and other promotional incentives
(Youn & Faber, 2000).
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- Temporal Factors (Time): for most people, time is precious as it
determines the flow and schedule of activities done daily. Time Poverty is
a state felt by most customers where they are more pressed for time more
than ever before. The sense of time poverty has resulted in more
consumers to be more responsive and perceptive to marketing innovations
that would allow them to more effective and efficient to save time. For
example: instead of utilising cash to pay for their daily shopping cart in the
supermarket, cashiers nowadays are equipped with NETS Quickpay
scanners which would allow debit cards with NETS chip to quickly pay by
scanning their cards, allowing for a swifter and more responsive
transaction saving the time needed to count the money needed to pay the
groceries every day (Solomon, et al., 2007).
- Antecedents States: consumer’s mood can play a big part in influencing
purchase decisions. Pleasure and Arousal can determine whether the
person will react positively or negatively to the consumption environment.
Figure 1 indicates different combinations of pleasure and arousal stimuli
which results in different emotional states. Moods can be affected by
several notions, such as store design, weather, or other determining
factors which are designed to evoke specific feelings or reactions from the
consumer (Solomon, et al., 2007). Dawson and Kim (2009) also argued
that customer’s personality traits can greatly determine the degree of their
impulse buying tendency, noting that consumers with higher impulse
buying tendencies are more likely to be affected by the marketing
advertisements and promotional materials which leads them to engage in
more active browsing of the store’s products, and generally tend to give in
to urges to buy things impulsively.
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Table 2 Dimensions of Emotional States (Solomon, et al 2007)
- Task Definition is defined as the context or situation which the consumers
have found them in. it is common sense and logic for people to be
selective in their purchase decision making of the product depending on
the purpose and whom is it for. For example: people will be more price and
socially conscious when they are buying a product or service to be gifted
to other people, giving more thought and consideration towards the
corresponding person’s physical suitability and attitude, whereas that
person would not be so price conscious and be more instinctive in
choosing products for themselves (Solomon, et al., 2007).
- Shopping Orientation: Reasons for people to go shopping can play a big
part in the buying behaviour. Social motives manipulates how people go
about and conduct their buying process, such as the notion which states
that women “shop to love”, while men “shop to win”, because most women
find fulfilment and satisfaction in browsing items to find what they need,
while men mostly are more goal driven and are satisfied when they found
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an item that signifies their superiority and expertise knowledge regarding a
certain subject or topic (Solomon, et al., 2007).
Raposo and Ferraz (2013) has suggested that there are several factors that
shapes the buying behaviour of customers, such as the brand itself, which
differentiates the product according to the image they possess within the item itself.
It was found that good brand management can lead towards customers developing a
strong sense of brand awareness and loyalty who are more likely to avoid brand
switching behaviour, thus lowering the chance of impulse buying behaviour. It was
also argued that price is a very determining factor in product choice and impulsive
purchase, especially in lower income groups (Pollard, et al., 2002). In-store product
exposure (product displays) also enhances the chance of attracting awareness from
the consumers and leads them to buy impulsively (Hodge, 2004).
Comegys et al. (2006) surmised that Electronic commerce gives several
new ways for marketers to gather information about the product they are interested
in, as the flexibility and purchasing options presented by internet provides options
aplenty for customers to do research about the product they want. The study
assumes the buying behavior has developed the five stage buying decision model to
gain a better insight about the customers and their respective buying behavior.
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Table 3 Five Stage Buying Decision Process Model
Sourced from Comegys et al (2006)
2.1.1 Need Recognition
The first step in the buying decision making process begins with Need
Recognition, where the buyer identifies the discrepancies or difference between their
current actual state and the intended state that they desire. This stage can be
triggered by both internal stimuli such as hunger, thirst, and heat, or by external
stimuli such as passing in front of clothing store which stimulates the need to buy
new clothes.
There are other factors that influence the need recognition between
customers; it includes demographic factors such as age, income, education, and
gender. Perception plays a huge role in affecting how the consumers assess their
needs and situations, which means that perception would not only affect the need
recognition phase but also other phases in the customer buying decision process. It
is imperative that the marketers are able to examine the consumer needs in order to
understand the progress and trends it develops. Big multinational corporations uses
a lot of advertising , sales personnel and packaging to help consumers identify their
need recognition based on on-going problems, trends and periodic tendencies in the
society, or to increase the gap between their own desired state and current actual
condition (Negricea & Edu, 2015)
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2.1.2 Information Search
The next stage in the buying decision process is Information Search, the
process where the consumer utilises different channels in order to gather information
about different products, while possibly contemplating about other alternatives and
options that is available. There are two levels of arousal process in information
search, which are passive and active informational search. In the milder passive
state, customers are more aware towards the features and functionality of the
product that they search, while only interested about the different products that might
be suitable for them. While in the active stage of information search, customers are
more involved and engaged in conversations and activities that will help them reveal
more information about the product and services itself, while also looking for other
possible alternatives products or services that relates to the benefits that the product
may give (Comegys, et al., 2006).
2.1.3 Evaluation of Alternatives
Consumers tend to consider other options that may fit the purpose or
objective that they are pursuing by researching other viable substitute products. As
consumers process their needs and wants, they get a clearer picture of what other
products is available, then it is time for them to progress from the evaluation step
onto the actual purchase decision making. The value of the brand itself presents less
influence in determining the alternatives, as consumer will be less sensitive and
selective in their valuation of alternatives, opting to focus on getting the best function
to value items available as a substitute item.
It is possible for marketers to utilise the digital platform of internet to
accurately target their advertisement by keeping a record of each their customers so
that they can accurately place their advertisement to the right target market, ensuring
optimal effect to attract the customers to buy their product. The marketers have to
understand the nature of competition and strategic market positioning by assessing
the customer’s product selection criteria, allowing them to narrow down the
differentiation of products on various market segments (Negricea & Edu, 2015).
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2.1.4 Purchase Decision
This is the stage where the consumer has already settled his choice for the
certain brand out of many existing ones out there, and moving on towards the
purchase transaction of the product, which can be done digitally through internet or
by face to face transaction with the seller/retailer. Face by face transactions usually
includes several additional services or agreement such as warranty, maintenance
agreements, free installation of products, and discounts (Negricea & Edu, 2015).
Comegys et al (2006) has stated that there may be two factors that exist
within the evaluation and purchase stages. The first is attitudes of others, where best
friends and peers may pressure the customers into changing their preference for
certain products even if they already settled their selection beforehand. The second
factor involves the change of situation that affects the attributes of the product, such
as change of price, trends and other environmental effects. Impulse buying behavior
plays a big part in the purchase decision as well, where some categories of impulses
are just genuinely irresistible, especially physical buying impulses. However
impulses can be controlled when the customers themselves are self-aware of their
own impulsive temptations, allowing them set particular standards and norms to
themselves, resulting them to less likely act based on impulse. When a customer has
succumbed one too many times towards impulsive behavior, their mental state will
likely to form a certain kind of motivation to stop these impulsive actions, although it
may not guarantee a change in repeating these acts, it would likely to make a
change towards impulsive buying behavior.
2.1.5 Post purchase behavior
The service from the seller or marketer continues after the sales were made,
with post-purchase services. It is vital for the seller to keep the customers happy
even after the transaction is made to ensure the longevity of their business for the
long run. With good post-purchase services, sellers can ensure the loyalty and
satisfaction of the customer, retaining the customers’ interest and further
transactions in the business.
Keeping the customers satisfaction high is vital both in physical and online
retailing sales market. Comegys et al (2006) has surmised that one of the most
important aspects in factor which boosts customer satisfaction in e-commerce
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market is the convenience It brings compared with conventional offline shopping. It
goes without saying that when a customer finds the post-purchase services
unsatisfactory they will voice their dissatisfaction by complaining and giving the seller
bad reputation, then move on towards another similar competitor which provides
better service. Therefore it is important for sellers to keep their customers happy with
adequate post-purchase services and policy.
Other than customer satisfaction and loyalty, post purchase actions include
brand preferences and repurchase intentions and how they correlate to each other.
Customer satisfaction progresses into customer loyalty, and loyalty converts into
brand preference, and the strength of brand preference leads into positive
repurchase intentions.
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2.2 Current state of mobile gaming entertainment in
Singapore
Mobile games counts as one of the more personal and accessible forms of
entertainment in this modern era of technology, one where the customers would
often be willing to pay for better services. The popularity of mobile games are
expected to continue growing exponentially as more and more mainstream mobile
phones and devices being sold now are capable of running almost every mobile
games. As a country with a multi-cultural population of 5.5 million people as of 2015,
Singapore culture are shaped with a healthy mix of local and foreign trends
embedded in their lifestyle (Department of Statistics Singapore, 2015). Singapore’s
entertainment scene has been largely centered over various multi-faceted shopping
mall districts ion the center of the city such as Orchard, Somerset, and City Hall.
