Why Do We Play? A Content Analytic Exploration Of Gaming Motivations From A Uses And Gratifications Perspective

Why Do We Play? A Content Analytic  Exploration Of Gaming Motivations From A Uses And Gratifications Perspective

Why Do We Play? A Content Analytic  Exploration Of Gaming Motivations From A Uses And Gratifications Perspective

Josselyn Fara Shamos

Abstract

"The uses and gratifications paradigm presents a framework for understanding what motivates people to use media. Guided by the uses and gratifications perspective, motivations for playing digital and hobby games were examined through a content analysis of 901 participants’ responses to the questions “what led you to start playing?” and “what led you to continue playing?” A typology of seven motivations identified in the content analysis is presented. The most frequently reported motivations were social, diversion, and critical thinking. Respondents were more likely to report social motivations as reasons to start playing, whereas diversion motivations were more frequently reported reasons for continuing to play. Follow up analyses were conducted to determine if and how demographic factors like gender, frequency of play and type of game played affect reported motivations. The hypothesis that men would report more accomplishment motivations was disconfirmed. The hypothesis that women would report more relational motivations was supported. Men reported significantly more critical thinking motivations and women reported significantly more identity motivations. These findings are related to Tannen’s (1996) findings on gender. Type of game played significantly affected motivations, such that non-digital players more frequently report social motivations than digital players. Frequency of play did not significantly affect motivations. Findings are contextualized in terms of uses and gratifications, and implications for future research and the digital and non-digital game industries are discussed."

Reference

Shamos, J. F. (2008). Why do we play? A content analytic exploration of gaming motivations from a uses and gratifications perspective (Master’s thesis, Ohio State University). OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. https://etd.ohiolink.edu/acprod/odb_etd/etd/r/1501/10?clear=10&p10_accession_num=osu1407511305

Keywords

Motivations, Uses and Gratifications, Gaming