The Effects of Users Motivation on their Perception to Trading Systems of Digital Content Accessories: Focusing on Trading Items in Online Games

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1 The Effects of Users Motivation on their Perception to Trading Systems of Digital Content Accessories: Focusing on Trading Items in Online Games Boreum Choi Carnegie Mellon University Inseong Lee, Kiho Lee, Seungki Jung, Sunju Park, Jinwoo Kim Yonsei University {nuno, linus, seungki81, boxenju, Abstract As the market for digital content accessories grows, motivation for trading digital content accessories has significant effects on their fun, transaction cost, and intention to trade and use digital contents. However, few empirical studies have investigated users perception of trading digital content accessories. The main purpose of this study is to construct and verify a research model identifying the relationships among the attributes of transaction, users perceived fun and transaction cost, and the intention to trade and use digital contents, all of which are modulated by users motivation. The research model was constructed based on transaction cost theory and motivational theory. An experiment in a real massive multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) environment was conducted and the results indicate that users different motivations have effects on their perception to digital content accessories trading systems, intention to use those systems, and intention to use digital contents. 1. Introduction Digital content accessories supplement digital contents; they include accessories for an avatar, wallpapers of blogs, and items for online games. Because they are neither replicable nor shareable, digital content accessories have more in common with physical than digital goods. As the digital content market is growing, so is that of digital content accessories, and the frequency of trading digital content accessories among users is increasing. Digital content providers consider the market of accessories as a critical factor to the success of digital contents since the accessories market is getting bigger than that of the digital contents themselves; in 2004, the volume of digital content accessories trade was approximately 880 million USD [1]. Researchers are also interested in trading of digital contents accessories because digital contents accessories are a new type of products having different characteristics form traditional goods and because trading digital content accessories among users is voluntary. However, few empirical studies have investigated digital content accessories and the trading of them. Although a few endeavors in the field of law have addressed issues on trading digital content accessories, most of them were superficial, without any empirical results (e.g., [2, 3]). In addition, in the field of e- commerce, most prior research focused on the efficiency of trading and transaction cost under the assumption that people trade the products because of the extrinsic motivation of earning maximum profit [4]. When trading digital content accessories, however, users have intrinsic as well as extrinsic motivation, since most such accessories have both hedonic and utilitarian characteristics. Though some early research investigated the customers enjoyment of shopping [5, 6], it did not study the effect of the transactions on both customers enjoyment of shopping and their transaction cost at the same time. The main purpose of this study is to construct and verify a research model that identifies three effects, all of which are modulated by users motivation: the effect of the characteristics of transaction on users perceived fun and transaction costs; the effect of users fun and transaction cost on their intention to trade digital content accessories; and the effect of the intention to trade such accessories on their intention to use digital contents. We focus on the buyers perspectives, since in most digital content accessories markets, buyers are users while sellers are the providers. Among the diverse accessories, we choose items of MMORPG because the hedonic and utilitarian characteristics are prominent, and the market of items of MMORPG is the most active. The research model was constructed based on transaction cost theory and motivational theory. An experiment in a real MMORPG environment was conducted, and the results indicate that the effect of the attributes of transaction on users perceived fun and transaction cost, the effect of users fun and transaction cost on their intention to trade, and the effect on their /07 $ IEEE 1

2 intention to trade in relation to their intention to use digital contents are different according to the users motivations. The rest of paper is organized as follows. Section 2 presents the theoretical background of our study, and Section 3 lays out our theoretical model and research hypotheses. Sections 4 and 5 explain our experimental method, data analyses, and the study results. The final section discusses the study s limitations and the implications of its results. 2. cost theory A transaction cost is a cost incurred in making an economic exchange, such as the time waiting in line and the effort of the paying itself [7, 8]. cost economics (TCE) is most commonly associated with the work of Oliver Williamson [7, 8]. Rooted in economic theory, TCE explains why an actor favors a particular form of transaction over others. According to prior research [7, 8], two attributes of a transaction uncertainty and asset specificity have significant influence on transaction cost. Uncertainty refers to the state of doubt about the future or about what is the right thing to do. The issue here is the difficulty to predict possible events that may occur during the course of a transaction. Asset specificity refers to the degree to which an asset can be redeployed to alternative uses by alternative users without sacrificing its productive value. That is, if an asset is specific to a contractual relationship, it has little or no value outside that relationship and cannot be easily redeployed elsewhere. Prior research has made two interesting observations regarding these two attributes [4]. First, the higher the uncertainty of transaction, the more that buyers perceive transaction cost. Second, the higher the asset specificity of transaction, the more buyers perceive transaction cost. These conclusions were drawn under the assumption that customers have an aim to earn maximum profit through a transaction. However, the customers often have other purposes when shopping, such as the pleasure of bargaining. For example, some early research works in the e-commerce field investigated buyers enjoyment of shopping. We claim that buyers fun is as important as transaction cost in case of trading digital content accessories, since most such accessories exhibit both hedonic and utilitarian characteristics [9]. For the same reason, perceived transaction cost, a subjective measurement which is different according to traders motivations, will be more proper than an objective transaction cost that overlooks traders motivation. Even when traders spend the same time and effort, some perceive more transaction cost while others perceive less, depending on their motivation. In sum, both buyers fun and transaction cost should be considered simultaneously in trading market of digital content accessories, and the degree of perceived fun and transaction cost affected by uncertainty and asset specificity may be different according to buyers different motivations. 3. Motivation in transaction Motivation refers to the initiation, direction, intensity and persistence of behavior [10]. Researchers classified the motivation into two types: extrinsic and intrinsic. Extrinsic motivation focuses on the performance of an activity because it is perceived to be instrumental in achieving valued outcomes that are distinct from the activity itself [11]. Conversely, intrinsic motivation occurs when people are internally motivated to do something because it brings them pleasure. Both of these motivations may exist when people take part in transactions. Early studies identified distinctive types of shoppers, such as the economic shoppers with extrinsic motivation or the playful shoppers with intrinsic motivation [12]. People with intrinsic motivation in such a transaction desire to have leisure time and have the pleasure of bargaining, while those with extrinsic motivation want to acquire some product while making minimum effort [13]. In trading digital content accessories, trading items in MMORPG in particular, two types of players can have extrinsic or intrinsic motivation. The purpose of extrinsicallymotivated players is to acquire items with less effort, while that of intrinsically-motivated players is to enjoy the process of the transaction The impacts of two dimensions of transaction on extrinsically motivated players perceived transaction costs For extrinsically-motivated players, the dimensions of the transaction will have an impact on their perceived transaction cost. Their main purpose of participation in a transaction is to acquire the items in the most economical way. Typically, they want to buy the items while making the least effort in the shortest time possible. If they think the process of trading items is not beneficial, they may find other ways, such as receiving rewards by killing monsters or finishing quests, to acquire items more cost-effectively. As their perceived transaction cost is affected by both the transaction process and transaction of the item itself, extrinsically-motivated players care about both. 2

3 Since the uncertainty of the transaction is related to the process, while the asset specificity is associated to the object of transaction, however, we claim that uncertainty and asset specificity may have different impacts on their transaction cost. Extrinsically-motivated players may perceive less transaction cost under the low uncertainty transaction. Under the high uncertainty condition, in which it is hard to predict the forward process and outcome, players with extrinsic motivation may become more anxious and perceive more transaction cost because they have to put more effort into collecting trading information. For example, in the auction, a type of transaction, extrinsically-motivated players give much effort to collect information, such as how many bidders are bidding on this item and how much the highest price will be. Conversely, under the low uncertainty condition, it may be easier for them to predict the results of the transaction, since more information is available. On the other hand, extrinsically-motivated players may perceive less transaction cost when trading the item with high asset specificity. Typically, people perceive more transaction cost when the high asset specificity condition is provided in the transaction because of the restriction of the asset [7, 8]. However, while trading online game items, extrinsicallymotivated players may think that items with high specificity are more useful because of the obvious usage of the items. The apparent purpose of extrinsically-motivated players is to gain the useful item useful with minimum effort. The constraints of items make it easy to evaluate their usefulness; thus players can decide whether or not to buy them with less effort and time because of their fixed usages. If the items have low asset specificity, players with extrinsic motivation may hesitate to buy them. They may keep comparing their effectiveness, or keep their flexibility in purchasing, because the items can be used in many ways. This procedure requires much effort and time, and they may perceive greater transaction cost. Our first hypothesis: H1: For extrinsically-motivated players, the dimensions of the transaction will have an impact on their perceived transaction cost. H1a: The extrinsically-motivated players will perceive less transaction cost when the transaction has low rather than high uncertainty. H1b: The extrinsically-motivated players will perceive less transaction cost when the transaction is under a low rather than high asset specificity condition The impacts of two dimensions of transaction on intrinsically-motivated players perceived fun For intrinsically-motivated players, the dimensions of transaction will have an impact on their perceived fun. Contrary to extrinsically-motivated players, the main purpose of intrinsically-motivated players is having fun during the transaction. Regardless whether they obtain the items economically, their concern is how much fun they have in the process of the transaction. If they cannot have fun during the transaction, they will find others ways to have fun, such as fighting with monsters or conducting quests, rather than taking part in the transaction. As intrinsically-motivated players consider exciting process and interesting object are critical in trading online game items, the conditions of uncertainty and asset specificity that are different from those of extrinsically-motivated players may have direct impacts on their perceived fun. ers with intrinsic motivation may perceive more fun under the high uncertainty condition that makes them to feel more arousal [14-16]. According to prior research, intrinsically-motivated people enjoy unexpected situations that cause arousal [17]. The pleasure in the process of trading may make them more absorbed in the transaction and make them perceive more fun. However, in a low uncertainty condition, players with intrinsic motivation may have less fun and can be bored because the transaction process is obvious and predictable, making them feel less arousal. In addition, intrinsically-motivated players may perceive more fun under the low asset specificity condition. A wider range of choices in the low asset specificity condition is a possible explanation. Intrinsically-motivated players may be excited to do window shopping of diverse items. They may enjoy looking around at various items. Conversely, they may feel bored with the items with high asset specificity, rather than stimulated, since the purpose of the items is so obvious by the limitation of asset. Our second hypothesis: H2: For intrinsically-motivated players, dimensions of a transaction will have an impact on their perceived fun. H2a: The intrinsically-motivated players will have more perceived fun when the transaction is on the high uncertainty condition, rather than the low condition. H2b: The intrinsically-motivated players will have more perceived fun when the transaction is under the high asset specificity condition, rather than the 3

4 low condition ers motivation and the relations among perceived fun, transaction cost, and intention to trade The primary goal of extrinsically-motivated players is to acquire items more effectively. Therefore, their perceived fun will be affected by their perceived transaction cost. If they think they can acquire the item cost-effectively, they may feel that they have fun in the transaction. On the other hand, if they think they are spending the time and efforts uselessly, they may feel less fun. Our third hypothesis: H3: The less the extrinsically-motivated players perceive transaction cost, the more they perceived fun. Furthermore, even though extrinsically-motivated players have fun in the process of the transaction, they may think that it is only an additional factor to take part in the transaction. They may prefer a transaction with less transaction cost to a transaction that seems more fun. Our fourth hypothesis: 3.4. ers motivation and intention to transact and their impacts on the intention to play the game For players with extrinsic motivation, trading is a means to acquire an item that helps them play better. If they want to continue to take part in trading and obtain items more effectively, they may want to play more with acquired items. Meanwhile, for players with intrinsic motivation, trading is a continuation of game playing. For them, taking part in the process of transaction is one of the ways of enjoying the game. Therefore, if extrinsically-motivated players have more intention to participate in the transaction, they may want to play the game more than intrinsicallymotivated players. Our seventh hypothesis: H7: The impact of an intention to transact on the intention to play the game is stronger for the extrinsically-motivated players than the intrinsicallymotivated players. The consolidate research model is as figure 1 and figure 2. H4: For extrinsically-motivated players, the perceived transaction