Linking gamers’ competitive spirit and in-game impulse purchase: The need for popularity as a mediator and social competence as a moderator

The video gaming industry's revenue is projected to hit US$282.30 billion by 2024, with a growth rate of 8.76% annually until 2027, and the number of users is expected to exceed 1.47 billion by 2027 (Statista, 2024). The purchase of games is now accompanied by a considerable market for in-game item transactions, reflecting a significant shift in gaming platform economics. Consequently, a large portion of game developers' revenue is arguably due to these in-game purchases (Balakrishnan & Griffiths, 2018). The advancement in online game design technologies has reached a point where gamers are consistently encouraged to purchase in-game items to improve their gameplay experience (Wang et al., 2021). Such in-game items have been recognized as prominent goods within the context of online consumption (Hamari, 2015). The perceived value of these digital assets, particularly characters and items, is a driving factor for their in-game purchases (Zhao et al., 2024). Analysts estimate that spending on in-game purchases will exceed $74 billion by 2025 (Gibson et al., 2023).

Regardless of the rising importance of in-game impulse purchases, most of the research in the literature has focused on general game purchasing behavior and online game purchasing. Interest in in-game impulse purchase has emerged over recent years, but these studies have put most of their focus on factors related to emotional states while playing games, the structure of the game, and perceptions and skills of players. For example, Ghazali et al. (2023) explored enjoyment, skill, challenge, and flow as key drivers of in-game purchase intentions, while Zhao et al. (2024) emphasized the role of cognitive absorption and the moderating effects of autonomy and competence in open-world games. Similarly, Rita et al. (2024) linked performance, hedonic content, social factors, and flow experiences to in-game impulse purchases, and An et al. (2024) found that emotional attachments, such as ‘character attachment,’ drive impulsive purchases. However, despite this very rapid growth in the number of studies, critical psychological traits of players, such as competitive attitudes, the need for popularity, and social competence, have remained largely unconsidered in the context of in-game impulse purchases.

Impulse purchase conveys a form of purchasing behavior that is unplanned, or better phrased, ‘buy now and think later’. Individuals engage in such purchases for pleasure rather than out of actual need. They make these purchases when they feel emotional, and their behaviors are usually triggered by both external and internal stimuli (Lee et al., 2023). The research that focuses on online games indicates that psychological and emotional goals play an important role in determining how involved the players will be (Hemenover & Bowman, 2018), and these are actually among the triggers for impulse purchasing (Zhao et al., 2022). In-game purchases, which often occur when players are emotionally immersed in the game, are frequently regarded as impulsive and irrational (An et al., 2024).

In online video games, the need to win and show off in-game items as a display of social status compels players to spend money (Tamás et al., 2024). Research suggests that competitive attitudes directly influence how players measure success and, in turn, affect their likelihood of buying in-game items to demonstrate their accomplishments (Huang et al., 2024). It is also well known that gamers become more engaged and play longer in games when they are presented with competition (Harris et al., 2022), and this could perhaps trigger their buying tendencies (Balakrishnan & Griffiths, 2018; Jiao et al., 2022). However, while competition is known to motivate behaviors that target acquiring in-game items (Ghazali et al., 2023; Liao et al., 2020), psychological drivers for in-game impulse purchases remain largely unexplored and are the main purpose of this paper.

Exploring this gap could show how competitive attitudes and the need for popularity drive in-game impulse purchases, providing a clearer understanding of consumer motivations within digital environments. Accordingly, this study aims to answer the following research question:

RQ How do gamers' psychological factors, such as competitive attitudes, the need for popularity, and social competence, affect in-game impulse purchases?

This study also considers the possibility that other factors may mediate the relationship between competitive attitudes and in-game impulse purchases. Specifically, given the relationship between competitive attitudes and the desire to be liked by others, this study incorporates the need for popularity into the research model as a mediator and social competence as a moderator. While the need for popularity has previously been linked to impulse buying in the context of fashion products (Cengiz, 2017), it has not been examined in relation to video game purchases. Players may be motivated to buy certain in-game content to become or remain popular, and this behavior could vary based on their level of social competence, which reflects their ability to navigate social interactions successfully.

To better understand how competitive attitudes, the need for popularity, and social competence influence in-game impulse purchases, this research draws on two theoretical perspectives: social comparison theory (Festinger, 1954) and self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985).

Accordingly, this paper is organized as follows: (1) we review the literature and present the hypotheses; (2) we describe the methodology we used to evaluate the measurement and structural models; (3) we discuss our results in light of previous findings; and (4) we provide strategic recommendations for further study and real-world applications in the video game industry.