The Impact of Social Network Embeddedness On Mobile Massively Multiplayer Online Games Play

Received: 10 November 2021 Revised: 13 September 2023 Accepted: 30 September 2023
DOI: 10.1111/isj.12479
RESEARCH ARTICLE
The impact of social network embeddedness on

mobile massively multiplayer online games play
Mingchuan Gong 1 | Christian Wagner 2 | Ahsan Ali 3
1
School of Economics and Management,
Nanjing University of Science and Abstract
Technology, Nanjing, China Social factors play a critical role in motivating player
2
School of Creative Media, City University of participation and commitment to online multiplayer games.
Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
3
Many popular mobile massively multiplayer online games
School of Economics and Management,
Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, (MMOGs) adopt social network embeddedness (SNE) func-
Hangzhou, China tions to optimise players' social play experience. SNE
Correspondence
changes the traditional pattern of MMOG social play by
Mingchuan Gong, School of Economics and porting acquaintance relationships (e.g., Facebook friends)
Management, Nanjing University of Science
and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China.
from social networking sites to the virtual game world.
Email: gmc1994@mail.ustc.edu.cn However, little understanding exists on how SNE impacts
mobile MMOG players' game participation results such as
Funding information
National Natural Science Foundation of China, play performance and play frequency. Drawing on the
Grant/Award Number: 72301138; Centre for
affordance framework and social capital literature, this
Applied Computing and Interactive Media,
City University of Hong Kong, Grant/Award research proposes a theoretical model that integrates the
Number: 9678312
factors of SNE technology affordance (identity transparency
and information transparency), players' social experience
(social interaction, social support, shared vision, and social
pressure), plus affordance effects (play performance and
play frequency). The model was validated through a longitu-
dinal field study, in which both subjective and objective
data were collected from Game for Peace players. Our find-
ings indicate that identity transparency and information
transparency positively correlate with social interaction,
social support, shared vision, and social pressure, which,
taken together, significantly affect play frequency. The
results also show that social interaction and shared vision
positively impact players' play performance. The study
enhances the theoretical understanding of social relation-
ships in players' game participation results from the SNE
Inf Syst J. 2024;34:327–363. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/isj © 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 327
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328 GONG ET AL.
aspect. Finally, we lend insights on how game operators can

improve player game experience and stickiness.
KEYWORDS
affordance, massively multiplayer online games, mobile games,
social capital, social network embeddedness
1 | I N T RO DU CT I O N
Competition in the mobile game market is fierce, given the many new mobile games released daily. Statistics show that
the lifespan of a mobile game is decreasing, with 77% of players discontinuing mobile game play within 3 days
(Bratuskins, 2018). In addition, less than 5% of players spend real money on in-app purchases (Knezovic, 2022). Mobile
games thus face a difficult challenge in increasing user stickiness and commitment. Against this background, massively
multiplayer online games (MMOGs), such as Player Unknown's Battlegrounds Mobile, Honour of King (HOK), and Game
for Peace (GFP), have become one of the most popular and successful mobile game genres (Data.ai, 2021). Statistics
show that over half of mobile games in the ranks of the top ten, based on monthly active users and consumer spending,
are MMOGs (Data.ai, 2021). To illustrate, HOK achieved 100 million daily active players and 225 million US dollar reve-
nue in February 2022 (Rvgamepc, 2022). An understanding of how mobile MMOGs motivate players to commit to the
virtual game world is therefore highly valuable to better understand the dynamics of mobile game success.
Previous information systems (IS) research has noted the crucial motives of hedonic factors including enjoyment,
relaxation, and escapism on players' game commitment (Lowry et al., 2012; Merikivi et al., 2017). Besides, social factors
are also known as essential motivators for online multiplayer games (Gong et al., 2019; Hamari & Keronen, 2017),
especially for MMOGs (Chen et al., 2016; Gong et al., 2023; Li & Suh, 2021). IS scholars have recognised the value of
encouraging players to build relationships in the virtual game world in order to enhance user stickiness, considering its
separateness from reality (Hamari & Keronen, 2017; Setterstrom & Pearson, 2010). Social ties with other players affect
a player's emotional connection to the game (Jin et al., 2017) and act as a relational switching cost (Hsiao &
Chiou, 2012). To improve player socialisation experience, game operators have taken numerous measures, such as
enriching in-game social roles and relationships including mentoring and couple relationships (Liu, 2019); optimising
communication tools including sending voice messages and refining chat channels (Meng et al., 2015). However, the
social ties with other players in the virtual game world are often fragile (Camarero et al., 2021; Ducheneaut
et al., 2006), especially when players change their avatar names or stop playing for a period of time.
Many mobile MMOGs including Player Unknown's Battlegrounds Mobile, HOK, and GFP have chosen to adopt
social network embeddedness (SNE), thereby incorporating social networking site (SNS) social relationships into the
game world. SNE refers to how the partner platform makes use of SNS users' social connections (e.g., WeChat and
Facebook friends) and integrates them into the platform (Grange, 2018; Huang, Hong, & Burtch, 2017). Typically,
most SNS friends are also friends in the real world (Argyris & Xu, 2016; Utz, 2015). SNE affords players to recognise
their SNS friends' identity and view their various game details when they play the same game (see Appendix A). Since
players prefer to team up with acquaintances (Gao & Shih, 2018; Li & Suh, 2021; Zeng et al., 2019), SNE hence facili-
tates social play with SNS friends (Gong et al., 2019) within the confrontational structure of most MMOGs. Mean-
while, the existing IS game literature assumes that players develop social relationships with ‘generic others’ or
community members they meet in the virtual game world (see Appendix B). The literature rarely makes distinctions
based on the strength of players' relationships or whether these social ties were preexisting, thereby limiting our
understanding of social relations in the game domain. SNE essentially changes the traditional pattern of social play in
online multiplayer games. It integrates the preexisting friendships into the game world and enables players to access
the acquaintance relationships that facilitate social play with SNS friends. Against this background, we raise the
GONG ET AL. 329
following research questions to guide our theoretical and empirical inquiries: What are the positive and negative
effects of SNE on the mobile MMOG player game experience? How does SNE impact mobile MMOG game
participation results such as play frequency and play performance?
To address these questions, this research employs the affordance framework to reveal the underlying mecha-
nism of how SNE impacts players' social experience and game participation. SNE technology affordance is embodied
in two types of visibility: information transparency and identity transparency. Through the technical features of SNE,
mobile MMOG players can directly recognise their SNS friends who play the same game. Players can also observe a
substantial amount of game information about their SNS friends such as their game conditions (e.g., online, in fight-
ing, or offline), online records (e.g., recent online time), and game rank,1 among others. The affordance ‘arises from a
relation between an IT artifact and perceptions thereof by goal oriented actor(s)’ (Ostern & Rosemann, 2021, p. 11).
In the intensively competitive MMOG battleground, players adopt SNE to play with SNS friends to ensure the effi-
ciency of communication and coordination in the battle (Donaldson, 2017), which is beneficial to team combat and
performance. We employ social capital theory to explain the interaction outcomes of players who adopt SNE to
improve team play (i.e., actors' goal) and SNE technology affordance (i.e., information transparency and identity
transparency). Additionally, with SNE in place, players teaming up with SNS friends can have more social interaction
and social support, as well as stronger awareness of shared vision in team confrontation. Yet playing with acquain-
tances also brings more social pressure which would negatively impact the game experience (Hong et al., 2018).
Social capital thus is expected to have both positive and negative impacts on players.
We consider two types of players' game participation results (i.e., play frequency and play performance) as
affordance effects. Play frequency and play performance are closely related to player commitment in the game
(Hamari et al., 2020; Wang, Sun, & Luo, 2022). On the one hand, a player playing the game frequently indicates
her/her loyalty and stickiness to the game. On the other hand, ‘playing to win’ has been regarded as a primary orien-
tation for players to play MMOGs (Wang, Sun, & Luo, 2022). With the intensively competitive nature of the MMOG
game type, it is vital for players to achieve better performance and higher ranks in the virtual game world. This study
collected both subjective and objective data from 236 GFP players to validate the research model. The objective
data for the dependent variables (DVs) was collected 2 months after gathering the subjective data for the
antecedents to better examine causality.
This research contributes to the growing body of IS research by investigating the impact of SNE functions on
mobile MMOG players' social play and game participation results. We contextualise the affordance framework
through integrating SNE technology features, players' goal of social play, an intensively competitive MMOG environ-
ment, and participation results into the affordance framework. Social capital theory is adopted to articulate the inter-
action outcomes of SNE technologies and MMOG players. The study validates the different dimensions of social
capital including social interaction, shared vision, and social support as the positive impacts of SNE functions on
players' social play. Social pressure is identified as the side effect of SNS social resources. The research therefore
contributes to the social capital literature by providing a comprehensive perspective that considers the positive and
negative effects of social capital on MMOG gameplay experience. The research also offers several practice contribu-
tions that can help game developers enhance the social experience and drive the growth of player commitment.
