Leveraging the Numerosity Effect to Influence Perceived Expensiveness of Virtual Items
研究发现游戏货币兑换率影响玩家对虚拟物品的价格感知，高汇率在汇率不突出时让物品显得更贵，在汇率突出时则相反，并影响购买意愿，对游戏运营商收入有启示。
Selling virtual items is one of the major revenue sources for online game operators. Therefore, the design of game currency systems is important. This research shows that the game currency exchange rate (e.g., $1 = 1,000 game currency is a higher rate than $1 = 10 game currency) affects price perception of virtual items. When the rate is not prominent in players’ minds (e.g., the rate is not mentioned or players have sufficient game currency in their account), players consider a virtual item as more expensive if the rate is higher. In contrast, when the rate is prominent in players’ minds (e.g., the rate is mentioned and no additional information indicates that players already have sufficient game currency, and thus it is irrelevant), players consider a virtual item as cheaper if the rate is higher. In the latter case, higher rate leads to stronger purchase intention of nonsocial, but not social, virtual items. Our findings show currency system design can affect players’ willingness to spend on virtual items thus affecting the revenue of game operators. Moreover, reminders of the actual monetary value of virtual items might help to reduce players’ overspending driven by the biasing effect of the game currency exchange rate.