Speaking at the F2P Summit event, which took place in London this week, cyber psychologist Berni Good said that human envy remains the main driving force of sales in F2P projects.
Referring to the results of the study, she noted that the user is more willing to part with money if he knows that his virtual avatar will cause the envy of other gamers.
Research Park & Lee was held in South Korea. According to the organizers of the study, envy is the main emotion that drives the desire of players to buy virtual goods. In network projects, gamers are jealous of what their partners have achieved. Thus, envy turns into motivation for the player – he strives to achieve the same as his friends.
Goode says that people are often willing to pay substantial money in order to be on par with other users. At the same time, customers do not see any injustice in this (in the fact that they are charged for such an opportunity). They consider such purchases extremely valuable.
Plus, there is another type of envy: the desire of users to reduce the characteristics of their friends.
Also Park experts & Lee found that many users spend time in virtual entertainment to increase their own social status and out of the game. Users are ready to part with almost any money in order to enhance their image in the face of other people.
Of the 327 men who played F2P projects, most associated themselves more strongly with virtual avatars than with real life offline. That is why it was so important for them to gain the respect of virtual twin brothers.
Concluding her speech, Goode stressed the need for new research on the ethics of free-to-play games.
Source: pocketgamer.biz