2 | T H E O R E T I C A L BA C K G R O U N D
2.1 | Mobile massively multiplayer online games play
MMOGs refer to a type of videogame that allows a large number of players to participate simultaneously over an
Internet connection in a virtual immersive environment (Putzke et al., 2010). “Massively” is defined as a fundamental
1
Eight different game ranks from low to high are identified as: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Crown, Ace, and Conqueror.
330 GONG ET AL.
architecture shift required to support tens of thousands of concurrent players on the shared game server. ‘Multi-
player’ denotes the battle unit in the game normally as squad or team-based, with several to dozens of players con-
sisting of a squad. Social play is a salient feature of MMOGs. Squad members play different roles in MMOGs. An
example would be the several roles such as Marksman, Support, and Fighter, to name a few, in League of Legends
(Tanuar et al., 2018). To defeat the opponent, a player needs to team up with ‘ideal’ squad members who not only
possess excellent play skills but also a strong awareness of cooperation and communication with others while
engaged in a fierce battle. In addition, mobile MMOG means that the MMOG is developed for mobile devices such
as smartphones or tablet computers.
There are different types of MMOGs, such as role-playing games (MMORPG), first/third-person shooting games
(F/T PS), and multiplayer online battle arenas (MOBA), among others (Putzke et al., 2010). Previously, the MMOG
was often considered as MMORPG which features a persistent open world, storyline, and massive players appearing
in the same game scenario. MOBA, such as League of Legends and DOTA 2; Battle Royale games or F/T PS, such as
Player Unknown's Battleground and GFP, have recently been considered as MMOGs (Ballard & Welch, 2017; Lebres
et al., 2018; Ma et al., 2019; Marino et al., 2020). For instance, Gong et al. (2023) noted that GFP (F/T PS) and HOK
(MOBA) are the two most popular MMOGs on the game live streaming platforms in China. Meanwhile, MMOG con-
tinues as an evolving term that will surely include new features.2 Games with small sessions such as four-against-four
(4V4) or 5V5 matches, enable thousands of players to fight simultaneously on the shared server, often allowing for a
classification as MMOG.3
Players' play frequency and play performance are two salient game participation results in MMOGs (Hamari
et al., 2020; Wang, Sun, & Luo, 2022). Play frequency, as the indicator of the quantity of player participation, reflects
the retention rate of the game (Chang et al., 2014). It is an extremely reliable metric for determining a game applica-
tion's attractiveness over a period of time, as well as its viability for the future. How to increase players' game fre-
quency or continuance play has always been a major concern for IS literature and game practitioners (Fu et al., 2017;
Li & Suh, 2021). MMOGs are most associated with competition. Playing to win is considered as the primary
orientation for players, who enjoy the process of defeating others or ‘winning’ the game combat (Kaye &
Pennington, 2016; Wang, Sun, & Luo, 2022). Play performance is regarded as the proxy for the quality of player par-
ticipation (Camarero et al., 2021; Wang et al., 2023). Players who experience low-gameplay quality because of poor
game skills, distraction during playing the game, and lack of cooperation between teammates, which leads to
poor game performance. To achieve better performance and higher ranks, players are willing to purchase in-game
items (Wang, Sun, & Luo, 2022), choose strong-tie teammates to coordinate (Donaldson, 2017), and improve game
skills (Badrinarayanan et al., 2015) to gain competitive advantage. Play performance hence is closely linked with
players' money consumption, time allocation, and emotional commitment to the game.
Prior IS game studies mainly employed perceptual or self-reported measures to assess play frequency and play
performance (e.g., Badrinarayanan et al. (2015); Ko and Park (2020)), which could be more susceptible to social desir-
ability bias than objective data (Phang et al., 2014). To avoid bias, this research hence explores the antecedents of
the two patterns of participation results using objective data for measurements (see Appendix C). We count the
number of matches (i.e., play frequency) that a player has finished and the numerical score (i.e., play performance)
that a player has achieved in a game season.
2.2 | The affordance framework
Affordance refers to possibilities for action offered to an individual by an object (Volkoff & Strong, 2013). The
affordance is relational and depends on the relation between an actor's goals, the material properties of a
2
https://mmos.com/editorials/what-defines-an-mmo
3
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massively_multiplayer_online_game
GONG ET AL. 331
technology, and the context in which the technology is used (Fayard & Weeks, 2014). Prior IS literature has adopted
the affordance theory in game research and noted that ‘affordance provides an analytical link between the techno-
logical features of mobile games and the gamer experience’ (Wang, Sun, & Luo, 2022, p. 1100). ‘The concept of
affordance is powerful as long as we consider a specific user with certain needs and practices within a certain socio-
cultural context rather than a ‘generic user’’ (Fayard & Weeks, 2014, p. 244). We adopt the affordance perspective
to frame our research by illuminating the situation of MMOG players employing SNE functions to improve their
social experience based on the social capital from their SNS network.
2.2.1 | SNE technology affordance
The emerging SNE functions have been applied by many platforms and applications. SNE enables a partner platform
to access and make use of SNS (e.g., Facebook and WeChat) profile information, including the user's name and social
connections (Huang, Hong, & Burtch, 2017). Players' gaming platform identity and social network identity thus
become intertwined. When users then use their SNS account to log into the partner platform, the SNE makes the
identity and gaming activities of their SNS friends visible. In the game domain, many popular mobile MMOGs, such
as Player Unknown's Battlegrounds Mobile, HOK, and GFP, collaborate with SNS platforms and adopt SNE functions
to enrich players' social activities. To illustrate, when players use their WeChat account to log in to GFP, they can
directly observe how many of their WeChat friends also play GFP. The WeChat friends' list is embedded in the game
social system. WeChat friends' profile photos (i.e., SNS avatar) are consistent with their game profile photos. Players'
WeChat names are shown in brackets near the right side of their game name. Consequently, a GFP player's identity
is visible to their WeChat friends who play the same game. Moreover, players can also see their SNS friends' game
information such as online records, game ranks, play history, and performance in a battle. Appendix A shows the visi-
bility afforded by the SNE in the GFP game system.
Visibility is known as an essential distinctive social media affordance (Leidner et al., 2018; Treem &
Leonardi, 2013). Karahanna et al. (2018) pointed out that social media offers the visibility affordance to connect with
others and fulfil people's psychological need for relatedness. Social media enables users to express their personal
information (e.g., details of daily life and preferences) and communication network connections that were once invis-
ible visible to others (Wong et al., 2021). The visibility functions of social media have been previously emphasised in
the IS literature in other contexts including enterprise social media in organisations (Leonardi, 2015), social network
integration in online reviews (Huang, Hong, & Burtch, 2017), or in cyberbullying behaviour (Wong et al., 2021).
The visibility enabled by social media is embodied by two dimensions: content visibility and network visibility
(Chen, Wei, & Rice, 2020; Leonardi, 2014, 2015). Content visibility refers to the social media that allows visibility of
communication messages or information by its users. For instance, organisations adopt enterprise social media which
enables employees to notice their colleagues' communication information and work assignments (Leonardi, 2014).
Network visibility is understood as social media that affords users the ability to make their social identity and com-
munication networks viewable and public to others (Chen, Wei, & Rice, 2020). For instance, SNE offers TripAdvisor
users to identify their Facebook friends who also use the application in the “Your Facebook Friends” taskbar and
know their friends' travel information (Huang, Hong, & Burtch, 2017). In this research, we propose information trans-
parency and identity transparency to represent the two dimensions of visibility afforded by SNE. Information
transparency, which represents the dimension of content visibility, pertains to SNE that enables players to see their
SNS friends' different types of game information (e.g., login information, game performance, game ranks, etc.). Iden-
tity transparency, as the proxy of network visibility, refers to SNE that affords players to recognise the identity of
their SNS friends who play the same game. Information transparency and identity transparency embody the visibility
afforded by the SNE function in the mobile MMOG social system.
The focus of IS affordance research mainly lies in the technology features of IT artefacts (Leidner et al., 2018;
Strong et al., 2014). Increasingly, IS studies have criticised the interpretation of affordance as technology
332 GONG ET AL.
TABLE 1 Social media affordance in information systems literature
Interaction outcomes
Technology functions of of social media and Social media
Contexts social media affordance users affordance effects Sources
Live Streaming Profile building, connectivity — Viewer engagement Zhao et al. (2021)
Platforms: and interactivity
Twitch.tv
Live-streaming Synchronous communication — Impulsive purchase Wang, Luo, et al.
e-commerce and real-time visibility (2022)
New York Times ‘Likes,’ ‘comments’ — The major opinion Lee et al. (2018)
Facebook page formation process
Twitter in Connectivity, interactivity Make sense of rumour Reduce uncertainty Mirbabaie et al.