These city suburban malls have grown larger and equipped with a much more
diverse service outlets and entertainment providers. And by utilizing a mix of artistry
and attractive merchandising which closely follows the current consumer trends,
malls are positioning themselves seamlessly to attract shoppers outside the retail
area. The purpose of the entertainment scene is to help retailers and sellers to build
a successful strategy to retain sales and attract new customers. With the amount of
shopping district malls and nature attraction available in Singapore, Mobile games
with geo-location features like Pokemon Go are able to make use of these locations
as a interactive feature within in-game experience. Therefore, with the purpose of
staying competitive in the current era of modern entertainment, it is important for
sellers to find a niche product that would complement the current entertainment
trends that would satisfy customers and transform the ordinary entertainment into
something extraordinary for customers (Ibrahim & Chye, 2002).
Mobile Games are games that are usually available for purchase inside
mobile phone software, allowing mobile phone users to play entertainment games on
their mobile phones during their time of leisure moments. Mobile games may seem
minor compared to other forms of gaming such as computer and console games in
terms of size, depth, and prize, however mobile games provide advantage towards
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the community through sheer flexibility and convenience. Computer and console
games may require the customer stay tuned in front of the device while they are
enjoying the entertainment, whereas mobile gaming allows the user to enjoy the
content at any location and anytime, making it a more valuable and prospective
attraction for customers of all ages and background.
Despite mobile gaming having less expensive budget and investment poured
toward its development than its console counterparts, the mobile game industry has
profited at a total of $34.8 billion across the world, comprising a total of 85% total
mobile apps revenue in 2015. The growth and profit of mobile gaming has rivaled
consoled and PC gaming in 2015 (Venture Beat, 2016).
There are several reasons why mobile gaming appeal more to the general
population of all ages and background compared to their console and PC
counterparts (Ong, 2016):
1. Mobile Games provide more mobility and convenience than its console
counterparts. Casual gamers often have limited time and opportunity to
play games due to other commitments in their real life, which is why they
found mobile game to be convenient due to the ability to play it between
their daily routines such as during travelling or while waiting for someone.
Mobile games such as Candy Crush are designed in such a way that it
only require the players to commit only around 3-5 minutes of their time for
each level, while other games such as Pokemon Go actually requires the
players to go outside of house for the game to progress. The ease of
access by mobile gaming attracts interest from people of all demographic
backgrounds to be able to enjoy the experience without being constrained
by their daily duties.
2. Mobile Games often offer players incentive and motivation to tune in the
game regularly. A common feature of a typical mobile game is that it will
present the player with a reward for playing the game at a regular interval.
Incentives such as bonus items or accomplishments for daily logins inside
the game keeps the player hooked and interested in keep playing the
game, without being constrained by location and convenience presented
by the form of mobile phone.
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3. Freemium Games. Some mobile games are often identified to adopt a
“Freemium” strategy to generate their revenue from the product. A mobile
game might come out as a free product in the app store, but when the
customer plays the game for a certain period of time, the game might offer
certain deals and offers which allows the user to advance more quickly
inside the game with a small payment of money, the deal may appear as a
bargain for the first time, but can accumulate over time with repeated
purchases.
4. Mobile games often adapt their content with the local culture. Games that
follows the tendencies and trends of their native habitat tends to appeal a
wider audience due to the higher acceptance level of the local populace.
The impact of mobile gaming towards the everyday lives has risen quite
considerably recently with the release of Augmented Reality (AR) games with
Pokemon Go being the forefront runner of the development of AR games.
Augmented Reality is defined a real-time or indirect view of a physical world
environment that has been enhanced or modified by adding virtual computer
generated content into the experience, which provides a interactive experience for
users with 3D features which combines real and virtual objects (Carmigniani, et al.,
2011). Not only providing excitement of real word interactions, but Pokemon Go’s
success had also led to a healthy phenomenon, which are an increase in physical
exercises, because the game itself encourages users to walk around from location to
location in search of in-game pokemon, therefore promoting health and fitness to its
users in the society (Oliver, 2016).
Pokemon Go hosts an interactive way for users to play the game as they can
turn on their cameras to ‘catch’ the pokemon seemingly in real life anytime and
anywhere, adding the said pokemon to the ever increasing collection of your virtual
storage bag. Pokemon Go became such a global phenomenon because it combines
the elements of nostalgia with futuristic aspects of augmented reality, where the said
feature would not have been available when the Pokemon first became popular in
the 90s, and it adds a sense of purpose that really connect the audience with
surrounding environment and community around them (Marketing Interactive, 2016).
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As the intellectual property owner and co-developer (along with Niantic
Corporation) of Pokemon Go, Nintendo is expected by J.P Morgan analyst Haruka
Mori to have profited approximately US$292,000,000 monthly from Pokemon Go’s in
game app purchases revenues, which would ultimately account into an annual raise
of US$ 244,000,000 in income alone (Mochizuki, 2016). One of the main providers of
mobile broadband in Singapore, StarHub Mobile has predicted that Pokemon Go
would increase the average usage of mobile data by 100 MB to 300 MB monthly
once it is released in Singapore, increasing the average subscriber data usage from
3.3 GB to 3.6 GB in Singapore (Lee, 2016).
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2.3 Brand Experience
Brand Experience is another huge factor in consideration for shaping the
buying behaviour of mobile game products and services. Brand experience has been
defined as a dimensional construct that explains how customer loyalty is materialised
(Herbjørn, et al., 2013). The study also notes that there are four factors which helps
construct the overall brand experience of a product or service, the first one being
Sensory which entails how the brand makes an impression, the second factor is
Affective which details how the brand evokes feelings and sentimentality, the third
one is Behaviour (how the brand involves activity), and the last factor is Intellectual
which explains how the brands initiate thought processes in people (Brakus, et al.,
2009).
Johar et al (2005) argues that brand experience can be different to other
factors that constructs a brand identity, since it involves a process which are related
with evaluations based on affective reactions and beliefs, and can even take place
when the customer themselves are not actually interested or do not have a personal
connection with the brand. It means that customer will always cognitively form a
brand experience with every product even when they do not enjoy using the product
itself. However, Shamim and Butt (2013) Also pointed out that it is more logical for
researchers to focus more with the potential of brand experiences transforming into
preferential treatment for a certain brand, because brand related experiences have a
tendency to become a part of customer’s long term memory in forming brand
associations, therefore making it possible that these associations can lead to
building attitudes which would develop into brand credibility, loyalty, and preference.
While Morrison and Crane (2007) has suggested nowadays consumers do not only
pay for products and services, but rather they are paying for the unique experience
that they expect the outcome will provide them. It is very important for a product or
service to fully satisfy the customer expectation so that they will give more
preference to the same brand of product or service in the future (Ali, et al., 2015).
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The example of how brand experience would affect the success of a product
can be seen in Pokemon Go product. Pokemon Go hosts an interactive way for
users to play the game as they can turn on their cameras to ‘catch’ the pokemon
seemingly in real life anytime and anywhere, adding the said pokemon to the ever
increasing collection of your virtual storage bag. This experience of playing mobile
games where the flow of gameplay revolves in moving around in real life locations
(location based games) aligns with previous researches about mobile games with
new possibilities of mobility (Han, et al., 2005) and the capability from the game to
incorporate dimensions of the real world and social surroundings into the game
(Peltola & Karsten, 2006). Pokemon Go became such a global phenomenon
because it combines the elements of nostalgia with futuristic aspects of augmented
reality, where the said feature would not have been available when the Pokemon first
became popular in the 90s, and it adds a sense of purpose that really connect the
audience with surrounding environment and community around them (Marketing
Interactive, 2016).
This research will explore about the extent and possibilities that a unique
brand experience in mobile gaming can contribute towards the success of the mobile
gaming product by influencing the buying behavior process of customers towards it.
Therefore it can be assumed that:
H1: Brand experience influences the buying behaviour of product or
services in the Mobile Gaming product.
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2.4 Brand Image
A positive brand image would have a good influence on consumer behavior in
terms of strengthening loyalty, giving additional incentive and reason for buyers to
buy higher-priced premium products of that brand, while promoting a positive word-
of-mouth within the community. Some marketing tools that can be utilised in forming
brand image are the brand name, colors used, logo, symbols associated with the
product, advertisements, and the emotion imbued within the purchase point of the
product and all other types of promotion (Arslan & Altuna, 2010).
An effective use of brand image can lead a new way towards growing the
brand towards new category or market, paving a new solid platform towards
successful Brand Extension. It occurs when a company uses an established brand or
product name to introduce a brand new product into new category. By applying this
method, customers who already formed an existing image about the established
brand will carry on the positive image towards a new product, making it easier for the
firm to market the product with the existing reputation of the established product,
allowing for easier market penetration and saturation. There are two kinds of brand
extensions: Horizontal and Vertical extensions. Horizontal Extension happens when
the established product name is used to extend towards the same product class or
categorically new brands, whereas vertical extensions utilises introduction of a new
extension in the same product category but different price quality and level (Arslan &
Altuna, 2010).
