Interpersonal influence on online game choices

• We examine online friends’ influence on online game choices.
• We use a hazard model and data on 1668 players’ gaming activities and friendships.
• Likelihood of adopting the game increases with the number of prior adopter friends.
• Close friends tend to exert larger influence on game adoption.

Several theories stress the importance of interpersonal influence on an individual’s adoption of a product or service. However, there has been little research that empirically examined how online friends influence an individual’s online product choices. This study examines the effect of a game player’s online friends who adopted a game earlier than the player on the likelihood that the player adopts the game. Two main factors considered in this study are: (1) the number of online friends who adopted a game earlier and (2) the strength of ties between the player and the player’s online friends who adopted the game earlier. Using a hazard model with data on 1,668 game players’ gaming activities and relational connections, we find (1) the likelihood that a player adopts a particular game increases the more her online friends adopted the game earlier, and (2) the influence of the prior adopter friends on the likelihood that a player adopts the game varies with the strength of ties between the player and her prior adopter friends. But the p-values of the coefficients for the corresponding independent variables are larger than the conventional cutoff point, 0.05. Possible causes for this statistical insignificance are discussed in the text.