Emergency and content sharing during the (2021)
Situations emergency
Enterprise social Visibility — Team boundary Van Osch and
media in spanning Steinfield (2016)
organisations
Cyberbullying on Accessibility, visibility, — Social networking Chan et al. (2019)
social networking editability and association sites bullying
sites
Enterprise social Visibility — Employee agility Zhu et al. (2021)
media on
employee agility
Enterprise social Interactivity, organisational Build relationships with Socialisation Leidner et al.
media in visibility and information peers and help peers (2018)
organisations sharing
Facebook for Supportiveness and Self-presentation and Career development Jang et al. (2016)
self-efficacy frequency of observation social relatedness self-efficacy
development
determinism and suggested that ‘researchers must take into account users' goals and context, not only their ‘use’ of
technology, to properly interpret and predict outcomes from technology use’ (Argyris & Xu, 2016, p. 923). We
review relevant IS literature of social media affordance shown in Table 1 and find that the majority of relevant litera-
ture mainly emphasises the technology functions of affordance. A literature review study of affordance also noted
‘the lack of contribution on affordance actualization and effect’ (Pozzi et al., 2014, p. 10). Affordance is a process
rather than a state (Ostern & Rosemann, 2021). To avoid technology determinism in understanding affordance, it is
imperative to consider the process mechanism of affordance which denotes how users act to the attributes of an IT
artefact with clear goals and the interaction outcomes of users and the IT artefact in a particular context (Argyris &
Xu, 2016; Faraj & Azad, 2012).
2.2.2 | The interaction outcomes of players and SNE
Most SNS friends are also friends in the real world (Argyris & Xu, 2016; Utz, 2015). Previous game literature argued
that playing with acquaintances leads to high levels of satisfaction (Setterstrom & Pearson, 2019) and good perfor-
mance (Donaldson, 2017). Lee et al. (2021) indicated that when a player takes advantage of game affordances to
achieve a specific goal, game affordances are actualized. SNE makes players' identity and game information visible
to all SNS friends who play the same game. A player, therefore, utilises SNE functions to team up with SNS friends
to achieve better performance and to increase the joy of gameplay.
GONG ET AL. 333
The outcome of interaction between actors and technology is the actualization of affordance (Ronzhyn et al.,
2023). Under the influence of SNE, the social capital from SNS exerts a salient impact on MMOG players' social
experience. Social capital refers to ‘those resources (both actual and potential) derived through an individual's net-
work of relationships’ (Cummings & Dennis, 2018, p. 699). It evaluates how embedded an individual is in their social
structure and the resources that an individual can access or mobilise for action (Cummings & Dennis, 2018;
Nahapiet & Ghoshal, 1998). Social capital lies in the social relations: ‘(1) the opportunities provided by the network
structure of those relations, (2) the norms and values that constitute the content of those social network ties and
give them their motivational force, and (3) the abilities at each of the nodes of this network that can be mobilized by
such goodwill’ (Kwon & Adler, 2014, p. 413).
In this study, firstly, SNE integrates the SNS network into the MMOG social systems and makes it visible to peo-
ple in the network structure, which offers opportunities for them to meet in the game and team up in the battle-
ground. Secondly, SNS connects acquaintances and semi-acquaintances in social media. Compared with strangers,
these connected players are more willing to communicate and share with their SNS friends which generates more
hedonic and social value (Williams, 2019). Players teaming up with SNS friends ensure the efficiency of communica-
tion and coordination in the MMOG battleground (Donaldson, 2017), which significantly impacts game performance.
Players hence are motivated to play with SNS friends. Thirdly, players playing with acquaintances will perform
socially desirable behaviours (Li et al., 2020; Luo, 2005). In this situation, driven by the SNS friendships, squad mem-
bers treat the game more seriously and put more effort into the competition to win the battle (Li & Suh, 2021). This
study therefore adopts social capital theory to explain the interaction outcomes of players who take the advantage
of SNE functions to engage with SNS friends which have a salient impact on their social experience.
Social capital theory is employed to explain how people interact with each other in social networks to obtain
psychological, tangible, or intangible benefits (Yen et al., 2020). The SNS network as a vital social capital facilitates
communication, interaction, and collaboration among SNS friends in the game. Social capital consists of three dimen-
sions: structural, cognitive, and relational (Sun et al., 2012). Structural capital is “the overall pattern of connections
between actors, that is, who you reach and how you reach them” (Nahapiet & Ghoshal, 1998, p. 244). It is generated
by the structure of the social network and the interactions among actors, including the frequency and familiarity of
communication. Cognitive capital refers to a common context that increases understanding among people represen-
ted by shared language, vision, and goals (Nahapiet & Ghoshal, 1998). Cognitive capital highlights the shared vision
predicated on a common language, shared meanings, and an understanding of values and goals among the people
within the network (Kumar et al., 2020). Relational capital pertains personal relationships between people that arise
from interpersonal contacts such as respect, support, and trust (Nahapiet & Ghoshal, 1998). It influences individual
behaviour by improving communication willingness and achieving group goals by helping each other (Pai &
Tsai, 2016).
A player's relationships with other players randomly assigned by the game matching system or guild members
met only in the virtual world are often fragile (Ducheneaut et al., 2006; Nardi & Harris, 2006). Given the SNE func-
tions, people can easily form a premade squad with SNS friends. Compared with solo matchmaking, individuals
playing with SNS friends will communicate more frequently, support and trust each other more (Li & Suh, 2021). The
social benefits from SNS networks are embodied through three dimensions of social capital. Most salient among
the factors of the structural dimension is social interaction (Lefebvre et al., 2016). Social interaction in this research
describes players' perceptions relating to the familiarity and frequency of communication with SNS friends. The
shared vision is one of the most typical constructs to represent cognitive capital (Kumar et al., 2020; Moser &
Deichmann, 2020). We define shared vision as the collective goals and aspirations of SNS friends in the squad to win
a battle. When a player fights with SNS friends, the friendship creates cohesion, which generates stronger feelings of
desire and responsibility to win the battle (Perry et al., 2018). Relational capital is represented by social support in
this research. Social support echoes the tenet of relational capital that people help and support each other within the
social network during interpersonal contact (Jang et al., 2016). It is defined as players' perception that SNS friends
help each other when teammates are in trouble in the game.
334 GONG ET AL.
Despite of these benefits, the SNS network may also bring negative impact on players' gaming experience. Kwon
and Adler (2014) noted that social capital exerts different effects including ‘costs and risks,’ and appealed future
research to explore the ‘dark side’ of social capital. We accordingly propose that social pressure, which is the player's
conviction that SNS friends expect them to perform well in the game, is the side effect of SNS social capital. Online
games can be considered a form of hedonically-oriented IT artefact (Hamari & Keronen, 2017). With this perspective,
players engage in the game to pursue a sense of pleasure and get away from work (or other) pressure. According to
the tenet of social impact theory, the closer the relationship is between a social referent and oneself, the more likely
it is for one to perceive high pressure from a social referent (Latané, 1981). In line with this point, the strong ties
from SNS relationships will amplify the player's perception of social pressure while playing with SNS friends. Social
pressure as a psychological burden (Krassen & Aupers, 2022) hence reduces players' sense of joy and can be detri-
mental to team play performance.
In summary, drawing on the affordance framework, this research identifies two types of visibility (information
transparency and identity transparency) as the SNE technology affordance, both positive and negative interaction
outcomes (social interaction, social support, shared vision, and social pressure) of players who utilise SNE to play
with SNS friends, and the affordance effects on player game participation (play frequency and play performance).
3 | R E S E A R C H M O D E L A N D H Y P O T HE S I S D E V E L O P M E N T
As per the review of the theoretical background in the previous section, we propose the research model shown in
Figure 1. Table 2 describes the key constructs. We explain the research model and corresponding hypotheses
in detail below.
3.1 | SNE technical features and social capital
Identity transparency refers to SNE affords the players to recognise their SNS friends' identity who play the same
game (Leonardi, 2015). In the intensively competitive MMOG battleground, it is common for squad members to be
attacked and get into trouble (Chen et al., 2016). Supporting or helping each other in the squad is important to win
the battle (Techinasia, 2018). Meanwhile, whether to support others or not depends on a player's willingness and
attitude, because the supporter may put their avatar at risk and thereby forego an opportunity to further develop
the avatar instead (Weaser-Seychell, 2022). Nevertheless, if players realise that their SNS friends are struggling in
the battle, they are likely to provide support and help resolve the crisis. The visible identity of SNS friends increases
players' sense of responsibility and obligation to help their friends in the game (Latané, 1981). Therefore, we propose
that the visible identity of SNS friends afforded by SNE motivates players to support each other while playing in the
battleground.
Hypothesis H1a. Identity transparency is positively related to players' social support.
