• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.295-309
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• 2016

We focus on two kinds of game currency in online games, Game Money and Cash Money, and investigate how money expenditure behavior is explained by experience, achievement, and region as well as how the interplay among key variables differs between Game Money and Cash Money. The empirical analysis provides the following findings. First, experience increases Game Money expenditure whereas it lowers Cash Money expenditure, which suggests that gamers substitute gaming efforts for cash. Second, achievement is positively correlated with both kinds of game currencies. Finally, the relationship of money expenditure with experience and achievement is moderated by region. Specifically the negative effect of experience on Cash Money expenditure is more pronounced in suburban areas than in urban areas. The positive effect of achievement on Cash Money expenditure is also more pronounced in suburban areas than in urban areas. The authors conclude the paper with theoretical contributions and practical implications.