cost will be a stronger predictor of intention to enter into the transaction than perceived fun. In contrast, perceived transaction cost of intrinsically-motivated players will be affected by their fun, because their purpose is to enjoy and have fun in the process of trading items. If they do not have fun in the transaction, they may think that they are wasting their time and effort by taking part in the transaction. Conversely, if they have much fun in transaction, they may perceive that the time and effort is useful and valuable. Our fifth hypothesis: Figure 1. Research Model for Extrinsically-Motivated Group H5: The more the intrinsically-motivated players perceive fun, the less they perceive transaction cost. In addition, for intrinsically-motivated players, having fun is more important than acquiring items with less transaction cost. For them, acquiring items at a cheaper price and having less transaction cost are only secondary reasons to participate in trading. Our sixth hypothesis: H6: For intrinsically-motivated players, perceived fun will be a stronger predictor of intention to participate in the transaction than perceived transaction cost. Figure2. Research Model for Intrinsically-Motivated Group 4

5 4. Method 4.1. Experimental environment We conducted an experiment in a real MMORPG, Mabinogi. Mabinogi by Nexon Corporation is one of the most popular MMORPGs. It has more than 500,000 subscribers in Korea and has been launched in Japan, China, and Taiwan. ers of Mabinogi have traded their items actively through the stores provided by the system or through the market voluntarily created by players. We used auction as a trading format since Mabinogi does not have an auction system, and thus players have never experienced an auction before. Using auction, we can remove the confounding variables, such as familiarity with the existing trading format. Moreover, auction is a transaction format that can give players both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for trading items. Among various types of auctions, we use the English auction since it is the most widely-used auction format [18]. In an English auction, the auctioneer begins the auction with the lowest acceptable price and then takes higher and higher bids from the customers until no one increases their bids. The last remaining bidder receives the items and pays the amount of his high bid. The main experiment had two independent variables with two levels (low vs. high uncertainty and low vs. high asset specificity), a moderating variable (intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation), two mediating variables (perceived fun and perceived transaction cost), and two dependent variables (intention to transact and intention to play) based on between-factor design. Manipulation check for uncertainty and asset specificity was conducted with 17 players in a pre-test. In the pre-test, we noticed that some participants did not answer the survey and disappeared after finishing the auction. Therefore, we urged participants to participate in the survey just before bidding began on the last item Participants 1~3 months Table 1.Demographic information Gender Male: 54% Female: 36% ing experience with Mabinogi 3~6 months 6~12 months 1~2 years 2~3 years Over 3 years 7% 8% 14% 35% 26% 10% 1~2 hours Time to play Mabinogi per day 2~3 hours 3~4 hours 4~5 hours Over 5 hours 20% 22% 22% 12% 24% To recruit participants, we posted an auction event article at the board of official Mabinogi site. In the event article, we announced the time and place of the auction events, which were performed every day for three weeks in May, We recruited 86 participants. Demographic information for the participants is shown in Table Manipulation To create two levels of uncertainty, we varied the degree of the information available in the auction. For the low uncertainty condition, the auction was conducted openly for every participant to see the whole process. All participants knew those who were interested in acquiring the item, since their bids were called in public. In addition, only the participants who bid on the item in the previous step could place bids in the next bidding step. For example, let s take a look at an auction for a rabbit robe (an item in Mabinogi) that started with 100 gold pieces. Suppose there were four participants A, B, C, and D and that A, B, and C had expressed their interests in the rabbit robe by bidding on it. When the auctioneer increased the price to 200 gold pieces in the next step, only A, B, and C were able to place bids. D could not bid on the rabbit robe because he/she did not express interest in the previous step. Therefore, A, B, and C did not have to consider D as a competitor. Conversely, in the high uncertainty condition, the auction was conducted privately using the whispering system in Mabinogi. If a participant sent a message to another participant through the whispering system, only the person who received it was able to see the message. We let the participants place their bids by whispering to the auctioneer. Therefore, participants did not know who was actively participating in the bidding. Moreover, participants were able to place bids whenever they wanted. That is, unlike the low uncertainty condition, a participant could bid even though he did not bid in the previous step. For example, suppose there were four participants A, B, C, and D and only A had expressed his/her interest in the rabbit robe. When the auctioneer increased the price to 200 gold, not only A, but also B, C, and D, were allowed to place bids. Therefore, it was hard to predict who would have success for a given bid. We manipulated asset specificity to control the range of product choices and limitation. In the low asset specificity condition, the auction sold various kinds of items that could be used by almost all players. For example, the auction sold diverse kinds of arms, such as broad swords, ice wands, and hammers, and clothes, such as leather robes, coats, and formal 5

6 dresses. In the high asset specificity condition, bidders had narrow choices of items, with limitations such as time and age. For example, the auction sold enchanted items, with a two-hour limit, and robes, with and age limitation from 12 to 16. ers could use these items if they met the condition, and these items were relatively hard to reuse Procedure We instructed that the players who wanted to join this event to go to the first online survey page link and answer the questions that measured their motivation for trading items before they could join the auction. We also checked their experience of Mabinogi to check to assure that a participant did not enter twice. Before starting the auction events, all researchers had played Mabinogi everyday for at least a month to be knowledgeable about the game. The most experienced researcher, who had been playing Mabinogi more than a year, played the role of auctioneer in the auction events; another researcher lurked among participants as a bidder; and two other researchers facilitated the auction events. When participants gathered at the entrance of particular dungeon, facilitators guided them to the place where the auction was held. After the auctioneer explained rules and procedures to participants, the auction was started. The lurking experimenter observed the participants as a bidder. One facilitator assisted the auctioneer by showing the items, such as putting on the cloth item, and the other facilitator recorded the winner and bidding price for each item. In each auction event, the auctioneer sold ten items. After bidding on nine items, we urged participants to answer the second survey to measure their perceived transaction cost or fun, intention to trade, and intention to play. When all participants finished answering, we allowed bids the last item Measures To measure players intrinsic motivation before the auction, we used two questions which have convergent and discriminant validity from the prior research [19]. After finishing each auction, we urged the participant to answer the online survey based on seven-point Likert scale questionnaire and measured their perceived fun, perceived transaction cost, intention to transact, and intention to play the game. Table 2 shows the questionnaire. fun was an index of three adjectives: enjoyable, exiting, fun [20-23]. transaction cost was an index of three items following Sweeney and Soutar [24]. transact was an index of three items [4, 25]. play the game was an index of three items [4, 25]. Construct Motivation Cost Trade Table 2. Questionnaire Item Code Question What matters most to me is enjoying IN1 the process of item trading. The most important reason taking part IN2 in this transaction is that the process appears to be enjoyable. It was fun for me to take part in this FUN1 transaction. It was exciting for me to take part in FUN2 this transaction. It was enjoyable for me to take part in FUN3 this transaction. Compared to other transactions, it TC1 was economic for me to take part in this transaction. Compared to other transactions, it TC2 was profitable for me to take part in this transaction. Compared to other transactions, I TC3 gave less effort to acquire items in this transaction. I want to take part in this transaction IT1 in the future. This transaction is recommendable IT2 for other players. I will take part in this transaction in IT3 the future. If this transaction is provided in IP1 Mabinogi, I will play Mabinogi more in the future. If this transaction is provided in IP2 Mabinogi, I will stay more in Mabinogi more in the future. If this transaction is provided in IP3 Mabinogi, I want to spend more time to play in Mabinogi. 5. Analyses and results In order to investigate the differences between extrinsically-motivated players and intrinsicallymotivated players, we split the 86 participants into two groups: extrinsically-motivated group vs. intrinsicallymotivated group. Since our survey questions used the seven-point Likert scale (1 for strongly disagree, 4 for neutral, 7 for strongly agree) to measure participants transaction motivation, the mean score (4.82) was used as the boundary between the two groups. That is, 6

7 participants whose average scores for the questions were higher than 4.82 were classified into the intrinsically-motivated group and the others were classified into the extrinsically-motivated group. As a result, 46 participants were classified into intrinsicallymotivated group, and 40 participants were classified into extrinsically-motivated group. Meanwhile, we used Partial Least Squares (PLS- Graph Version 3.00) structural equation analysis to test the hypotheses. PLS is a structural equation modeling method that simultaneously assesses the reliability and validity of the measures of theoretical constructs and estimates the relationships among these constructs [26]. PLS was selected to test the hypotheses for two reasons. First, PLS is not contingent upon data having multivariate normal distributions and interval nature [27]. This makes PLS