Players desire to defeat competitors to gain game credits and achieve high ranks in MMOGs (Putzke
et al., 2010). Although victory is important for MMOG players, it is usual to meet some players as squad members
assigned randomly by the matching system who play halfheartedly and sometimes even get disconnected amid the
intensive battle (Snodgrass et al., 2018). Prior literature noted that people behave socially desirable in front of group
members because of the impact of social norm, that is, the visible SNS friends' identity can activate a normative
value and motivate people to perform socially desirable behaviours in the group (Li et al., 2020; Luo, 2005). In this
regard, when players notice that they are playing with SNS friends, they will spontaneously treat the game more seri-
ously and put more effort into the competition to be socially desirable (i.e., try their best to win the battle and gain
GONG ET AL. 335
Control variables
Age, Gender, Privacy
Social support concern, Perceived enjoyment
H1a
H3a
H3b
Identity Play
transparency H1b H4a performance
Shared vision
H1c
H1d H4b
H2a H5a
H2b
Information Play
transparency H2c Social interaction H5b frequency
H6a/6b
H2d
H6c
Social pressure
Time 1 (T1) : Subjective data Time 2 (T2) : Objective data
FIGURE 1 Research model.
TABLE 2 Constructs and descriptions
Constructs Descriptions
Identity transparency Social network embeddedness affords players to recognise their SNS friends' identity who
play the same game (Chen, Wei, & Rice, 2020; Leonardi, 2015)
Information transparency Social network embeddedness affords players to see their SNS friends' different types of
game information (e.g., login information, game performance, game ranks, etc.)
(Chen, Wei, & Rice, 2020; Leonardi, 2015)
Social support Players' perception that SNS friends help each other when members are in trouble in the
game (Jang et al., 2016)
Shared vision The collective goals and aspirations of the SNS friends in the squad to win a battle
(Lin et al., 2010)
Social interaction Players' perceptions relating to familiarity and frequency of communication with SNS
friends (Zhang et al., 2017)
Social pressure Players' conviction that SNS friends expect him to perform well in the game
(Osei-Frimpong et al., 2020)
Play performance The numerical value of scores that a player has achieved in the season (Kim et al., 2018)
Play frequency The number of matches that a player has played in the season (Kim et al., 2018)
game credits) (Li & Suh, 2021). Hence, the visible SNS friendship identity stimulates a stronger game vision to defeat
opponents and win the battle.
Hypothesis H1b. Identity transparency is positively related to players' shared vision.

336 GONG ET AL.
Once players identify their SNS friends' identity, they tend to interact with SNS friends such as through gifting,
greeting, and inviting them to form a squad and fight together in the game (Li & Suh, 2021). Compared to teaming up
with strangers, a player would be more excited and passionate when recognising that (s)he is playing with SNS fri-
ends (Perry et al., 2018; Verheijen et al., 2019). The social ties from the SNS network will facilitate players' communi-
cation and interaction in the game (Donaldson, 2017). Specifically, when recognising that their SNS friends are
fighting in the battleground, players will actively cooperate, communicate about game tactics, and warn each other
of potential hazards (Perry et al., 2018). Following the discussion above, we propose that:
Hypothesis H1c. Identity transparency is positively related to players' social interaction.
Social impact theory notes that the closer the relationship is between a social referent and oneself, the more
likely it is for one to perceive high pressure from a social referent (Latané, 1981). SNS friends are mostly acquain-
tances and semi-acquaintances in the real world (Argyris & Xu, 2016; Utz, 2015). In this regard, the strong ties from
SNS relationships will amplify the player's perception of social pressure while playing with SNS friends in the game.
Specifically, individuals may have a strong pressure to perform to the expected level and fulfil SNS friends' expecta-
tion in the battleground. This scenario will lead to increased feelings of tension and seriousness and reduced enter-
tainment in the game. Nardi and Harris (2006) for instance found that an identifiable player would be more
cautious—succumbing to social pressure—to avoid a situation where the squad loses the battle because of his/her
mistakes or low-game commitment. We thus propose:
Hypothesis H1d. Identity transparency is positively related to players' social pressure.
Information transparency describes SNE that enables players to see their SNS friends' different types of game
information (e.g., online condition, game record, game ranks, play preference, etc.) (Leonardi, 2015). The more SNS
friends' game information that players can see, the better understanding they will have of their friends' gameplay fea-
tures and preferences (Chen, Wei, & Rice, 2020). For instance, as players notice SNS friends' play preferences such
as being skilled in a certain game role (e.g., Marksman, Support, or Fighter) and weakness or strength of gameplay,
they can help and support each other more effectively in the battleground. Therefore, we consider that information
transparency can facilitate social support between squad members.
Hypothesis H2a. Information transparency is positively related to players' social support.
The visible information allows for a clear display of SNS friends' actions and contributions in the battle. The
information of players' game performance includes how many opponents they killed, assists they made, damage they
caused, and so on. Once the information is visible to SNS friends, it can stimulate players to play harder and better
and cultivate stronger awareness of the shared vision to win the battle. As people want to make a good impression
in front of acquaintances (e.g., SNS friends) (Schlenker & Britt, 1999), the visible game information pushes players to
have a stronger desire to win and achieve notable game statistics. We accordingly propose the following hypothesis:
Hypothesis H2b. Information transparency is positively related to players' shared vision.
Visible information offers essential material for communication (Chen, Wei, & Rice, 2020; Leonardi, 2014). In
MMOGs, game information visibility affords players to see various SNS friends' game information, which creates
more topics to chat about (Cotter, 2019). Players often review their game statistics after a round of battle. The trans-
parent game information enables players to discuss the memory and share any outstanding experiences of their
game performance with SNS friends. In addition, the visible information of online records or online conditions can
help a player create more chances to play with their SNS friends. To illustrate, when a player notices that their SNS
GONG ET AL. 337
friends often play on weeknights, (s)he can align their timing to create more interactions with friends in the game.
Hence, we propose that:
Hypothesis H2c. Information transparency is positively related to players' social interaction.
Transparent information is a primary source of social comparison and social pressure (Krasnova et al., 2015).
When MMOG players have access to transparent information about game performance, achievements, and in-game
activities of their peers (e.g., SNS friends), they become more aware of the standards and expectations set within the
gaming community. This increased awareness can create a sense of social pressure to perform at a level similar to or
better than their peers. Drawing on the lens of social comparison effects (Latané, 1981), peers have a strong ten-
dency to compare their achievements and performance with each other. Transparent information about leaderboard
rankings and player statistics can create a competitive atmosphere within the gaming world. With more aspects of
gameplay becoming transparent, players may feel the need to compete on all these dimensions (e.g., gameplay time,
performance statistics, and quality of armour or weapons). This competitive environment can lead to higher social
pressure as players vie for recognition and status among their peers. Hence:
Hypothesis H2d. Information transparency is positively related to players' social pressure.
3.2 | Social capital and play performance
Social support describes players' perception that SNS friends help each other when in trouble in the game (Jang
et al., 2016). In MMOGs, the fighting mode is squad competition. Mutual help and cooperation are important prereq-
uisites for a squad to win in the game battleground (Chen et al., 2016). Social support is a conspicuous illustration of
team collaboration and cohesiveness. A squad is more unified and competitive if members are willing to support each
other in timely fashion on the battleground (Li & Suh, 2021). Specifically, an individual player can live longer and have
more chances to make contributions on the battleground as long as (s)he can gain enough support from SNS friends.
Furthermore, players who frequently help squad members in the battle can gain additional points and be valued by
the game system. Therefore, we consider that:
Hypothesis H3a. Social support is positively related to players' in-game performance.
Shared vision refers to the collective goals and aspirations among a squad of SNS friends to win a battle
(Lin et al., 2010). As MMOG is a highly competitive game genre (Badrinarayanan et al., 2015), players enjoy the pro-
cess of winning the combat (Wang, Sun, & Luo, 2022). Winning the battle, gaining extra credits, and levelling up
game ranks are important pursuits for MMOG players. As a player and his/her SNS friends share the same vision and
desire to win, the consensus will push each squad member to be more focused on the combat and to treat game pur-
suits and outcomes more seriously (Perry et al., 2018). The shared vision generates a stronger cohesive force for
players to play better and inspires them to realise their potential to fight, which can lead to better in-game perfor-
mance. Therefore, we propose that:
Hypothesis H4a. Shared vision is positively related to players' in-game performance.
Social interaction pertains to players' perceptions relating to familiarity and frequency of communication with
SNS friends (Zhang et al., 2017). Communication and interaction between squad members are vital patterns of team
play for online multiplayer games (Gong et al., 2019). Social interaction among squad members facilitates cooperation
and collaboration in the game battleground (Hopp et al., 2015). Players who communicate frequently with SNS
338 GONG ET AL.
friends can help the whole squad to better understand the battlefield situation and enhance troop morale. A player
can play more efficiently and avoid mistakes through frequently interacting and communicating with other squad
members. Consequently, more social interactions among squad members can lead to a better game performance in
the game. Hence, we propose that:
Hypothesis H5a. Social interaction is positively related to players' in-game performance.
