Promoting sales of online games through customer engagement

• Customer engagement has been conceptually reviewed and empirically examined.
• This study probed the different dimensions of customer engagement in online games.
• Both psychological and behavioral engagement were positively associated with online sales.
• Three factors together explained 65% of the variance in psychological engagement.

With keen competition in the online game industry, game developers and publishers are finding new ways to induce players’ to spend money on subscriptions and virtual items. As the online game itself provides a highly engaging environment, this study examines online sales from the perspective of customer engagement. We propose a research model that examines why game players actively engage in playing online games, and how such engagement can contribute to sales of online games, empirically testing the model using 377 online game players. The results support our research hypotheses and illustrate the effect of customer psychological engagement on stimulating game players’ spending in online games. In particular, both psychological and behavioral engagement exerted a positive influence on online sales, and the dimensions and antecedents of psychological engagement were also identified. The findings of this study are expected to provide some suggestions for game developers and publishers on promoting the sales of digital items/goods. This study also adds to the current understanding of customer psychological engagement by identifying its antecedents and consequences in the context of online games.