suitable for handing manipulated constructs such as level of uncertainty and asset specificity. Second, PLS provides valid results with small sample size. Given our small sample size of 50 in the intrinsically-motivated group and 40 in the extrinsically-motivated group, PLS was deemed more appropriate than LISREL [28]. PLS requires a sample size consisting of 10 times the number of predictors, using either the indicators of the most complex formative construct or the largest number of antecedent constructs leading to an endogenous construct, whichever is greater [28]. Since we defined each measure as reflective not formative, and the largest number of independent constructs affecting a dependent construct in our structural model was two, the sample size for each group met the minimum requirement Measurement model The strength of the measurement model can be demonstrated through measures of convergent and discriminant validity. Convergent validity is normally assessed using three indexes: coefficient alpha estimates, composite reliability, and average variance extracted (AVE). Coefficient alpha is the basic statistic for determining the reliability of a measure based on internal consistency; a threshold of 0.70 is used [29]. Composite reliability assesses whether the items are sufficient in representing their respective constructs; again, a minimum value of 0.70 is used [29]. AVE indicates the amount of variance that is captured by the construct. For example, since the AVE of the construct for perceived fun is greater than 0.50, the variance captured by that construct is larger than the variance due to measurement error, and thus the validity of the individual items, as well as of the construct, is confirmed [30]. As illustrated in Table 3, all estimates meet or exceed the recommended thresholds. Convergent validity can also be assessed from the measurement model by determining whether the factor loading of each indicator on the underlying construct is significant. As illustrated in Table 3, factor loadings for the four constructs all exceed 0.70, and all are significant with their t-values. Thus the factor loadings indicate convergent validity for the 12 questions [31]. Construct Cost Trade Table 3. Convergent Validity Question Coefficient Composite Factor AVE Alpha Reliability Loading TC TC TC FUN FUN FUN IT IT IT IP IP IP Meanwhile, Fornell and Larcker s test [30] was conducted to test discriminant validity. This test requires that the AVE for each construct be greater than the squared correlation between the construct and the other constructs in the model. Table 4 shows the correlation matrix, with correlations among constructs and the square root of AVE on the diagonal. The 4 diagonal elements are all larger than their corresponding correlation coefficients, which indicates that the metrics have reasonable discriminant validity [32]. Cost Trade Table 4. Discriminant Validity Cost Structural model and hypotheses testing To test the hypotheses, we examined the structural models for each of the two user groups. Support for each hypothesis could be determined by examining the sign (positive or negative) and statistical significance 7

8 of the t-value for its corresponding path. The results are presented in Figure 3 and 4. The explanatory power of structural models could be evaluated by looking at the R 2 value in the final dependent construct [33, 34]. In this study, the structural model for extrinsically-motivated group explained 58% of the variance in intention to trade, and 51% of the variance in intention to play the game. Also, the structural model for intrinsically-motivated group explained 44% of the variance in intention to trade, and 30% of the variance in intention to play the game. These R 2 values were greater than the recommended 10% [35]. As can be seen in Figure 3 and 4, the direct path between uncertainty and perceived transaction cost the path was positive ( = 0.36, p <.05) for the extrinsically-motivated group whereas the direct path between uncertainty and perceived fun the path was positive ( = 0.41, p <.01) for the intrinsicallymotivated group supporting H1a and H2a. The direct path between asset specificity and perceived transaction cost was negative ( = -0.34, p <.05) for the extrinsically-motivated group whereas the direct path between asset specificity and perceived fun was negative ( = -0.35, p <.01) for the intrinsically-motivated group, supporting H1b and H2b. For the extrinsically-motivated group, perceived transaction cost had stronger impact on intention to trade ( = -0.39, p <.05) than perceived fun ( = -0.20, p <.05). On the other hand, for the intrinsicallymotivated players, perceived fun had stronger impact on intention to trade ( = 0.46, p <.01) than perceived transaction cost ( = -0.30, p <.05). Hence, both H5a and H5b were supported. For the extrinsically-motivated group, the effect of perceived transaction cost on perceived fun was negative ( = -0.61, p <.01) as well as perceived transaction cost had stronger impact on intention to trade ( = -0.60, p <.01) than perceived fun ( = -0.23, p <.05), supporting H3 and H4. On the other hand, for the intrinsically-motivated players, the effect of perceived fun on perceived transaction cost was negative ( = -0.38, p <.05) and perceived fun had stronger impact on intention to trade ( = 0.45, p <.01) than perceived transaction cost ( = -0.35, p <.01), supporting both H5 and H6. Finally, H7 was tested by statistically comparing corresponding path coefficients between the two structural models. The statistical comparison was carried out using the formula suggested by Keil et al. [33]. Result showed that the path coefficient from intention to trade to intention to play the game in the structural model for the extrinsically-motivated group was significantly stronger than the corresponding path coefficient in the structural model for the intrinsic motivated group (t = 8.94, p <.01), supporting H7. 