Social pressure refers to players' conviction that SNS friends expect him to perform well in the game (Osei-
Frimpong et al., 2020). The current literature provides few empirical insights about the effect of social pressure on
players' play performance in MMOGs. However, there is a growing body of research in game studies on the link
between peer pressure, social comparison, and players' game participation. Some research considers that social pres-
sure within groups can foster cooperation, coordination, and synchronisation of efforts, resulting in improved team
performance (Wiltermuth & Heath, 2009). Other studies highlight the conflict between peer pressure and workers'
job performance (Demerouti et al., 2015). Based on the current IS literature, we develop two competing perspectives
on the link between social pressure from SNS friends and players' in-game performance.
Social pressure from peers or in-game communities can enhance players' motivation to perform well in the game
(Ryan & Deci, 2006). It pushes players to strive for higher ranks and compete with others, driving them to invest
more time and effort into improving their gameplay skills. When players are aware that SNS friends are observing
their gameplay and judging their performance, they may feel compelled to excel, so as to gain recognition and
respect within the gaming community. Meanwhile, prior literature noted that appropriate peer stress can facilitate
team task performance (Chadi & Homolka, 2023). MMOGs often present challenging quests, boss fights, or in-game
events. Social pressure can act as a psychological catalyst, helping players overcome obstacles and surpass their per-
ceived limitations, leading to enhanced play performance.
In contrast, social pressure from SNS friends can also lead to increased anxiety and stress among players
(Krassen & Aupers, 2022). When players feel constantly judged and evaluated by others, they may become overly
concerned about making mistakes or underperforming, which can negatively impacts their gameplay performance.
High levels of social pressure can diminish players' enjoyment for the game (Osei-Frimpong et al., 2020). When
gameplay becomes less about personal enjoyment, players may lose interest and intrinsic motivation to improve play
skills, leading to a decline in play performance. Previous research indicates that a high level of pressure negatively
affects people's academic records (Chen et al., 2018) and job performance (Demerouti et al., 2015). Halfmann and
Rieger (2019) found that perceived social pressure significantly decreases users' competency of using smartphones.
In summary, the two perspectives distilled from the literature offer conflicting predictions for the direction of
the relationship between social pressure and play performance. We highlight these competing predictions in the fol-
lowing pair of hypotheses:
Hypothesis H6a. Social pressure is positively related to players' in-game performance.
Hypothesis H6b. Social pressure is negatively related to players' in-game performance.
3.3 | Social capital and play frequency
A player's game engagement and play frequency are closely related to his/her social experience with other players
(Shukla & Drennan, 2018). A player who helps and supports others, such as SNS friends, can increase his/her self-
esteem in the game (Fu et al., 2017). Meanwhile, a player who is often supported by others may generate a sense of
warmth, kindness, and brotherhood kinship from the virtual game world. Social support creates a sense of belonging
and attachment to the gaming community. Players who feel connected to others within the game may be more
GONG ET AL. 339
inclined to participate regularly, in order to maintain their social ties (Zhao et al., 2012). Hence, social support from
SNS friends can enhance players' emotional involvement in the game, which leads to a higher level of play frequency.
Hence, we propose that:
Hypothesis H3b. Social support is positively related to players' play frequency.
Shared vision, an important element of social capital, also impacts individuals' motivation to play MMOG. Shared
vision embodies the collective goals and shared aspiration of the SNS friends playing MMOGs. It creates bonding
mechanics among players to play the game collaboratively and frequently together (Tsai & Ghoshal, 1998). As squad
members jointly hold a firm vision to win, they have a strong tendency to continue playing even when experiencing
failure. That is, the squad is likely to keep playing until they achieve the shared vision. When squad members win
together, the victory may generate additional joy and a sense of accomplishment, which induces them to play more
frequently. Hence, we propose that:
Hypothesis H4b. Shared vision is positively related to players' play frequency.
Social interaction with other players, especially those who are SNS friends, increases the feeling of emotional
connection to the game (Huang, Bao, & Li, 2017). In this context, apart from interacting with friends on the SNS plat-
form, people can keep in touch with their SNS friends in MMOGs. This may increase the value of the gameplay from
a social aspect (Gong et al., 2019). Social interaction with acquaintances in the game world can facilitate the emo-
tional connection between players, which induces a high level of commitment to the game (Jin et al., 2017). In line
with this point, Wei and Lu (2014) noted that players with a strong awareness of social interaction will exhibit more
loyalty to the game. Gong et al. (2019) pointed out that social interaction in the game is positively related to players'
game addiction. Increasing social interaction between squad members improves the rapport of game play, which
consequently improves the game experience of social play. Based on the above arguments, we propose that:
Hypothesis H5b. Social interaction is positively related to players' play frequency.
An online game is a type of hedonically-oriented IT artefact (Hamari & Keronen, 2017). Hedonic value is a pri-
mary motivation for people playing games. However, social pressure is considered as a psychological burden (Osei-
Frimpong et al., 2020) which reduces players' sense of joy and relaxation. Social pressure from peers can lead to
increased stress and burnout among players. Feeling obligated to play frequently to meet social expectations may
cause players to experience fatigue and reduced enjoyment (Krassen & Aupers, 2022), leading to decreased play fre-
quency over time. It diminishes players' sense of autonomy and control over their gaming habits. When gaming
becomes an obligation rather than a voluntary choice, players may feel less motivated to engage in the game regu-
larly. Halfmann and Rieger (2019) indicated that social pressure is detrimental to users' self-control and need satis-
faction with using smartphones. Hence, we propose that:
Hypothesis H6c. Social pressure is negatively related to players' play frequency.
4 | RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
To ascertain the significance of play performance for MMOG players, we conducted a brief survey to ask about
players' gameplay motivations and the importance of play performance in the game. The 898 mobile MMOG casual
players including 624 HOK and 274 GFP players were invited to participate. We asked them about their motivation,
the importance of game performance, and the social influence of SNS players. The survey makes several significant
340 GONG ET AL.
findings. (1) In-game performance is important for MMOG players. The majority of respondents (over 70%) indicated
that performing well and achieving high ranks in the game is important to them. (2) Playing with SNS friends brings a
distinctive game experience. 80.9% of respondents think that the gameplay experience is different between team
play with SNS friends and strangers assigned by the game system. Players will communicate more frequently, sup-
port teammates more often, and have a stronger desire to win when playing with SNS friends. (3) In addition to
hedonic factors, social factors and performance factors exert a significant influence on gameplay motivation. In
response to the multiple-choice question regarding play motives, ‘fun’ (52.9%) and ‘passing time’ (38.4%) are signifi-
cant motivations for playing. Social factors, including ‘being invited/asked to play together’ (44.2%), are also deemed
vital motivations. Additionally, many players choose performance-related motivations such as ‘improving ranks’
(34.2%) and ‘developing my abilities’ (36.1%). In summary, we consider that play frequency and play performance
deserve to be valued as DVs in our context.
A longitudinal field study was conducted to examine the research model. The research design and data collection
process followed Kim et al.'s (2018) and Shi et al.'s (2020) work. Data was collected from GFP on two occasions,
scheduled 2 months apart (we first collected data at the beginning of Season 12, and conducted the second wave
near the end of the season). The design of a two-stage longitudinal data collection with primary and secondary data
provides evidence of strong internal validity (Kim et al., 2018; Ou et al., 2014). We collected data for the indepen-
dent variables (IVs) (subjective data) and control variables (CVs) (subjective data) in the model before the collection
of objective data for the DVs. The objective data was generated by the game system based on each player's game
record for the season (see Appendix C). Each participant needs to upload the specified game screenshots at the end
of the game season. We coded the objective data on the bases of these screenshots. We selected GFP as the mobile
MMOG data source. Launched by Tencent in May 2019, GFP is a mobile MMOG with over 10 million monthly active
players and a monthly revenue of 232 million US dollars in March 2020 (Sensortower, 2020), making it one of the
most popular mobile games in China. The game parachutes groups of 100 players onto a virtual island, where they
fight in teams of four, until only one team remains. Four players as a squad interact, support, and collaborate to
pursue the same goal, that is, to survive as the last squad on the battleground.
4.1 | Instrument development
In the first data collection stage (T1), we recorded CVs such as gender, age, perceive enjoyment, and privacy concern.
All subjective constructs were operationalised as multi-item scales. To measure these subjective constructs, we
adopted existing scales with minor adjustments to fit our context. Scales for identity transparency and information
transparency were adopted from Chen, Wei, and Rice (2020). We adapted the items for social interaction from
Zhang et al. (2017). To measure social support, we adopted items from Jang et al. (2016). Scales for shared vision
were adopted from Wang et al. (2016) and social pressure measures were adopted from Halfmann and Rieger
(2019). All items were phrased with respect to players' gameplay through the target mobile MMOG, that is, GFP.
