title: Pleasure to play, arousal to stay: the effect of player emotions on digital game preferences and playing time.
abstract: This study investigated how player emotions during game-play, measured through self-report and physiological recordings, predict playing time and game preferences. We distinguished between short-term (immediately after game-play) and long-term (after 3 weeks) playing time and game preferences. While pleasure was most predictive for short-term playing time and game preferences, arousal, particularly for game preferences, was most predictive on the longer term. This result was found through both self-report and physiological emotion measures. This study initiates theorizing about digital gaming as a hedonic consumer product and sketches future research endeavors of this topic.
authors.affiliation: Department of Communication Studies, University of Antwerp, Sint Jacobstraat 2, Antwerpen, Belgium. karolien.poels@ua.ac.be
authors.forename: Karolien
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Poels
authors.forename: Wouter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: van den Hoogen
authors.forename: Wijnand
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ijsselsteijn
authors.forename: Yvonne
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: de Kort
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001143:Arousal; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D057181:Pleasure; D013997:Time Factors; D018910:Video Games / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult