This work project aims to identify factors that have an impact on customer adoption of cloud gaming platforms. Based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology combined with the concept of Flow, as well as further amendments relevant for hedonic information systems, a structural equation model was developed and empirically tested on a convenience sample of gaming community members. Besides the significance of price value on user acceptance, the empirical results suggest that social influence, together with a flow state associated with the hedonic motivation of cloud gaming, play a critical role in customer adoption.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Theoretical Background and Hypotheses
2.1 Industry Outlook of Cloud Gaming
2.2 Adoption of Technological Innovation
2.2.1 Applied Technology Acceptance and Adoption Models and Theories
2.2.2 Hedonic Information Systems and derived Hypotheses
2.3 Proposed Model for Quantitative Research
3. Research Context, Data, and Method
3.1 Research Context
3.2 Research Data
3.3 Research Method
4. Results
4.1 Sample Characteristics
4.2 Measurement Validation
4.3 Structural Equation Model Results
5. Discussion
6. Conclusion and Limitations
Research Objectives and Core Themes
This master's project aims to identify the critical success factors influencing customer acceptance and adoption of cloud gaming platforms. By extending the UTAUT 2 model with elements relevant to hedonic information systems and Flow Theory, the research seeks to explain why cloud gaming remains an under-utilized technology despite significant industry investment, and to provide actionable insights for stakeholders to overcome the technology adoption chasm.
- Analysis of technological adoption barriers in cloud gaming services.
- Evaluation of hedonic motivation, Flow Theory, and individual user experience.
- Quantification of the impact of social influence and provider characteristics.
- Assessment of pricing strategies relative to consumer expectations.
- Investigation into the influence of platform system quality and information quality.
Excerpt from the Book
1. Introduction
While streaming media (e.g., movies via Netflix or music via Spotify) has long been a familiar concept to most internet users, the idea of streaming video games has only gained popularity in recent years. The current principle of cloud gaming led to the emergence of the term “Netflix-For-Gaming”, which basically describes services that allow its customers to play on any device (e.g., computers, smartphones, tablets, or smart TVs) regardless of its technical specifications by moving the gaming data to the cloud (Epstein 2020). That this new “Netflix-For-Gaming” business model has a great market potential, is demonstrated in the valuation of the global cloud gaming industry of almost $1.01 billion in 2018, as well as its predicted compound annual growth rate of 27.2% to approximately $8.83 billion by 2027 (Bhutani and Wadhwani 2019).
To put this in perspective, the games market insights and analytics firm Newzoo forecasts 23.7 million paying cloud gaming users worldwide by the end of 2021 (Fernandes 2021) while Clement J., the Statista Research Lead for internet and gaming, simultaneously reports a growing number of 2.81 billion global video gamers for this year (Clement 2021). This corresponds to a current penetration status of less than 1% (exactly 0.84%), which is a first indicator for the strong future market potential and outlook of cloud gaming services. At the same time, however, this penetration status also reflects that despite the strong growth market as well as heavy investments of tech giants – such as Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, or Google – cloud gaming services still experience a niche existence and are predicted to coexist with the already established consoles and gaming PCs over the next decade (Mudrick 2018 & Solovieva 2020).
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: This chapter introduces the "Netflix-For-Gaming" model, highlights the market potential of cloud gaming, identifies the research gap regarding user adoption, and defines the core research question.
2. Theoretical Background and Hypotheses: This section reviews existing literature on technology adoption models (UTAUT 2), hedonic information systems, and Flow Theory to derive research hypotheses regarding the success factors for cloud gaming.
3. Research Context, Data, and Method: This segment explains the study's quantitative approach, including data collection via online surveys among the gaming community and the application of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM).
4. Results: This chapter analyzes the empirical data from 305 valid responses, presenting sample demographics, measurement validation, and the statistical evaluation of the proposed research model.
5. Discussion: This part interprets the study's findings, addressing why certain hypotheses were supported or rejected and suggesting implications for cloud gaming providers and future research.
6. Conclusion and Limitations: This final chapter synthesizes the main findings, confirms the importance of social influence and flow for adoption, and outlines the limitations of the convenience sample for future academic work.
Keywords
Business Model Innovation, Technological Innovation, Cloud, Cloud Gaming, Gaming, Customer Adoption, Success Factors, Hedonic Information Systems, UTAUT, Flow Theory, Structural Equation Modeling, Digital Transformation, User Experience, Latency, Streaming Services.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this master’s project?
The project investigates the critical success factors that drive consumer acceptance and adoption of cloud gaming platforms, utilizing an extended technology acceptance framework.
Which theoretical models serve as the foundation for this research?
This work is primarily built upon the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT 2), which has been enhanced with Hedonic Information Systems constructs and the Flow Theory.
What is the central research question addressed by the author?
The core research question asks: "Which are the critical success factors for customer acceptance and adoption of the technological innovation called Cloud Gaming?"
Which research methodology was applied to test the hypotheses?
The author employed a quantitative methodology using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to analyze data collected through an online survey of 305 gaming community members.
What topics are analyzed in the main body of the work?
The main body covers the industry landscape of cloud gaming, the evaluation of technical and gaming-related characteristics, such as system quality, information quality, price value, social influence, and the psychological immersion known as flow.
Which specific keywords define this study?
Key terms include Business Model Innovation, Cloud Gaming, Customer Adoption, Hedonic Information Systems, Flow Theory, and Structural Equation Modeling.
What role does the 'Flow' construct play in the proposed model?
The study demonstrates that Flow (a state of complete immersion) significantly impacts a user's intention to adopt cloud gaming, acting as a critical mediator for hedonic motivation.
Why were the moderation effects not statistically proven in the study?
The author attributes the lack of significant moderation effects to an imbalanced convenience sample, which may not be fully representative of the diverse global population of gamers.
What is the "technology adoption chasm" mentioned in the research?
Referencing Geoffrey Moore, the author applies this concept to explain the difficulty cloud gaming services face in transitioning from niche adoption to hyper-growth among mainstream consumers.
- Arbeit zitieren
- Timo Grünzinger (Autor:in), 2021, Critical Success Factors Driving Customer Adoption of Cloud Gaming Platforms, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1452704