Nguyen and Leblanc (1998) stated that Brand image signifies the portion of
physical and emotional characteristics identified within the product or service by the
customers which includes company name, tradition, reputation, pricing level, and
quality of communication shown by the outcome provider to their customers. While
Chun and Davies (2006) projects corporate image as a several dimensional structure
of five factors, which are Agreeableness, Enterprise, Chic, Competence, and
Ruthlessness. Agreeableness represents Social trust and responsibility, enterprise
gives a measure of innovation and progress, whereas “chic” is defined as
sophistication, while Competence relates to effectiveness and efficiency in
implementing business, and ruthlessness reflects how controlling and autocratic the
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organisation can be in their business activities, which can possibly reflected as a
negative aspect in influencing the customer expectation regarding the product. A
research points out that perceptions, feelings and attitudes may possibly be
constructed by existing customer response to organisation’s strategic intent,
materialising in the corporate mission and vision of the company (Minkiewicz, et al.,
2011).
Livingston et al (2011) demonstrated that game reviews from friends or official
third party websites (i.e game websites) can generate biasing effects in the
customer’s mind, causing them to rate the quality of the game to be lower than it
should have been after reading positive reviews, proving that game brand image can
affect the overall experience of playing games. This research will delve deeper into
how brand image of mobile game products can be a vital part in influencing the
buying behaviour of mobile games.
On the other hand, Schchiglik et al (2016) argued that the gaming market
experience has displayed while the game’s brand image may initially be able to
attract customers into buying their game, it does not guarantee success. Rather, the
customer’s perceived quality is the main factor which determine the long run success
of a game, while also pointing out that usually unsuccessful mobile games were
caused by lack of understanding in the gameplay quality from the customer’s
perspective and how their needs can be met over the mobile device medium
(Shchiglik, et al., 2016).
Therefore it can be assumed that:
H2: Brand Image influences the buying behaviour of a product or
services in the entertainment industry.
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2.5 Customer Loyalty
Customer Loyalty Is defined as the buyer’s attachment and commitment
towards a certain particular product with specific brand or unique attribute,
developing into an enduring desire to stay connected towards the updates and
development of that product or brand (Chung Yu & Li Wei, 2012). Marketers strive to
improve and maintain their customer relationship management by introducing
several customer loyalty programs directed to build stronger bonds with the
customers and build towards sponsoring brand or firm’s programs. Sellers and
marketers implement their programs that promote emphasis on maintaining
customer retention and intensifying the purchase frequency (Lacey & Sneath, 2006).
Successful customer loyalty scheme usually involves a certain brand
attributed to its element of success. Brands are the vital part of marketing and
business strategy as it is considered as an intangible asset, being able to generate
wealth through strong attachment of loyalty, discouraging the action switching
brands to another one. However, the concept of brand loyalty can be a double-edged
sword with so many competitive brands competing on price in the market, as
sometime the failure of the brand to adapt towards the rising trends in the society
can quickly erode customer loyalty, causing the customer to switch towards other
brands (Mascarenhas, et al., 2006).
Pokemon Go becomes so popular within all age ranges globally due to the
legacy the Pokemon Brand has established since their initial popularity in the 1990s,
where Pokemon became popular with kids and teenagers within the age range of 10-
25 years old. Now in the 2010s, the said kids and teenagers had grown up and may
have changed their choice of entertainment, but since Pokemon have been such a
large part of their childhoods in the 1990s, the emergence of Pokemon Go has
evoked their sense of memory and nostalgia of happy childhood memories, therefore
resulting them in more likely developing a sense of interest and even trying the
product since they also enjoy to play other mobile games. The futuristic elements of
Augmented Reality and sense of nostalgia has thus propelled Pokemon Go to be
popular for such a huge demographic range in the community.
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This research aims to clarify the effect that sense of loyalty might have in
generating the buyer behaviour from customers to play certain mobile games.
Therefore it can be assumed that:
H3: Positive outcome of Customer Loyalty affects the buying behaviour
of the product and services
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2.6 Customer Expectation
Established companies have carefully considered their brand equity in
shaping and managing the expectation of their customers, as it can generate higher
consumer preferences and purchase intention (Shafi & Madhavaiah, 2014). The idea
of customer expectations management has been widespread since the new era of
modern digital frontier, with mobile gaming developers exercising the use of every
available medium and platform to communicate their intended message to
customers accurately (Penttinen, et al., 2010). Managing expectation plays a vital
part in defining how a certain product or services are perceived by both general
customers and product users. There are several approaches taken beforehand by
researchers in defining managing expectations. A perspective states that
understanding the expectations of customers is a perquisite of delivering outstanding
services, because customers evaluate the quality of services by comparing what
they expect of the services with their perceptions after receiving the services itself,
which is why a model is constructed to manage expectations effectively (Robledo,
2001). Predictive expectations are defined as the consumer’s anticipation in figuring
the performance level of a product or service, which according to Tam (2001), it can
guide the purchase decision making of customers, and may serve as a benchmark
for which service performance is evaluated during and after service process is
implemented. However, Parasuraman et al (1988) argued that the expectations that
are generated from the predictive expectations are not fully accurate and consist a
hefty degree of uncertainty, leading to suggest that expected level of a service are
formed during the service consumption. The theoretical statement from these
researchers seems to suggest that these predictive expectations can vary from
person to person due to unique perceptions each different person can adopt in their
life.
Carman (1990) has stated that consumers past experience of usage are one
of the main factors that influences their expectation regarding a product or service.
When a consumer has already had previous experience utilising a product such as a
Smartphone, then consumer will likely to have a predictive expectation regarding
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what they can anticipate out from the later versions of the smartphone, however the
same cannot be said for first-time smartphone users.
Teas (1993) outlines that there are several levels of customer expectation that
serves as reference points comparisons. People has an intuitive sense of what to
expect out of a product or service, which means that firms need a deeper and more
thorough comprehension of customer’s expectation in order to appropriately
measure and manage them. The figure below outlines the possible level of customer
expectations in regards from a customer.
Table 4 Possible levels of customer expectations
Sourced from (Teas, 1993)
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Vass (2005) surmised that business promotion is a prime example of effective
marketing nowadays, with free demonstration or “freebies” items giveaway are good
ways to promote the company’s product and generate attraction for new products
that you are about release. Examples of promotional material methods can include:
- Give free demos: This one of the most frequently practiced methods of
promoting materials for products. By being creative and interactive with the
demo materials will likely create an impression with the target audience
and will help solidify the benefits of the product with the potential buyers.
For example: a test drive of one of the new car models or products are
necessary for automobile manufacturers not to promote their items
towards consumers, but also to put the product in a test market and gain
outside feedback regarding the dynamics and aspects which can be
improved with the product (Vass, 2005).
- Free Consultations: it enables the company or person to showcase the
expertise and benefits of the product or services being offered, while
giving the audiences a good idea and impression about what business can
benefit them. It involves a pressure and commitment-free environment for
the target consumer and seller to interact and know more information
about each other, potentially developing a good business relationship with
each other (Vass, 2005).
- Organise a free Seminar: a seminar should be informative and contains an
educational session that genuinely gives the customer solid information
that helps them improve their issues and making them more proficient in
what they do, rather than filling the session with sales pitches that are
directed towards luring the customers into paying for the services. (Vass,
2005)
Therefore, from this section the research will assume that:
H4: High Customer Expectation Contributes towards buying behaviour
of mobile gaming product and services
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Chapter 3 Methodology
3.1 Quantitative and Qualitative Research method
The main Talking point of this dissertation is how mobile gaming will make an
impact in Singapore in terms of sales and profit; therefore it is imperative to gather
more data and statistical analysis regarding the usage and popularity of mobile
games in Singapore. There are two kinds of research methods that can be utilised to
generate measurable data, which is Qualitative and Quantitative method.
Qualitative research method is mainly conducted in order to gain a deeper
understanding and insight about the concept, rather than the degree or
measurement of the subject. The nature of this method tends to be sensitive which
covers the wider context of the argument, which is good at uncovering the
atmosphere and nuances embedded within the response of the participants
(Mcgivern, 2013). This method is suitable to find out deeper and more detailed
knowledge of a specialised topic in a microscopic manner, by investigating every
external and internal factor which influences a certain outcome in the research.
Quantitative research method is mainly conducted by collecting data from a
large sample group in a very structured and standardised way. The nature of this
method tends to have an objective of measuring the degree of significance based on
majority and certain responses. There are two methods of quantitative research,
which are observational and interrogative methods (Mcgivern, 2013). This method is
suitable to measure the significance of a certain topic in the study or objectives by
collecting appropriate responses from a specified sample group. For the purpose
and objectives of completing this research, Quantitative research method will be
utilised to gather and process data for the researcher, since a quantitative research
is more suitable to cover a wider range of demographic subject participants’
responses (such as the mobile gaming users in Singapore), and measures the
responses in numerical descriptive data. The quantitative online survey
questionnaire method is chosen for this research because it allows for a large
amount of responses to be gathered from many people in time-efficient and cost-
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effective manner. The main purpose of this study is to gain insight about the
determining factors that affects the buying behavior of mobile gaming products,
therefore by measuring responses using statistical quantitative data is more
applicable and time efficient, while giving the researcher reliable data about the
customer’s characteristics (Field, 2009).
