Content-, system-, and hardware-related effects on the experience of flow in VR gaming

ABSTRACT

The aim of this research was to conceptualize and measure the flow experience of Virtual Reality (VR) gaming as well as to develop and empirically test a research model that explains flow experience and subsequent usage behavior. This model highlights the effects of content-, system-, and hardware-related factors on flow, as well as the relevance of interaction effects. Based on a large survey of 1,784 German VR users, the structural equation model showed that gaming motives, perceived content quality, content range, system quality and barriers to VR usage significantly influence the experience of flow in VR gaming and thus behavioral intention and usage. Age, gamer identification, and VR technology experience had interaction effects with several of these relationships. This study contributes a multidimensional conception of flow and a better understanding of its antecedents and consequences. It yields practical implications by highlighting the need not only to differentiate between self-identified gamers and non-gamers but also to consider previous VR experience and the impact of real-world circumstances in the development and marketing of VR games.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the co-editors and the anonymous reviewer. Their support during the review process and constructive suggestions contributed significantly to improving the quality of this manuscript. In addition, the authors would like to thank Deutsche Telekom AG for its support and specifically Stephan Heininger and Sonja Schuster for their input and assistance. Also, the authors would like to acknowledge Marc Hermanns for his support during the early stage of this project and thank Daniel O’Brien for his valuable comments during an advanced stage of the review process.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Reinhard E. Kunz

Reinhard E. Kunz is a Professor in the Department of Media and Technology Management at the Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences at the University of Cologne in Germany. His previous posts were Professor of Marketing and Sales at the Management Center Innsbruck in Austria, and Junior Professor of Media Management and Sport Media at the University of Bayreuth in Germany. His main research interest lies in innovation management in the media and tech industries with a focus on organizational and individual behavior and the management of digital innovations and transformations and their respective impacts on customers, enterprises, and society. His research highlights business model dynamics, proactive decision-making, entertainment science, and media and technology user behavior. For example, where entertainment science and user behavior intersect, he studies the sports, esports, gaming, and motion-picture industries in terms of service ecosystems, success factors, or novel media technologies such as virtual reality.

Christian Zabel

Christian Zabel is Full Professor for Innovation and Corporate Management at TH Köln – University of Applied Sciences since 2016. His research focuses on production and distribution processes/structures in digital media (especially online video and virtual/augmented reality) and the digital transformation of (media) companies. In his previous post he headed the product management of t-online.de, Germany’s largest online publisher. From 2008 to 2012 he was executive assistant to Deutsche Telekom’s CEO René Obermann, overseeing strategic cooperation with the media industry. Christian Zabel studied journalism in Dortmund and Brussels and political science at Sciences-Po Paris (IEP).

Verena Telkmann

Verena Telkmann is a research assistant in the field of production structures for digital media, and a Ph.D. candidate at Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz and TH Köln – University of Applied Sciences. In her research, she focuses on digital media production and media economics. In 2014 she completed her bachelor’s degree in business administration with a focus on marketing at the Institute for Dual Study Programs at Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences. In 2017 she completed her master’s degree in communication, multimedia and market management at Dusseldorf University of Applied Sciences. She has gained practical experience in online marketing of CHECK24 at Mobilfunk GmbH.