6. Discussion and implications The main objective of this study is to identify the effects of users motivation on their perception of digital content accessories trading systems, intention to use those trading systems, and intention to use the digital contents. The study adopts the concept of transaction cost and motivation theories to analyze these effects, while focusing on trading items for MMORPG. The results from the experiment in a real MMORPG environment provide empirical evidence that there are significant effects of players motivation on their perception to item trading systems, intention to use those systems, and intention to play the game. This study has several limitations. First, as the study was conducted in a specific MMORPG, the results and conclusions may be difficult to generalize to other MMORPGs and other digital content accessories. Further studies with more diverse types of digital content accessories transactions are called for. Second, the proposed model focuses on buyers perspectives. We plan to extend the current model by adding sellers Uncertainty Asset Specificity 0.36* -0.34* Cost (R 2 =0.13) -0.60** -0.61** Trade (R 2 =0.58) 0.71** 0.23* (R 2 =0.38) (R 2 =0.51) Uncertainty Asset Specificity 0.41** -0.35** Cost (R 2 =0.15) -0.38** (R 2 =0.21) -0.35** Trade (R 2 =0.44) 0.45** 0.54** (R 2 =0.30) * p <.05, ** p <.01 Figure 3. Structural Model for Extrinsically-Motivated Group * p <.05, ** p <.01 Figure 4. Structural Model for Intrinsically-Motivated Group 8

9 perspectives. Third, we manipulated the degree of uncertainty and asset specificity only two levels. A future study is needed to vary the levels of uncertainty and asset specificity for rigor of the model. Fourth, we use the 4.82 instead of 4.00 to divide the groups into intrinsic and extrinsic. This may have made results between intrinsic and extrinsic unclear, as the groups are not clearly divided between truly reported extrinsic and intrinsic. Finally, our study suffers from a methodological limitation because it is fairly low in number and has self-selecting of participants. Alternative data collection methods, for instance stratified random sampling with more participants, should be used in order to increase the reliability of the study results. Despite its limitations, this study has several important theoretical and practical implications. On the theoretical side, we have extended transaction cost theory in four aspects. First, we have developed and tested a transaction cost model in the digital content accessories domain, in particular items in MMORPG. Second, the study has examined the moderating effect of motivation on an existing transaction cost model. Third, we have examined the effect of the characteristics of transaction on users perceived fun and their perceived transaction cost simultaneously. Fourth, we have identified the relationship between intention to trade and intention to use digital contents. We expect that this work will spur further research in examining the boundaries and extensions of transaction cost theory. On the practical side, MMORPG providers can use the results of this study to design trading systems of MMORPG. They can segment the players according to different motivations and design trading systems. For example, it is appropriate to provide a transaction system with high uncertainty and low asset specificity for the intrinsically-motivated players, while a transaction system with high asset specificity will be more suitable for the extrinsically-motivated players. In this way, providers can make better use of the limited resources available to provide the trading system that best meets the stated objectives of the selected player group. Moreover, the results that the impact of players perceived fun and transaction cost on players intention to trade is different, according to players motivation. This may help digital content accessories providers devise and design different trading systems for target user groups. For extrinsically-motivated players, less transaction cost in trading is more important than fun. For them, designers may develop a system with less transaction cost by installing timesaving shortcuts and focusing on the ease of use. Conversely, for intrinsically-motivated players, perceiving fun is more significant than perceiving less transaction cost, so digital content accessories providers may provide a transaction system that emphasizes fun factors, such as socializing, and focuses on the aesthetics of the system. We believe that the different motivations of users have profound effects on their perception of a digital content accessories trading system, their intention to trade, and their intention to use the digital contents. Such a trading system thus should be designed to fit the motivation of its target users. This study enhances our understanding of the intricate ties between users motivation and a digital content accessories trading system by extending transaction cost theory. 7. Acknowledgements We thank Robert E. Kraut for his helpful comments. 8. 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