There are two kinds of resources that can be gathered to measure the impact
of mobile games in Singapore, which is primary and secondary data. Primary data is
the data that is collected using quantitative or qualitative methods conducted by the
researcher themselves, and on the other hand secondary data is gathered by
studying other researcher’s resources who shares similar concept and objective in
their research.
The data in this research will be gathered with an online web survey
questionnaire. Survey Questionnaire is one of the frequently used tools for gathering
information from a large number of respondents at a relatively low cost, however
several protocols needs to be observed in order to maintain the integrity and
trustworthiness of the survey progress. Surveys also allow the researcher to test
theoretical propositions, which in this case the hypotheses are identified in the
literature review, and provide ways to ensure its external validity, and for these
reasons surveys will be used for this research (Terzioglu, et al., 2013). With the
survey data that has been gathered, the research gains insight towards the ability to
measure a more precise deduction on an uncommon study area with the purpose of
lessening cultural prejudice and bias (Perkins, 2004)
With the main purpose of this study being to figure out the factors and
determinants of why people are interested to utilise mobile gaming as their
entertainment, it is appropriate to use survey/questionnaire to obtain data from
mobile gaming users, as the information gained from the survey will be really helpful
in determining the significance of said factors.
The secondary data gathered by reviewing previous studies on e-commerce
and mobile gaming will be useful to provide additional knowledge and information to
serve as comparison and verify the validity of the primary data gathered, while other
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relevant statistics such as the usage and popularity of e-commerce and mobile apps
will serve as valid background information for said information.
3.2 Target Population
Target population is defined as a group of elements which the survey will
make subject of the research topic, they are finite by size (countable), usually they
also have a measure of valid understanding within the target of the research itself
which makes them viable as research subjects, and they are accessible for the
research to reach out and be observed by the researcher. Target population usually
are identified with some time restriction which makes them viable for research. For
this research, the target population will be Singaporean citizen who are at the
minimum age of 18 years-old or older adults who reside within the Singaporean
household (Groves, et al., 2011). The target population can also be defined based
on the current situations and conditions that surfaces from the theory being tested or
when there are concerns appearing from the policies applied, meaning that the
target population can also be determined due to the specific conditions and situation
which apply to the research, instead of relying purely on the demographics and
environments which shapes the target population (Henry, 1990).
Based on the research topic and objectives, the target population for this
dissertation would involve the population of Singapore which specifies people living
in Singapore who downloads and plays mobile games in their hand phones or
tablets. People who own mobile phones but yet never downloaded or play mobile
games in their handheld devices cannot be considered to be a target population
because they do not have the perquisites or understanding in answering the survey
questions posed by the researcher, which mainly concerns about the experience,
nuances, and emotions of playing a mobile game on a handheld device, and also
about the thought process aligned with how customer make their decision to pay for
a mobile game product.
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3.3 Description of Variables
There are two types of variables involved here which is independent and
dependent variables. The Dependent variables are the main interest and purpose of
the research, by applying the effects of the independent variable into the dependent
variable; researchers are able to figure out the significance and purpose of the
research. The independent variables are the factors which greatly affect the outcome
and state of dependent variables. In certain situations it is possible that the
independent variable may not greatly affect the outcome of the dependent variable,
proving the insignificance of the hypothesis (Leatham, 2012). The survey
questionnaire is structured with regards in measuring how the independent variables
would affect the state of research topic and its significance (Tu, 2008). The
dependent variable in this research is the Buying Behaviour of Mobile Gaming, while
the independent variables are Brand Experience, Brand Image, Customer trust, and
Customer Expectation.
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3.4 Sample Size
In finding out the correct sample size, this research has adopted a simple
random sampling method to calculate the sample size. This method gives an
implication that the variability of accuracy percentage response is homogenous from
the population, therefore a simple random sampling which allocates samples
thoroughly within the population is very suitable to estimate the sample size
(Buddhakulsomsiri & Parthanadee, 2008). The minimum sample size are calculated
using Green’s Formula (Burmeister, 2012):
N > 50 + 8p
Where p is the number of predictors
N is Sample Size
Considering the independent variables value at 4, the minimum sample size
(N) will be valued at minimum 82 respondents, with the data gathered using Google
Forms online questionnaire.
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3.5 Data Collection method
The primary data in this research is collected with a method of self-completion
survey questionnaire with online administered spread through Google Forms
software. Online web questionnaire is chosen as the method of collection because of
the wider reach it has on the target, with 88% of Singaporean households have
internet access in their daily lives by 2014, it would ensure reliable accessibility for
the researcher to reach his intended sample targets (Infocomm Development
Authority of Singapore, 2014). Online surveys are often valued for their flexibility as
well, being able to reach the intended samples with several formats such as email
invitation, email with embedded surveys, email with a link to survey, shortened URL
link which can be spread via social media, etc. in addition, online surveys can be
tailored specifically depending to sample’s demographics, language, and experience
(Evans & Mathur, 2005). Online surveys are also generally more cost effective than
having traditional offline surveys as it requires little to no physical resources to be
procured in order to undergo the surveys (Roster, et al., 2007). In addition, the online
survey questions will include participants profile and demographic questions, with
questions concerning the variables of the research to be measured with responses
on LIKERT scale from 1 to 5 to ranging from Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neutral,
Agree, and Strongly Agree to accurately measure the responses from participants.
The Secondary Data was collected by referring to various peer-reviewed
journalistic and academic literature papers available in university library and online
library resources. The researcher studies and refers to various topic-related
academic papers in constructing the Literature Review of the research in order to
gain deeper understanding of the topic and its possibilities from previous known
researches. The researcher also utilises the academic and journal articles to help
determine the accurate and suitable methods for data collection and data analysis in
progressing his research (Dunn, et al., 2015). The researchers also refers to
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demographic facts and figures available in the internet to gain more understanding
regarding the nature of its target population, with statistics to help illustrate the
nature of the environment for research.
3.6 Pilot test
Pilot testing means to find out if the survey or questionnaire the researcher
has constructed will accurately capture the purpose of the research by trying it out
first on a small number of people, in order to identify and eliminate potential
problems. Usually the pilot test subjects will also give feedback regarding
suggestions and improvements that can improve the quality and accuracy of the
questionnaire such as avoiding culturally sensitive questions, wording, and typos.
The pilot test sample size is usually small, within 15-30 respondents to test the
questionnaire (Malhotra, et al., 2006).
This research conducted its pilot test by spreading the questionnaire to
around 20 respondents who fits the criteria and specification of the sample size of
the research, which are mobile gaming users in Singapore.
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3.7 Data Analysis Method
The method utilised to analyse the collected data will be using Microsoft Excel
and SPSS software. The research will also adopt Pearson Chi Square analysis in
analyzing the data along with SPSS, which will examine the significance of how the
independent variables (Brand Experience, Brand Image, Customer Trust, and
Customer Expectation) will influence the dependent variables (buying behavior in
mobile gaming Product). Interpreting an output value from Pearson Chi Square
analysis takes form in a bewildering range of numbers and symbols, but it is fairly
straightforward and comprehensive if being processed in a systematic way. Pearson
Chi Square test measures the value of Asymptotic Significance in the variables,
which indicates whether the degree of influence of the Independent variable towards
the dependent variable is significant (below 0.05) or not significant (above 0.05). This
method of analysis testing is relevant to my study because it can accurately test the
degree of confidence and influence which an independent variable has over the
dependent variable (Field, 2009). Computer programs such as SPSS and Microsoft
Excel may display the output differently, but generally are presented in Chi Square
Tests to test the significance of the hypotheses (Zikmund, et al., 2011)
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3.8 Validity and reliability
Validity in research methodologies is defined as how accurate does the
research manages to fulfill its research objectives and purposes (Magasi, et al.,
2012). There are 3 kinds of validity aspects that need to be considered in scientific
researches:
- Content Validity: It is defined as the degree to which elements does the
research instruments are relevant to, and related to the targeted contruct of a
particular research purpose. Content validity are generally divided into two steps,
which is the development and judgment steps. The development steps consist of
domain identification, item generation, and instrument formation. While the judgment
process typically involves asking the experts to evaluate the research itself (Tojib &
Sugianto, 2006)
- Internal Validity: is defined as how the questionnaire or survey would fulfill
the conditions that the study would represent. If the environment or situation is not
relevant to the study, therefore the study does not have to consider those variables
for internal validity, which means that internal validity must at least deal with the
independent variable for the research to become valid (Steinfatt, 1991).
- External Validity: is defined as how this questionnaire or research can be
applied towards a more “generalised” situation and other people. It can only be
assessed by gaining a better understanding about how the focal variables in one
theory react with other moderator variables that are seen as irrelevant earlier in the
research methods (Lynch, 1999)
Reliability is defined towards how the operations and procedures of the
research questionnaire can be repeated by other parties and researchers which
would likely achieve a similar outcome, with the extent that assuming all interviewing
techniques and procedures remain consistent (Riege, 2003).