User behaviour in the digital platform is usually measured in terms of the frequency of the behaviour (e.g., Ou
et al. (2014); Shi et al. (2020)). To measure the objective data of players' gameplay, we first used the number of
matches a player had finished in the given two-month period to represent play frequency. Play performance was
measured by the numerical value of scores at the end of the season (see Appendix C). The numerical value of scores
is calculated by the game system based on players' overall in-game performance in the season. We also collected
data on the seasons (i.e., the number of seasons that a player had played GFP) and game ranks (i.e., the level of avatar
ranks at the end of the season) for a post hoc analysis. Both these objective measures were collected in the second
stage (T2), 2 months after T1.
We invited four senior PhD students who major in IS to review the survey instrument along with the definitions
of constructs. We then conducted a two-round card sorting exercise following Moore and Benbasat (1991) with one
master and one junior PhD student as judges to test conceptual validity. They identified minor problems in the
GONG ET AL. 341
framing and phrasing of the items, which were corrected. Next, the survey instrument was reviewed for any wording
or format ambiguity by a focus group of 10 GFP players. Appendix D (Table D1) provides the final version of the
questionnaire. The measurement items were anchored on a seven-point Likert scale (from 1 = ‘strongly disagree’ to
7 = ‘strongly agree’).
4.2 | Data collection
Data collection consists of two waves at different points in time: (1) in the first wave (T1), we collected subjective
data for the IVs and CVs; and (2) in the second wave (T2; after 2 months), we collected objective data for the DVs
and other outcomes for our post hoc robustness test. One GFP season usually lasts for 2 months. Subjective and
objective data were collected at the beginning and end of Season 12, respectively. In the first wave, we conducted
an online survey among GFP players. We sent questionnaires to the GFP official community, several online content
platforms related to GFP (i.e., bbs.hupu.com/pubg, Douban GFP group, and GFP Baidu Tieba), and several GFP
WeChat groups with hundreds of GFP players. To verify that our respondents were actual GFP players, we asked
the respondents to upload a screenshot of their personal GFP profiles. We also added filter questions at the begin-
ning of the questionnaire regarding players' experience of playing with SNS friends. Players who never or barely
played with SNS friends were deemed not eligible to participate in this study.4 The survey was conducted over a
period of 4 days in February, at approximately the start date of GFP Season 12. A total of 262 valid responses were
collected for the first wave. Following Armstrong and Overton (1977), we investigated a potential non-response bias
by comparing the first and final 25% of participants on all variables using a chi-square test. Results indicated no sig-
nificant differences, suggesting that non-response bias was not a critical threat in our present study.
Out of 262 valid responses, 236 uploaded screenshots of their valid game profile. From the second wave of data
collection, we then obtained objective data from 236 players, as shown in Table 3. We compared the respondents
from the first wave of data collection with those from the second wave. T-tests showed that the two groups did not
differ significantly in terms of age, gender, and education. Thus, we used the 236 valid responses for empirical
analysis.
5 | DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS
AMOS 24.0 and SPSS 22.0 were used to analyse the data. AMOS is a covariance-based structural equation model
method that uses covariance matrices to evaluate the measurement model and structural model on multiple parame-
ters. It is considered a powerful technique, which uses maximum likelihood estimation to analyse a model with multi-
level structural equations (Blunch, 2012).
5.1 | Measurement model analysis
The measurement model was examined in two steps, model-fit and scale validation. Test results show a good model-
fit for the indices of χ2/df (2.262), TLI (0.920), CFI (0.934), IFI (0.935), and RMSE (0.073). To measure the convergent
and discriminant validity of the constructs, we tested composite reliability (CR), average variance extracted (AVE),
and controlled for inter-factor correlations (Gefen et al., 2011). Table 4 shows all CR values exceeding 0.7. The load-
ings and cross-loadings are presented in Table 5. The loadings of items on their respective constructs were also
4
If players do not use SNE or neglect the existence of SNS friends and do not play with them, their game experience is similar to playing those games
without SNE functions. As we desire to explore the impact of SNE on gameplay experience, we hence exclude these players.
342 GONG ET AL.
TABLE 3 Sample demographics
Measures Items Counts Percentages

Gender Male 160 67.8
Female 76 32.2
Age <18 16 6.8
18–25 171 72.4
25–35 43 12.2
>36 6 2.6
Education level Junior high school (or under) 41 17.3
General and vocational high school 102 43.2
Bachelor's degree 78 33.0
Master's (and above) 15 6.5
Mean SD
Score (squad mode) 70.016 10.016
Game ranks (squad mode) 4.877 1.300
Games (squad mode) 172. 980 85.857
Seasons 10.374 4.657
TABLE 4 Validity, descriptive statistics, and inter-correlations of variables
Mean SD CR AVE ID IT SI SSP SV PRE

ID 5.745 1.223 0.839 0.635 0.797
IT 5.642 1.154 0.807 0.512 0.524 0.716
SI 5.286 1.257 0.902 0.755 0.372 0.356 0.869
SSP 5.146 1.203 0.893 0.735 0.503 0.461 0.425 0.857
SV 5.262 1.226 0.838 0.687 0.493 0.482 0.408 0.535 0.829
PRE 5.130 1.259 0.733 0.584 0.353 0.363 0.203 0.382 0.591 0.764
Note: Diagonal elements are the squared roots of AVEs of reflective constructs; off-diagonal elements are correlations
among latent constructs.
Abbreviations: AVE, average variance extracted; CR, composite reliability; ID, identity translucence; IT, information
transparency; SI, social interaction; SSP, social support; SV, shared vision; PRE, social pressure.
higher than 0.7. The AVE for each construct was greater than 0.5. Hence, the results suggest good convergent valid-
ity of the scales.
Discriminant validity measures the statistical difference between two factors by examining whether the square
root of AVE for each construct is larger than the correlation coefficients with other constructs. Table 4 also notes
that the measurement scale has satisfactory discriminant validity. The data in the first wave (T1) are self-reported
from survey responses, which may cause common method bias (Podsakoff et al., 2003). Our study employed two
methods to test the potential threat of common method bias. First, we tested the collinearity of our variables. The
regression results have no concerns about multicollinearity, with variance inflation factors of all variables ranging
from 1.116 to 2.239, below the threshold for non-multicollinearity. Second, we tested for common method bias
using Podsakoff et al.'s (2003) and Liang et al.'s (2007) method. Appendix E (Table E1) presents the result. The aver-
age substantively explained variance of the indicators was 0.84306, whereas the average method-based variance
was 0.00378. The ratio of substantive variance to method-based variance was thus approximately 223:1. In addition,
GONG ET AL. 343
TABLE 5 Loadings and cross-loadings
IT ID PRE SI SV SSP
IT1 0.795 0.502 0.356 0.330 0.389 0.437
IT2 0.827 0.405 0.285 0.342 0.377 0.447
IT3 0.767 0.439 0.247 0.249 0.375 0.377
IT4 0.775 0.408 0.289 0.268 0.335 0.372
ID1 0.498 0.795 0.353 0.309 0.445 0.371
ID2 0.439 0.827 0.373 0.313 0.442 0.400
ID3 0.485 0.767 0.354 0.245 0.386 0.373
PRE1 0.244 0.309 0.643 0.184 0.454 0.326
PRE2 0.381 0.405 0.869 0.212 0.560 0.394
SI1 0.351 0.324 0.207 0.901 0.464 0.567
SI2 0.378 0.329 0.222 0.883 0.455 0.541
SI3 0.271 0.248 0.188 0.821 0.368 0.462
SV1 0.385 0.446 0.541 0.420 0.822 0.497
SV2 0.416 0.422 0.526 0.441 0.851 0.549
SV3 0.416 0.434 0.487 0.404 0.813 0.597
SSP1 0.428 0.367 0.368 0.467 0.573 0.875
SSP2 0.505 0.395 0.382 0.583 0.582 0.862
SSP3 0.441 0.427 0.374 0.513 0.522 0.834
Abbreviations: ID, identity translucence; IT, information transparency; SI, social interaction; SSP, social support; SV, shared
vision; PRE, social pressure.
most method factor loadings were insignificant. Given that the method variance was small, we concluded that com-
mon method bias was not a problem.
