The Effect of Flow Experience and Social Norms on the Adoption of Mobile Games in China

This research examines the potential factors which influence users' intention to play mobile games. Through the employment of structural equation modeling technology, a research model extending the technology acceptance model (TAM) with flow experience and social norms is proposed. This research model was empirically evaluated using survey data collected from 565 users in the largest city in central China. And eleven research hypotheses were proposed. Eight hypotheses were positively supported on a significant level, while three hypotheses were rejected in this study. The result indicated that attitude and flow experience explained about 66% of users' intention to play mobile games. It was found that social norms did not have a direct effect on the intention to play a mobile game. However, it affected the attitude directly. In addition, flow experience, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness all had direct effects on users' attitudes toward playing a mobile game. The research findings demonstrated that flow experience play an important role in the adoption of mobile games.