{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,12]],"date-time":"2026-03-12T11:02:51Z","timestamp":1773313371018,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"Emerald","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2019,7,8]],"date-time":"2019-07-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1562544000000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/site-policies"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IMDS"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2019,7,8]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Purpose<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Online games based on a freemium business model face the monetization challenge. The purpose of this paper is to examine how players\u2019 achievement orientation, social orientation and sense of community contribute to willingness to pay (WtP).<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Design\/methodology\/approach<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>A multi-method study of an online game community is used. Interviews and participant observation are used to develop an understanding of social and achievement orientations followed by the development of hypotheses that are tested using survey data.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Findings<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The findings indicate that a sense of community is positively related to WtP, whereas satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the service provider is not. The authors examine the moderating role of players\u2019 achievement orientation and social orientation and find that while a stronger connection to the community may encourage achievement-oriented players to pay, the opposite is indicated for socially oriented players.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Practical implications<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Decision makers need to understand that not all players are potential payers; while socially oriented users can help to maintain and grow the community, achievement-oriented players are more likely to pay for the value they extract from the community.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec>\n<jats:title content-type=\"abstract-subheading\">Originality\/value<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>While communities are held together by people with common interests, which intuitively suggests that WtP increases with the strength of connection to the community, the authors find this only applies in the case of players with an achievement orientation. For those with a social orientation, WtP may actually decrease as their connection to the community increases. These perhaps counter-intuitive findings constitute a novel contribution of value for both theory and practice.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1108\/imds-08-2018-0350","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,7,26]],"date-time":"2019-07-26T11:15:07Z","timestamp":1564139707000},"page":"1339-1356","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":20,"title":["Overcoming the monetization challenge in freemium online games"],"prefix":"10.1108","volume":"119","author":[{"given":"Ahmad","family":"Beltagui","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Thomas","family":"Schmidt","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Marina","family":"Candi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Deborah Lynn","family":"Roberts","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]}],"member":"140","reference":[{"issue":"1","key":"key2019100712125928000_ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"17","DOI":"10.5465\/amr.2002.5922314","article-title":"Social capital: prospects for a new concept","volume":"27","year":"2002","journal-title":"Academy of Management Review"},{"key":"key2019100712125928000_ref002","volume-title":"Multiple Regression: Testing and Interpreting Interactions","year":"1991"},{"issue":"4","key":"key2019100712125928000_ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"756","DOI":"10.1287\/mksc.1090.0555","article-title":"The impact of customer community participation on customer behaviors: an empirical investigation","volume":"29","year":"2010","journal-title":"Marketing Science"},{"issue":"1","key":"key2019100712125928000_ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5","DOI":"10.1016\/S0167-4870(98)00041-5","article-title":"The direct and indirect influences of human values on product ownership","volume":"20","year":"1999","journal-title":"Journal of Economic Psychology"},{"issue":"3\/4","key":"key2019100712125928000_ref005","first-page":"175","article-title":"Nonmonetary customer value contributions in free e-services","volume":"24","year":"2016","journal-title":"Journal of Strategic Marketing"},{"key":"key2019100712125928000_ref006","volume-title":"Free: The Future of a Radical Price","year":"2009"},{"key":"key2019100712125928000_ref007","article-title":"Hearts, clubs, diamonds, spades: players who suit MUDs","year":"1996"},{"key":"key2019100712125928000_ref008","volume-title":"Designing Virtual Worlds","year":"2003"},{"issue":"5","key":"key2019100712125928000_ref009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"403","DOI":"10.1177\/1555412015590062","article-title":"Why can\u2019t we all get along? 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