5.2 | Structural model analysis
The measurement model is converted to the structural model to test the relationships between the hypothesized
constructs. The results present an acceptable level of fit: χ2/df (2.051), TLI (0.912), CFI (0.927), IFI (0.928) and RMSE
(0.067). The results (shown in Figure 2) indicate that identity transparency positively impacts social support (H1a),
shared vision (H1b), social interaction (H1c), and social pressure (H1d). Information transparency positively impacts
social support (H2a), shared vision (H2b), social interaction (H2c), and social pressure (H2d). Moreover, shared vision
(H4a) and social interaction (H5a) positively influence play performance. Social support (H3b), shared vision (H4b),
and social interaction (H5b) positively affect a player's play frequency. Social pressure (H6c) negatively impacts a
player's play frequency. However, we could not confirm any influence of social support and social pressure on player
performance (i.e., H3a, H6a, and H6b were not supported). Following Carte and Russell (2003), we conducted hierar-
chical regression in two models shown in Appendix G (Tables G1 and G2). Model I includes the CVs, and Model II
adds four predictors. In summary, the research model provided a preferred explanatory power (R2) for our DVs, spe-
cifically, 24.8% for game performance and 21.9% for play frequency. As for the CVs, gender and age negatively
affect game performance.
Our results suggest that social support, social interaction, shared version, and social pressure may mediate the
relationships between the features of SNE and play performance and play frequency. The application of bootstrapping
344 GONG ET AL.
R2 = 0.275
Social support
0.174* n.s.
0.153* R2 = 0.248
0.169** R2 = 0.366
Identity Play
0.328*** Shared vision 0.241** performance
transparency
0.130+
0.206***
0.294***
0.308***
R2 = 0.319 R2 = 0.219
n.s.
Information Social Play
0.176* 0.210***
transparency interaction frequency
0.302**
0.318** -0.271***
2
R = 0.288
Social pressure
FIGURE 2 Model-testing results. +p < 0.1, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.
allows for the testing of mediation effects (Cheung & Lau, 2008). The 5000 resamples in this study generated a 95%
confidence interval (percentile) for the mediators. The results are presented in Table 6. The specific mediation types
(full or partial) were validated.
This study further conducted post hoc tests to corroborate the results. First, to reveal the impact of social
capital from SNS friends on player game participation results, we conducted a group comparison between players
who frequently play with SNS friends (i.e., high-frequency group n = 164) and players who sometimes play with
SNS friends (i.e., low-frequency group n = 72). An additional filter question in the questionnaire, inquired about
the frequency of social play with SNS friends. Players who chose “frequently” were categorised as the high-
frequency group, while those who selected “sometimes” were included in the low-frequency group. We compared
the mean values of variables in the model of the two group players and conducted a structural model analysis
using two groups of data respectively (see Appendix F). As a result, we can generally summarise that the high-
frequency group has a higher perception of the SNE features; and players who more frequently play with SNS fri-
ends generate more positive impacts on play frequency and play performance than those who play less frequently
with SNS friends.
Second, we adopted the level of game ranks to represent play performance, and the number of seasons which
a player has played to describe play frequency. As shown in Appendix G (Tables G1 and G2), we found essentially
similar effects of the IVs and CVs on the game ranks as we had for the game scores. The only exception was that
gender negatively influences game scores, but not game ranks. This phenomenon could occur because of the cal-
culation rule for game ranks. Female players did not kill as many opponents as male players in the battle. However,
they were likely to be supported by male squad members. As a result, they were also able to survive till the end,
which is beneficial to game ranks. The main effects on the number of seasons are consistent with the number of
matches.
GONG ET AL. 345
TABLE 6 Significant level of direct and indirect effects
95% confidence 95% confidence

interval interval
Indirect
Mediation relationships effect Lower Upper Direct effect Lower Upper Types of mediation
ID à SV à Performance 0.165*** 0.355 1.910 0.026 1.036 0.717 Full mediation
ID à SI à Performance 0.293*** 0.143 0.775 0.038 0.018 0.098 Full mediation
ID à SSP à Frequency 0.192*** 0.037 0.163 0.093* 0.037 0.165 Partial mediation
ID à SV à Frequency 0.124** 0.336 0.627 0.112** 0.062 0.196 Partial mediation
ID à SI à Frequency 0.463*** 0.011 0.111 0.055* 0.273 0.641 Partial mediation
ID à PRE à Frequency 0.400*** 0.245 0.561 0.036 0.095 0.047 Full mediation
IT à SV à Performance 0.146*** 0.075 0.226 0.065 1.972 0.805 Full mediation
IT à SI à Performance 0.145** 0.080 0.223 0.086* 0.018 0.064 Partial mediation
IT à SSP à Frequency 0.488*** 0.367 0.609 0.007 0.073 0.061 Full mediation
IT à SV à Frequency 0.178** 0.024 0.148 0.048 0.020 0.004 Full mediation
IT à SI à Frequency 0.455*** 0.005 0.092 0.051* 0.006 0.099 Partial mediation
IT à PRE à Frequency 0.409*** 0.011 0.027 0.044 0.105 0.026 Full mediation
Note: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.

vision; PRE, social pressure.
6 | DISCUSSION
6.1 | Key findings
This research contains several important findings. The existing literature notes that social ties with other players
meeting in the virtual game world (e.g., guild members) exert a crucial influence on players' continuous gameplay
(Badrinarayanan et al., 2015; Rezaei & Ghodsi, 2014). Against this backdrop, we further identify the important role of
SNS social relationships in MMOG gameplay. The social capital from SNS networks generates salient impact on indi-
viduals' social experience (i.e., social interaction, social support, shared vision, and social pressure), which is a proven
key determinant of players' play frequency. Social pressure in particular, as the dark side of SNE, negatively affects a
player's play frequency. The findings offer a more comprehensive perspective on understanding the impact of SNE
on players' social play and game participation results. In addition, social interaction and shared vision with SNS fri-
ends are important antecedents of player in-game performance. This finding is consistent with the prior management
literature which showed that structural and cognitive social capital can facilitate employees' job performance
(Ali-Hassan et al., 2015; Lazarova & Taylor, 2009). It indicates the noticeable impact of social capital from SNS friend-
ships on players' game experience and achievement. Increasing interactions and shared vision with SNS friends in the
game yield extra benefits.
This research also underlines the importance of SNE on the social system of online multiplayer games. The
SNE offers visibility affordance, including information transparency and identity transparency, which integrates
SNS relationships into the virtual game world and builds the social capital for players' social play. The SNE fea-
tures affect players' play performance and play frequency by enhancing social interaction, social support, shared
vision, and social pressure. As the prior literature has revealed that communication visibility afforded by social
media changes users' cooperation and performance in the workplace (Chen, Wei, & Rice, 2020; Leonardi, 2014,
2015), we verify that the visibility afforded by SNE exerts a crucial influence on players' gameplay experience in
the MMOG world.
346 GONG ET AL.
Contrary to our hypothesis H3a, social support does not influence player in-game performance. A possible
reason is that close social relationships are accompanied by a high level of obligation to support others (Krassen &
Aupers, 2022) regardless of the battle situation. Players who are playing with SNS friends will generate a strong
sense of responsibility to support and rescue others. Meanwhile, the moment of helping squad members is very tricky
in MMOGs such as Player Unknown's Battlegrounds and GFP. Both rescuers and rescued players will be killed if help
is given at the wrong moment (Weaser-Seychell, 2022). Nevertheless, despite the chance of bad timing, a strong
sense of responsibility from the SNS social relationships will urge players to rescue their SNS friends who are in trou-
ble. Consequently, this behaviour leads to undesirable outcomes and poor game performance.
We also proposed a competing prediction that social pressure may bring both positive and negative impacts on
players' in-game performance. However, the results show that social pressure is not significantly related to gameplay
performance, possibly due to individual differences. Depending on their emotional resilience, some players may
thrive under social pressure, feeling motivated and driven to perform better, while others might experience increased
stress and anxiety, leading to poorer performance. The diversity of individual responses could average out, resulting
in a lack of overall significance in the relationship. In addition, the survey participants in our study are mostly experi-
enced players (i.e., the average number of game seasons that players have experienced is 10.374). In the MMOG bat-
tleground, players frequently encounter excitement, victories, failures, and abusive language (De Mesquita &
Becker, 2018). These game experiences bring both positive and negative psychological feelings, but improve players'
psychological resilience simultaneously. In this context, the sample consists of experienced players who are accus-
tomed to both positive and negative effects of social pressure in MMOGs, the overall impact on performance might
be minimal, leading to non-significant results.
6.2 | Theoretical implications
This study offers several important theoretical implications. First, it employs the affordance framework to illuminate
the underlying mechanism of how SNE impacts players' game participation through contextualization. Based on the
visibility functions of SNE, we identify the SNE technology affordance as information transparency and identity
transparency. Affordances are relational and highlight the interaction of actors and technology (Wang, Sun, &
Luo, 2022). We propose the interaction outcomes of SNE and MMOG players as an impact of social capital from
SNS friends on players' social experience. Play performance and play frequency are accordingly framed as affordance
effects. The mediation mechanism of social capital between SNE technology affordance and the affordance effects
is also validated. We avoid technology determinism which prior IS literature has criticised in understanding the appli-
cations of affordances (Argyris & Xu, 2016). Our study enriches the affordance theory by explicating the core con-
cepts and the process of the affordance framework in the MMOG context.