The research utilises the Bartlett’s sphericity test and the Kaiser-Mayer-Olkin
(KMO) index to determine the validity level. The Bartlett’s test compares the
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observed correlation matrix towards the identity matrix to check whether a certain
redundancy exists between the variables that can be summarized within a number of
factors. If the variables are perfectly correlated, then only one factor is sufficient.
The Kaiser-Mayer-Olkin index (KMO) checks if the research can factorise the
original variable efficiently using the correlation matrix as the starting point, then
compares the correlation values between variables and certain partial correlations. If
the value of the KMO test is above 0.5, then the correlated variable is deemed
significant, and if the value is below 0.5, then the correlated variable is deemed
insignificant to the outcome of the research (Field, 2009).
The significance level will also be used in measuring the validity of the
research. It determines the probability of null hypothesis being rejected when it is
true. When the value of significance level is 0.000, it means the variable is
significant, but when the significance level is greater than 0.000, then it means the
variable is insignificant (Verdam, et al., 2014).
Cronbach’s Alpha will be utilised to measure the internal reliability of the
research. The SPSS software will calculate the alpha coefficients ranging from 0 to 1
value, where the value 1 represents perfect reliability value and 0 represents the no
reliability value. The general acceptance level of reliability is represented by a
minimum coefficient value of 0.7 as a reliable value (Sijtsma, 2009).
In measuring reliability and validity of the research the aforementioned pilot
testing in the sub-section above is necessary.
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3.9 Limitations
The main limitation found in conducting this study will be about the
challenges concerning the survey methodology. One of the main constraints in
quantitative survey questionnaires are time-related constraints, where the problem
lies as the participants might not have enough time to respond to the surveys,
because being overworked or just don’t have enough time to finish the survey. Other
limitations also lie in where in a quantitative survey, participants’ responses are
usually limited towards the questions posed by the survey only, whereas in real life
situations the participants might want to share their own inputs or suggestions
towards the researcher, but unable to do so due to the structure of the questionnaire
(Delva, et al., 2002). The second limitation of the research lies in the demographic
conditions of the research, where in this case it is limited towards the people living in
Singapore, as the research itself are being conducted in Singapore, so the
responses recorded in the survey questionnaire might not reflect the views of people
around the world as a whole, as Singapore has their own set of unique cultural and
demographic characteristics, so the findings of the research is only limited to the
scope of how mobile gaming might work in Singapore. The third limitation would be
about the number of variables as they may be other determining factors that affects
how mobile gaming might work in Singapore and how it might affect the customer
buying behavior in Mobile Gaming, therefore without exploring more thoroughly
about other determining factors other than the ones listed in this research, the data
may be limited and cannot be applied to other scopes of research application (Pei-
Shan & Hsi-Peng, 2014).
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Chapter 4: Findings and Analysis
This is the section where the data and findings gathered from the primary data
research of Survey Questionnaire will be discussed and analysed with
aforementioned methods of testing processes. The online survey questionnaire was
conducted in August 2016 with a total of 105 participants fulfilling the minimum
sample size of 82 respondents. The findings and analysis of the survey are
processed using SPSS version 20 software. All 105 results of the survey filled by
participants are completely filled with no questions left unanswered by all
participants, ensuring the quality of responses from all participants to be included in
the research.
4.1 Data Description
As seen in the 4.1.1 Figure, the participants of the survey questionnaire
consist of 105 people who are 56 Male, 47 Female, and 2 people who prefer not to
specify their genders, which means that 53% of the survey participants are male and
the 44 % is female, while 2% prefers not to specify their genders due to certain
reasons. From the findings of the survey, it can be assumed that the tendency to
play mobile games has existed predominantly with both male and female genders,
with male users having slight numbers superiority within the context of this study.
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Table 5
Based on the questionnaire data on the participants, the results indicate that
the demographic age range of mobile gamers for this research ranges from 18 all the
way to 40 years old, with the majority of the 46% participants filling the questionnaire
are aged between 22 to 27 years old. Participants aged between 18 to 22 years old
and 27-30 years old complement the majority of participants aged 18-30 years old
with a total of 90 % (95 participants).
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Male Female Not Specified
Gender Specification
Gender Specification
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Table 6
The occupation of the survey participants comprises mainly of students as the
majority, taking 36% of the total participants responding in the survey, with 33
respondents listed as employee, 21 as entrepreneur, 11 as dentists and 2
respondents as medical doctor.
Table 7
When compared to the target population, the participants of the research
fulfills the criteria of Singaporean citizen with the age range of 18 to 50 years old with
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
18-22 Years old 22-27 years old 27-30 years old 30-40 Years old 40-50 years old
Age
Age
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Student Employee Entrepreneur Dentist Doctor
Occupation
Occupation
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a variety of occupations ranging from students, Employee, Entrepreneur, and other
occupations, resulting the survey to be reflective of the target population.
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4.2 Validity and Reliability
Table 8 Validity Figures
No Variable KMO Sig. Result
1. Brand Experience 0.656 0.000 Valid
2. Brand Image 0.529 0.000 Valid
3 Customer Loyalty 0.613 0.000 Valid
4 Customer Expectation 0.623 0.000 Valid
5 Buying Behaviour 0.609 0.000 Valid
In determining the Validity of the Survey Questionnaire variables, the standard
of minimum 0.5 values in Kaiser-Mayer-Olkin (KMO) test will applied to check the
result (Field, 2009). The test will take into account of all four independent variables
which are Brand Experience, Brand Image, Customer Loyalty, and Customer
Expectation along with the Buying Behaviour of Mobile Gaming as the dependent
variable. The result indicates that all five independent and dependent variables are
above the minimum standard of 0.5 (Table 4.2.1), and all the significance measured
at 0.000, therefore all the variables in consideration in the survey questionnaire are
considered to be valid and correlated with the general detail of the questionnaire.
Table 9 Reliability Figures
No Variable Cronbach’s Alpha Result
1. Brand Experience 0.611 Reliable
2. Brand Image 0.639 Reliable
3. Customer Loyalty 0.664 Reliable
4. Customer Expectation 0.749 Reliable
The research will utilise the Cronbach’s Alpha in determining the reliability of
the survey findings. The standard requirement for a given data to be reliable would
be that the Cronbach’s Alpha value should be over 0.7, with a value below, 0.07 to
be deemed not reliable (Sijtsma, 2009). However, according to Andi Field (2009), the
value of calculated Cronbach’s Alpha with a sample size within around 100 samples
can still allow the value of above 0.6 to be deemed reliable, therefore considering the
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current case of the research where the sample size is 105 people, The Cronbach’s
Alpha value threshold can be placed at 0.6 minimum (Field, 2009). With the research
criteria to be based on Field’s Cronbach’s Alpha Theory, it shows the Value of 0.611,
0.639, 0.664, and 0.749 based on each 4 hypotheses (Table 4.2.2), all indicating a
Reliable result.
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4.3 Testing of Hypotheses
This section will test the correlation between independent and dependent
variables using the Pearson Chi Square analysis. While examining the results of Chi
Square analysis, it is important to note that if the Asymptotic Significance value
(Asymp. Sig.) are calculated at the value less than 0.05 for the row labeled Pearson
Chi-Square then there is a significant relationship between the 2 variables, in the
other hand if the value of Asymp. Sig. is more than 0.05 then it means that the
Independent and Dependent Variable are not correlated and the null hypothesis is
accepted (Dunlap, et al., 2000).
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4.3.1 Hypothesis 1: Brand experience influences and measures the
Buying Behaviour of product or services in the Mobile Gaming product.
Table 10 Pearson Chi Square for Hypothesis 1
Chi-Square Tests
Value df Asymp. Sig. (2-
sided)
Exact Sig. (2-
sided)
Exact Sig. (1-
sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 31.517a 1 .000
Continuity Correctionb 29.357 1 .000
Likelihood Ratio 33.500 1 .000
Fisher's Exact Test .000 .000
Linear-by-Linear Association 31.217 1 .000
N of Valid Cases 105
a. 0 cells (.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 23.33.
b. Computed only for a 2x2 table
The values represented in the Chi Square analysis figures indicate that the
independent variable Brand Experience which is correlated towards the dependent
variable Buying Behaviour, with the Asymp. Sig. being 0.000 which is less than 0.05,
proving that this Hypothesis of the research is significant and accepted to the
dissertation, with the idea that Brand Experience and Mobile Gaming Buying
Behaviour are related.
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4.3.2 Hypothesis 2: Brand Image influences and measures the Buying
Behaviour of Mobile Gaming Product or services.
Table 11 Pearson Chi Square for Hypothesis 2
Chi-Square Tests
Value df Asymp. Sig. (2-
sided)
Exact Sig. (2-
sided)
Exact Sig. (1-
sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 19.250a 1 .000
Continuity Correctionb 17.540 1 .000
Likelihood Ratio 19.882 1 .000
Fisher's Exact Test .000 .000
Linear-by-Linear Association 19.067 1 .000
N of Valid Cases 105
a. 0 cells (.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 20.00.
b. Computed only for a 2x2 table
The values represented in the Chi Square analysis figure indicates that the
independent variable Brand Image which is correlated towards the dependent
variable success and profitability, with the Asymp. Sig. being 0.000 which is less
than 0.05, proving that this Hypothesis of the research is significant and accepted to
the dissertation, with the idea that Brand Image contributes positively towards the
success of mobile gaming products.
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4.3.3 Hypothesis 3: Positive outcome of Customer Loyalty contributes
positively to the buying behaviour of the mobile gaming product and services
Table 12 Pearson Chi Square for Hypothesis 3
Chi-Square Tests
Value df Asymp. Sig. (2-
sided)
Exact Sig. (2-
sided)
Exact Sig. (1-
sided)
Pearson Chi-Square .234a 1 .628
Continuity Correctionb .083 1 .773
Likelihood Ratio .234 1 .628
Fisher's Exact Test .698 .387
Linear-by-Linear Association .232 1 .630
N of Valid Cases 105
a. 0 cells (.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 24.76.
b. Computed only for a 2x2 table
The Values represented in the chi square analysis for this hypothesis
indicates the Asymptotic Significance 0.628 for the Pearson Chi Square value, which
points out to a not significant value as the value is more than 0.05, which means that
this Hypothesis is not proved or significant, therefore Customer Loyalty factor does
not significantly affect or influence the Buying Behaviour of Mobile Gaming product
based on the findings.
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4.3.4 Hypothesis 4: High Customer Expectation Contributes positively
towards buying behaviour of mobile gaming product and services
Table 13 Pearson Chi Square for Hypothesis 4
Chi-Square Tests
Value df Asymp. Sig. (2-
sided)
Exact Sig. (2-
sided)
Exact Sig. (1-
sided)
Pearson Chi-Square 29.491a 1 .000
Continuity Correctionb 27.336 1 .000
Likelihood Ratio 31.269 1 .000
Fisher's Exact Test .000 .000
Linear-by-Linear Association 29.210 1 .000
N of Valid Cases 105
a. 0 cells (.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 18.57.
b. Computed only for a 2x2 table
The values represented in the Chi Square analysis figure indicates that the
independent variable Customer Expectation which is correlated towards the
dependent variable buying behaviour, with the Asymp. Sig. being 0.000 which is less
than 0.05, proving that this Hypothesis of the research is significant and accepted to
the dissertation, with the idea that Brand Expectation contributes positively towards
the buying behaviour of mobile gaming products.
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4.4 Discussion of Hypothesis Results
4.4.1 Hypothesis 1
The first hypothesis being tested in this sample size shows that Brand
Experience has a lot of influence towards the buying behaviour of Mobile
Gaming Products. Brand Experiences can affect consumer brand experience
relationship positively, as customer who enjoys greater affective brand
experiences are more likely to develop positive trust towards that particular
brand. Because, when the consumer feels an emotional connection towards
the product, their relationships with the brand are strengthened and the
feeling developed into trust with the brand itself, which means when the
customer enjoys a greater affective brand experience, they will likely to
commit towards the brand (Jung & Soo, 2012). Brand Experience are also
viewed as a vital key for companies to facilitate relationships to achieve
customer satisfaction by cultivating consumer bonds (Ramaseshan & Stein,
2014)
In relation towards the survey questionnaire questions in this research,
Questions 1 to 5 relates to the hypothesis 1 as it asks the participants about
their overall affection with mobile gaming experience. The questions focuses
on how the participants would feel and react if the mobile game satisfies their
entertainment needs, leading towards a good word of mouth between
customers to possibly recommend the mobile game towards their friends to
try. It is also implied with the results of the questionnaire that a positive brand
experience will encourage customer loyalty towards the product as the
participants would gladly play the game until the highest achievement when
the game is enjoyable for them.
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4.4.2 Hypothesis 2
The second hypothesis being tested for this sample size shows that
good Brand Image positively affects the buying behaviour of Mobile Gaming
products. In this era of plethora marketing strategies channeled through a
bewildering number of medium options, successful brands can build and
maintain good relationship with their customers by establishing favorable
brand image (Cho & Fiore, 2015). The survey results are also aligned with a
theory that states a holistic conceptualisation of brand image elevates positive
word of mouth, purchase intentions and willingness to pay a premium price for
products (Esch, et al., 2006).
In relations toward the survey questionnaire questions in this research,
Questions 6 to 9 relates to the hypothesis 2 as it asks the participants about
how a positive brand image would greatly affect the success of mobile gaming
products by providing positive word of mouth which would later develop into a
good reputation by the company developers. In conjunction, where a
customer would be encouraged to try out a game by recommendation by a
friend, the opposite side also holds true where they would be more less likely
to try a mobile game with bad peer reviews from friends, customers are more
likely to listen more about what their friends are saying because not only a
sense of trust between them exists, but also the customer are aware of what
possible nuances and perceptions his friends would have developed with the
mobile game, allowing the customer to judge and measure the experience
that their friends has encountered with the product. In this era of digital
technology, internet has been one of the most reliable sources of information
for customers to look for information about how good a mobile gaming product
is, as they would develop a tendency to browse into their favorite mobile
gaming websites to look for user reviews, and if the website gives a good
review, the questionnaire findings reveals that customers would be more likely
to play the mobile game.
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4.4.3 Hypothesis 3
The findings and results shown for this sample size about the testing of
Hypothesis 3 shows that Customer Trust does not greatly impact the buying
behavior predicament of the mobile game product. With the significance
value (0.628) being higher than 0.05, hence the null hypothesis is accepted,
apparently showing that customer loyalty does not have a big impact in
determining the buying behavior of mobile game product.
The insignificancy of this variable can be cause by many factors, such
as:
- Customers may be enjoying to play a particular mobile game
continuously when they like the game, but it does not mean that they are
willing to spend money in order to continue playing it, as they would deem
that mobile game is strictly for entertainment purposes, and they are not
willing to spend money in order to remove advertisement or pop ups ion
the game as they feel it would not hinder their enjoyment in playing the
game.
- Singaporean Mobile game customers do not feel a deep level of
emotional connection needed for them to feel supportive about the game.
Some customers feel that by buying the in-game purchases and
subscribing to monthly membership they can participate and support the
development and continuity; however the local mobile game customers in
Singapore may feel that it is not necessary to make a financial
commitment in order to fully support the game.
- Channel NewsAsia (2015) reports that there was a significant
55.3% increase from 2014 in e-commerce crimes which includes online
scams and internet scams for the year of 2015. Singaporean mobile game
customer may not feel comfortable enough to use their online transaction
method to buy the in-game products offered, as they fear it would put them
in a risky position where the online credibility details may be misused or
manipulated by unknown parties, as they have not developed enough trust
with the mobile game company.
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4.4.4 Hypothesis 4
The fourth and last hypothesis being tested for this sample size shows
that customer expectation can positively affect the buying behaviour of a
mobile gaming product. Rust, et al. (1999) has stated that customers have a
probability density function that describes the relative likelihood that a certain
expected quality will be given to them, and this expectation are formed based
on previous experiences with respective mobile gaming products. Within each
transactional occurrence between the seller and buyer, customer tends to
develop a predictive distribution of outcomes that shapes up how they feel
and what to expect from the product itself, leading them to increase their
expectations shaping the preference towards products with more utility and
features (Rust, et al., 1999)
In relations toward the survey questionnaire questions in this research,
Questions 15 to 18 relates to hypothesis 4 as it asks about how a positive
brand image would greatly affect the buying behaviour of mobile gaming. The
positive reception and affection of the mobile game product can build into an
expectation of an even better game sequel (a continuation of the first original
game), leading towards a high customer expectation in waiting for an
upcoming 2nd game. Mobile game trailers function almost the same way as
movie trailers: where they represent partial clips of a game footage or film that
are shown prior to the released mobile game product as a way for game
developers to try communicating with the customers about the content and
experience of the actual product (Hixson, 2006). The survey findings indicate
that a favourable reaction of the mobile game trailer can lead towards
excitement for the upcoming release of a mobile gaming, generating hype that
would ultimately result in better success and profitability for the mobile game
sellers. Good in-game service and support system can also lead towards
positive expectation and good reputation for the mobile game experience. It is
necessary to exceed customer expectation to increase customer preference.
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4.5 Implication of the Survey Findings
The research concerning the sample size shows that in dealing with
customers in mobile gaming it is important to create a sense of comfort and
emotional trust with the customers, therefore allowing the a smooth relationship
where both seller and customer are able to achieve good understanding about what
the developer wanted to do and what the customer are expecting from the finished
mobile gaming product. The results extracted from the survey indicates that the
factors that are significant in determining buying behaviour for mobile gaming are
Brand Experience, Brand Image, and Customer Expectation.
The findings discovered from this research can be analysed and interpreted to
help mobile game developers understand the determining factors which promotes
success and profitability in the mobile gaming industry, allowing the sellers to design
business schemes and marketing maneuvers which allows for optimal results in
sales and profitability of the mobile gaming product.
