Purpose – The purpose of this paper is threefold. First, this study seeks to provide a framework for, and endeavor to gain, an in‐depth understanding of the decision‐making process in relation to playing or not playing massively multiplayer online role‐playing games (MMORPGs) by using qualitative data from interviewing both players and non‐players. Second, it seeks to establish a better measure and model using an ethnographic decision tree model that describes the decision‐making process of internet users. Finally, for cross‐validity purposes, it aims to verify the model using quantitative data from face‐to‐face surveys of players/non‐players in an online gaming context. Design/methodology/approach – A two‐phase mixed method is adopted here. During the first phase, the decision tree development phase, to capture the concerns of internet users who are facing the choice of playing MMORPGs or not, qualitative‐based procedures are used to identify decision factors and organize them into a decision tree for better understanding a research problem. In the second phase, the decision tree verification phase, to test the predictive capability of the composite model, a quantitative‐based survey instrument, which represents the decision criteria identified in the first phase, is adopted for data collection and analysis. Findings – The results revealed that 14 criteria, formulated as a decision tree, were identified in the model‐building phase. In the model‐testing phase, 137 decision processes were successfully predicted and 17 predictive pathways led to a decision against the factual, giving a predictive rate of 89 per cent. Originality/value – The study bridges the gap between the research in online games and in decision making. At the theoretical level, the decision tree model can provide a more comprehensive and in‐depth explanation of the online games‐playing phenomenon. In practice, marketers can easily become aware of the user considerations and identify exactly what needs to be done to fulfil users' criteria for playing MMORPGs. And, from a methodological standpoint, a mixed method can help researchers improve techniques used in study for building more predictive models.