Based from the findings of the results, it can be assumed that:
1. Positive word of mouth plays a very vital part in shaping the
customer perception and reduces uncertainty in mobile gaming, as most
people would more likely believe a statement expressed by their fellow
friends as trust already formed within them, it would also allow them to
discuss about the mobile gaming experience in more details, exploring
every possible nuance and feelings gained from the experiences. Wong
and Sheng (2012) also confirm that word of mouth plays a crucial role in
helping to reduce risk and uncertainty in purchase decision and
consumption. Consumers tend to rely on other people’s experiences
during the decision making process especially during making purchase
decisions in high involvement product or service. Figure 4 shows word of
mouth as a significant factor which can influence the buying decision and
moderates impacts of other factors.
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2. Mobile game companies consider an approach that would
improve security and privacy of online user data and credentials. Private
details such as credit card number, account passwords, and email are
very sensitive information that customers want keep in private at all costs,
and it cause serious mistrust should that information is misused or
exposed to the wrong parties. Companies need to ensure and convince
the customers that their information will not be misused by any means by
implementing some legal policies that would benefit the customers in the
end of every personal data form that customers need to fill. These policies
will state that the mobile game company will take every responsibility and
be held accountable within legal grounds should the sensitive information
and data entrusted to them by the customers are misused and leaked by
any means.
3. Companies must carefully manage the customer’s expectation
about a mobile game by designing a precise marketing and advertisement
that clearly conveys the game’s features and capability to the mass
audiences. It is often the case that mobile game companies demands that
their product to be taken seriously by the customers, they end up
“overselling” their products, causing the overzealous customers to have
unrealistic expectations because they bought into the hype too much, and
then when the time comes when the product is released, they became
disappointed by the final product because it did not live up to sky-high
expectations. By smartly measuring how the customers would react to the
promotion, companies can design a well-balanced marketing campaign
which would attract the awareness of their target customers, without
overselling their product, so when the product is finally released, the
customer can buy the product and enjoy the game without any excessive
expectation clouding their judgment of the mobile game. This point is
consistent with Penttinen et al (2010) as it is important to define how a
certain product or services are perceived by both general customers and
product users.
4. It is also important for mobile game developers to keep giving
the customers reasons to keep playing their favorite mobile games
constantly. When a mobile game is not updated frequently, it is highly
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possible that customers will get bored because the experience of enjoying
the product becomes stale and repetitive. Therefore it is necessary for the
mobile game developers to make periodic updates to keep the content
fresh and interesting for users to continue playing them, and possibly
introduce new optional features such as in-game purchases that could
improve the experience for users without necessarily enforcing them to
buy it, keeping the experience flexible and convenient for every user to
play the game under any circumstances.
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5. Conclusion and Recommendations
5.1 Comprehensive Summary
The central aim of this study was to ascertain the determining
factors which contribute towards the buying behaviour of mobile gaming
products. The main objective is to explore the business potential of mobile
gaming for the long term and how to maximize the growth by
understanding how people respond towards the product in the
Singaporean scene. The variables affecting the buying behavior of mobile
gaming products highlighted at this dissertation include Brand Experience,
Brand Image, Customer Loyalty, and Customer Expectation.
In terms of Brand Experience, it mainly focuses on how the
nuances and personal emotions evoked while playing the mobile game
can influence the customer purchase decision making. It explains a theory
from Brakus et al (2009) that Brand experience comprises of four factors
which are Sensory, Affective, Behavior, and Intellectual. Morrison and
Crane (2007) surmises that Customers are practically buying the
experience that the product provides to them regardless of the form factor
it allocates.
Another factor that would greatly influence the customer’s buying
behavior in mobile gaming would be Brand Image. A positive brand image
would have a good influence on consumer behavior in terms of
strengthening loyalty, giving additional incentive and reason for buyers to
buy higher-priced premium products of that brand, while promoting a
positive word-of-mouth within the community (Arslan & Altuna, 2010). An
effective use of brand image can lead a new way towards growing the
brand towards new category or market, paving a new solid platform
towards successful brand extension.
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The third factor in consideration that would affect the nature of
buying behavior in Mobile Gaming is Customer Loyalty. It is098 defined
as the buyer’s attachment and commitment towards a certain particular
product with specific brand or unique attribute, developing into an
enduring desire to stay connected towards the updates and development
of that product or brand (Chung Yu & Li Wei, 2012). Successful customer
loyalty scheme usually involves a certain brand attributed to its element of
success. Brands are the vital part of marketing and business strategy as it
is considered as an intangible asset, being able to generate wealth
through strong attachment of loyalty, discouraging the action switching
brands to another one (Mascarenhas, et al., 2006).
The final factor that is considered to play a part in influencing the buying
behavior in Mobile gaming industry is Customer Expectation. While implementing a
marketing campaign where a company showcases what a product can actually do
before the product itself is released, it causes customer to form a certain level of
expectation by measuring how the product will shape up when it is released, and this
expectation can play a big part in affecting customer satisfaction level during product
release, leading t fluctuations in customer’s buying behavior. Predictive expectations
are defined as the consumer’s anticipation in figuring the performance level of a
product or service, which according to Tam (2001), it can guide the purchase
decision making of customers, and may serve as a benchmark for which service
performance is evaluated during and after service process is implemented. Carman
(1990) has stated that consumers past experience of usage are one of the main
factors that influences their expectation regarding a product or service. The
theoretical statement from these researchers seems to suggest that these predictive
expectations can vary from person to person due to unique perceptions each
different person can adopt in their life.
The data collection method was done by utilising online survey questionnaire
in Google Forms format, which the minimum sample size of 82 is obtained from
using the Green’s Formula (Burmeister, 2012). The results gathered from the survey
research will be analysed using the Pearson Chi Square analysis to determine the
significance of each variable, while the results will be pre-tested for validity with
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Kaiser-Mayer-Olkin test, and reliability using the Cronbach’s Alpha method, all
process will be implemented using the SPSS version 20 program. After processing
the survey findings using the Pearson Chi Square analysis to determine the
Asymptotic Significance of each independent variable, it was found out that in four
hypothesis, only three independent variables actually has a significant impact on
influencing the buying behaviour in mobile gaming product.
The first major variables being discussed is how significant Brand Experience
can be in affecting the buying behaviour in mobile gaming. As shown in the Pearson
Chi Square Analysis results the asymptotic significance shows that the value of
0.000 which is below the minimum acceptable standard of 0.05, indicating that Brand
Experience does significantly affect the buying behaviour process in mobile gaming
products. The second hypothesis being tested shows that good Brand Image
positively affects the buying behaviour of Mobile Gaming products. The survey
results are also aligned with a theory that states a holistic conceptualisation of brand
image elevates positive word of mouth, purchase intentions and willingness to pay a
premium price for products (Esch, et al., 2006). The findings of the third hypothesis
being tested shows that Customer Loyalty does not greatly affect the buying
behaviour of a mobile game product, which can be caused by several factors such
as lack of emotional connection with the game, fear of e-commerce crimes, and lack
of incentives or motivation in spending money in the game. The final hypothesis
being tested shows that Customer Expectation positively affects the buying
behaviour of mobile gaming product, as Rust et al (1999) would concur that within
each transactional occurrence between the seller and buyer, customer tends to
develop a predictive distribution of outcomes that shapes up how they feel and what
to expect from the product itself, leading them to increase their expectations shaping
the preference towards products with more utility and features.
The findings discovered from this research can be analysed and interpreted to
help mobile game developers understand the determining factors which promotes
success and profitability in the mobile gaming industry, allowing the sellers to design
business schemes and marketing maneuvers which allows for optimal results in
sales and profitability of the mobile gaming product.
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Based from the findings of the results and the literature, it can be assumed
that:
1. Positive word of mouth plays a very vital part in shaping the
customer perception and reduces uncertainty in mobile gaming, as most
people would more likely believe a statement expressed by their fellow
friends as trust already formed within them, it would also allow them to
discuss about the mobile gaming experience in more details, exploring
every possible nuance and feelings gained from the experiences.
2. Mobile game companies should consider an approach that
would improve security and privacy of online user data and credentials,
taking steps and precautions would ensure optimal security of details
about their customers, and taking every responsibility should the sensitive
information and data are misused or leaked by any means.
3. Companies must carefully manage the customer’s expectation
about a mobile game by designing a precise marketing and advertisement
that clearly conveys the game’s features and capability to the mass
audiences, while avoiding the possibility of ”overselling” and creating
misconceptions about their product, which can potentially cloud the
judgment and planting bias perceptions in the customer’s minds which can
cause excessive pressure to the game developers to fulfill customer’s
expectation.
4. It is also important for mobile game developers to keep giving
the customers reasons to keep playing their favorite mobile games
constantly. By keeping the content and experience fresh for customers to
enjoy, companies can ensure the long term continuity of their mobile
gaming product and continue to reap benefits from it.
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5.2 Managerial Implications
The current research on mobile gaming can provide an interesting
insight for mobile game developers and marketers, as this research helps
explain the vital key factors that encourage the customer’s actions and
tendencies regarding purchase decision making process in mobile gaming
environment. Identifying the significant factors that influences customer’s
buying behaviour can be used as a main reference point to develop
mobile games features that can better satisfy what the customer needs.
Several findings on this research also pointed out that the social
aspect of peer reviews and word of mouth plays an important role in
influencing customer’s decision in playing the game, therefore it is very
recommendable that mobile games developer should give more attention
towards the social aspect of their mobile games, by enhancing player-to-
player interactions, giving motivation for gamers to engage in networking
features in-game, and develop a gameplay experience that produces
collective and creative enjoyment nuances so that the player fulfil both
their personal entertainment and social interaction needs.
Another finding in this study points out that Customer do not really
consider the presence of advertisement or flying promotion appearing I
game to be a distraction so much that they are willing to pay for any
features to take them off, as long as it does not interfere with the overall
gameplay experience. In fact, majority of the mobile games are generally
free to play, but the developers gain income from advertising inside the
game itself. So rather than scheming for a plan to encourage customer to
pay for a feature that removes advertisements in-game, it would be better
for developers to design a marketing plan to make their game more
popular and visible to the wider demographic mobile gaming audiences,
because advertisements provide more profit to the developer when they
gain more and more player. Actions that can be done to achieve this
includes advertising the mobile game in social networking sites such as
Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to make it easier for people to share
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their game preference and communicate easier to create an online
community between a group of friends.
5.3 Limitations
The results of the study are subject to limitations:
- The first limitation of this research could be attributed towards
the data collection method of this study, which is an online questionnaire.
This method may present self-selection bias responses due to possible
differences in each of participants’ demographic and cultural backgrounds,
which can interfere with the accuracy of responses. Self-selection bias are
also present in researches done by Pei-Shan and Hsi-Peng (2014)
- Second, this research only utilise people living in Singapore as a
sample size to construct the study’s findings, thus the results of the study
cannot be applied for generalisation to different people of different
countries and locations, as they would have different characteristics and
values compared to Singapore people. Cultural differences as a limitation
in the research are also present in the research done by Penttinen et al
(2010)
- Third, the sample size of 105 people cannot accurately
represent the holistic perspective of 5.5 million people living in Singapore.
So although the sample size in this research meets the minimum sample
size requirement of 82 participants, the more sample size gathered will be
more accurate in determining the significance value when processing the
findings through SPSS. The lack of representative sample size are also
ecident in the research done by Peltola and Karsten (2006).
- Fourthly, the lack of previous research done regarding the
nature of mobile gaming in Singapore makes it imperative for the
researcher to look for previous works of similar studies and researches
from another countries, which may not be the best reference for
understanding the topic at hand since there are cultural and demographic
implications embedded in those literature reviews.
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- Finally, since the data is gathered and filled by individuals, it
possesses a limitation of being unable to be verified independently. Which
means all the responses are taken and processed through SPSS at face
value, while there may be possibilities of respondent biases occurring that
can affect the real value of the findings such as selective memory (inability
to recall memories from the past), telescoping (falsely recalling the timing
or period which certain event occurs), and exaggeration (overly expressing
the outcome to be more drastic than the actuality of its happening)
(Steinmetz & Kensinger, 2013). There are high probabilities that these
biases have occurred during the course of this research, because the
study deals with varying degree of human memory and emotions
capabilities (how customers feel about a mobile gaming product).
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5.4 Recommendations for Future Research
There are several recommendations that the researcher of this study would
like to point out to future researchers studying about similar topics and ideas:
- First of all, concerning the limitations found with the difference of
cultural and demographic background found with the participants, it would
be a good idea to make use of interview-assisted quantitative viewpoint to
better facilitate and cover the finer details involved with understanding the
participants’ responses within the survey.
- Secondly, the research concerning this topic could do better with
a larger sample size as it would undoubtedly improve the accuracy and
reliability of the research data findings.
- The research could do better with a possibility of investigating
more independent variables which may affect the buying behaviour of
Mobile gaming products in Singapore, as there may be other factors which
may have more influence other than the four independent variables used
to measure the topic in this research
- Finally, a well-constructed qualitative research involving an
interview-assisted viewpoint would be better suited in order to acquire a
better depth and more detailed nuance about the true experience and
atmosphere which shapes customer’s perception and reaction towards
mobile gaming (Humphrey, 2014).
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5.5 Final Conclusion
It is easy to overlook the underlying growth and significance of mobile games
in the world we are living nowadays, but as mobile phones becoming more
accessible to any person regardless of age and background, mobile games has
slowly becoming a routine entertainment activity for mobile phone users of all ages.
Customers utilise mobile games either as a casual or hardcore daily entertainment
according to their own perspective’s preferences and activity. Mobile game
developers must pay attention in how they market their product so that it conveys the
image of a game they want their target customer to attract towards, while avoiding
the possibility of generating excessive expectations on their product offerings. Mobile
games have unlimited business possibilities to grow in modern era of digital frontier.
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7. Appendix
7.1 Gantt Chart
7-Jun 27-Jun 17-Jul 6-Aug
Understand the Research Problem
Consult to the Supervisor
Conduct Review of Key Literature
Extended Literature Review
Focus groups
Construct the Questionnaire
Pilot Testing
Sampling and Selection
Conduct Questionnaire Survey
Process the findings of the…
Draw Conclusions from the…
Compare the conclusion from…
Feedback from Supervisor
Submission of the Project
Write Research Report
Research Plan
Start Date Duration
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7.2 Survey Questionnaire
Dissertation Questionnaire
Dear Participants,
I am Gilbert Giovanni, a Post-Graduate student currently studying in
Edinburgh Napier University for Master of Science in Business Management -
Entrepreneurship. I am writing a dissertation about exploring the factors and
determinants that influences the success and profitability of Mobile Gaming in
Singapore, and I have prepared this questionnaire for this research. Your honesty
and integrity in answering this questionnaire will be very helpful for me to achieve
optimal clarity and accuracy in completing this dissertation. The results of this
Questionnaire will be utilised solely for Academic purposes only, and the researcher
will ensure 100% confidentiality of the respondent data.
Thank you for Participation in completing this questionnaire.
Participant Profile
1. What is Your Gender?
a. Male
b. Female
c. Prefer not to specify
2. How old are you?
a. 18-22 Years old
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b. 22-27 years old
c. 27-30 years old
d. 30-40 Years old
e. 40-50 years old
3. What is your Occupation?
a. Student
b. Employee
c. Entrepreneur
d. Others: ___________________
+
4. Do you like to play PC or Console Games (PlayStation, XBOX,
Nintendo)?
a. Yes
b. No
5. Have you ever played mobile games on your hand phone?
a. Yes
b. No
6. Have you ever paid for a mobile game?
a. Yes
b. No
7. Have you ever paid for an in-game app purchases?
a. Yes
b. No
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8. How long do you play mobile games on your hand phone daily?
a. I don’t play mobile games daily
b. Less than 2 hours per day
c. 2 to 4 hours per day
d. More than 4 hours per day
9. How often do you play mobile games on your phone in one week?
a. 1-2 days a week
b. 3-4 days a week
c. 4-6 days a week
d. Every day
10. Based on question 9, if the answer is yes then how much do you spend
approximately on mobile games per year?
a. Less than SGD 10$
b. SGD 10-20$
c. More than SGD 20$
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Questionnaire
The Questionnaire responses are measured via a 5 point Likert scale
questionnaire, with each of the points representing the expression of:
1 = Highly Disagree 2 = Disagree 3 = Neutral
4 = Agree 5 = Highly Agree
Please give the (X) mark on the point which strongly represents your opinion
or feelings regarding the question.
1. You feel very satisfied with the content and experience the game has
brought to you.
2. You feel the presentation and layout of the game is very clear and smooth
which helps you to fully immerse yourself with the gameplay experience.
3. You will gladly recommend your friend to play this game.
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4. You will buy the in-game purchases to improve your gaming experience
(make it more enjoyable)
5. You will continue to play this game until the highest achievement
accomplished.
6. You play another game released by the same company/developer.
7. If a friend recommends you to play a game, you will be excited to try it due
to good reviews from your friends
8. You would not try to play a game which have bad peer reviews from your
friend
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9. You will not play a game which scores bad reviews from gaming websites
that you trust
10. You will play your favorite game all day long consistently
11. You will pay for a feature that can remove advertisement or pop-ups from
the game.
12. You will play a game which requires a monthly subscription or membership
fee.
13. You trust the company will not misuse or manipulate your payment details
when you make in game app purchases.
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14. You trust the game company will not misuse your personal data information
for other marketing and business purposes
15. You play the sequel of the game if it will ever be released
16. After seeing an advertisement/trailer for an exciting game, you are excited
about the prospect of playing it and eagerly awaiting the game's release
17. You will play the game every day when it gives you a reason to play it (such
as daily bonuses or levels or items).
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18. I am satisfied with the game’s service and support system acting in the best
of my interest.
That is the end of the survey. The information that you have given here will be
utilised strictly for academic purposes only to possibly help the community in further
understanding of the topic. I sincerely thank you for your time and effort in answering
this survey questionnaire.
Kind regards,
Gilbert Giovanni