Second, this research advances the social capital literature. Social capital theory has been widely used to explain
how people obtain benefits from the resources of social networks or structures (Nahapiet & Ghoshal, 1998). Under the
impact of social resources from the SNS network, we identify the positive roles of social interaction, social support, and
shared vision based on the structural, cognitive, and relational social capital dimensions. Meanwhile, the SNS network
may also have negative impact, and prior literature has appealed to future research to explore the “costs and risks” of
social capital (Kwon & Adler, 2014). This study answers to this call and identifies social pressure as the side effect of
acquaintances' social relationships which negatively impact players' play frequency. This research thus contributes to the
social capital literature with a perspective that integrates both positive and negative effects of social capital.
Third, the study reveals how acquaintance relationships change the way of social play on MMOGs. As social fac-
tors are vital to increase user stickiness for online multiplayer games, the existing game literature has paid much
attention to exploring how to optimise social value in games (Gong et al., 2019; Perry et al., 2018). However, the
majority of IS research focuses on the “generic relationships”, where players develop friendships with generic others,
or community members that players meet in the game. The detailed structures of social relationships and the
GONG ET AL. 347
strength of the social ties have been neglected, although they have an important role in the field of online multi-
player games. Prior literature noted that only ‘a small number of studies have begun to examine the different implica-
tions of playing with friends and family compared with strangers’ (Perry et al., 2018, p. 203). Our study investigates
the functions of SNE which bring SNS friends (i.e., preexisting friendships and strong ties) to the game world, and
reveals how the preexisting social ties affect players' play experience. The research thus provides a differentiated
perspective of the social influence on player behaviour in IS gaming context and offers an instructive direction for
future IS research into understanding new patterns of social play in online multiplayer games.
Finally, we give new insights into social network integration research. There are three levels of social network
integration, from low to high: SNS login, SNS sharing, and SNE (Huang, Hong, & Burtch, 2017). Prior research mainly
focused on how partner platforms benefit from social network integration through the lens of social sharing functions
(Adamopoulos et al., 2018; Li & Wu, 2018). SNE as the highest level of social network integration, which integrates
SNS social relationships into the partner platform (Huang, Hong, & Burtch, 2017), has been considered little within the
existing IS literature. SNE allows game platforms to access and make use of SNS profile information and social connec-
tions. This study contributes to the IS literature by revealing how SNE functions impact players' game participation
results (i.e., play performance and play frequency) in the mobile MMOG context. For the social network integration lit-
erature, our study may inspire future research to value and investigate the impact of SNE in different IS contexts.
6.3 | Practical implications
Drawing upon the empirical findings, we provide several suggestions for practice. Mobile game developers and oper-
ators face a highly competitive market, which includes a constant stream of newly launched mobile games, a low-
retention rate, and lack of revenue from the player side (Bratuskins, 2018; Shi et al., 2015). Mobile MMOGs adopt
SNE functions to improve the social experience and facilitate team play with SNS friends. Our research verifies that
SNE makes SNS friends' identity and game information visible to players which leads to more frequent gameplay and
better play performance with the impacts of social capital from SNS relationships. Mobile games, especially online
multiplayer games, are encouraged to explore in-depth cooperation with SNS platforms such as developing SNE
functions on the game system. The SNS relationships can benefit gameplay such as communication and coordination
in the battleground, which increases the irreplaceability of the game. Consequently, players may stay longer and are
more willing to invest energy and money in the game. Furthermore, the relationship is symbiotic. SNS platforms gain
by creating an additional reason for users to visit their SNS (i.e., the monitoring of game friends' performance), thus
also increasing SNS stickiness.
Among the three types of social capital emerging from social gaming, social interaction exerts the strongest posi-
tive impact on players' play frequency. To take advantage of this mechanism, game developers are advised to pursue
measures that will facilitate the interactions between players and their SNS friends. For instance, reminders can be
sent to a player if their SNS friends log into the game. In this case, this function may promptly help individuals to
contact SNS friends. Shared vision also plays an important role in improving play frequency and play performance.
To further enhance players' shared vision with SNS friends on the battleground, game operators can design more
impressive and interesting interaction behaviours among the game avatars of squad members to celebrate their vic-
tory in the battle. In this way, players can gain more positive feelings and a sense of achievement from winning with
SNS friends, which may in turn strengthen the shared vision of the social play.
Engaging in team play with SNS friends also causes social pressure which negatively affects players' play fre-
quency. Some suggestions are put forward to address this issue. On the one hand, game operators can provide some
hints to the squad through game system prompts and make them visible to each member before joining the battle.
These prompts might say: ‘Friendships are more important than battle’, and ‘No friends, no games’. Messages of this
nature would remind players to enjoy the process of team play with friends instead of being too results-oriented. On
the other hand, game operators can offer suitable compensation points for SNS friends when the team play fails
348 GONG ET AL.
(participation recognition). This measure may assuage players' feelings of social pressure when they make mistakes
in the battle.
6.4 | Limitations and future research
First, we elucidate the impact of SNE on player behaviour in the mobile MMOG field. Outside of the game domain,
SNE has been applied in various digital platforms (Huang, Hong, & Burtch, 2017), such as travel websites
(e.g., TripAdvisor), short video platforms (e.g., Douyin), or music applications (e.g., QQ music). Future research can
explore the influence of SNE on user behaviour from different perspectives within more diverse IS contexts. The sig-
nificance of this research direction is likely to grow, particularly as SNE increases social interaction within user com-
munities, exerting a lasting impact on user engagement over the long term (Hsiao & Chiou, 2012).
Second, this research delineates four types of social influence (i.e., social interaction, social support, shared
vision, and social pressure) on players' game participation results from the social capital aspect. Meanwhile, there
could be other significant social factors which are neglected in this research. For example, acquaintances from SNS
networks may also increase players' perceptions of social presence and social comparison, which can affect players'
gameplay in online multiplayer games. We encourage future research to incorporate these factors into research
models to create a more comprehensive understanding of the influence of SNE on players' social experience during
gameplay.
Third, to unravel the influence of SNE on player participation, we chose play frequency and play performance as
our outcome metrics. Furthermore, we believe SNE can generate other outcomes and impact other participation
behaviours, including increased purchase of in-game items, or over-commitment (game addiction). Mobile games are
struggling to gain player revenue and user retention in the intensely competitive market (Knezovic, 2022). Hence,
future studies that concentrate on these topics have the potential to yield significant practical value for game
operators.
Finally, our research participants were players who often play with SNS friends, and hence may have created a
sample selection bias. Conducting a comparative study with players who never play with SNS friends would thus be
an interesting future endeavour. Future research can develop an experimental design to compare the two groups'
play performance and play frequency. Doing so can resolve any remaining questions about bias in the survey and
sampling design of the current study.
FUND ING INFORMATION

This research was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 72301138) and
the Centre for Applied Computing and Interactive Media and research grant (No. 9678312) from the City University
of Hong Kong.
DATA AVAI LAB ILITY S TATEMENT

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, upon reasonable
request.
ORCID
Mingchuan Gong https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7103-0774
Ahsan Ali https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1079-804X
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AUTHOR BIOGRAPHI ES
Mingchuan Gong is an Assistant Professor of School of Economics and Management at Nanjing University of
Science and Technology. He received his Doctoral degree from University of Science and Technology of China
and City University of Hong Kong. His current research mainly focuses on dark side of social media, mobile game
use, live streaming engagement, and electronic (and mobile) commerce in information systems. His work has
been published in Information Processing & Management, Internet Research, and Behaviour & Information Tech-
nology. Email: gmc1994@mail.ustc.edu.cn
354 GONG ET AL.
Christian Wagner is Associate Dean (School of Creative Media), and Professor at the City University of Hong
Kong. His research on collective knowledge management is motivated by the belief that the incremental collec-
tive insights of many, when appropriately extracted and meaningfully aggregated, can outperform individual
experts. He has authored or coauthored over 100 research articles on topics including knowledge management
with wikis, social software, decision making and problem solving under uncertainty, games and virtual worlds.
His works have been published in Management Science, MIS Quarterly, Journal of Management Information Sys-
tems, Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, Decision Support Systems, and so
on. Email: iscw@cityu.edu.hk
Ahsan Ali is Associate Professor at School of Economics and Management of Zhejiang Sci-Tech University. He
holds a PhD in Business Administration from the School of Management at the University of Science and Tech-
nology of China. He conducted his postdoctoral research at the School of Economics and Management of Tongji
University. His research explores the dynamics of teamwork, seeking to provide insights into current
organisational challenges. He focuses specifically on team leadership, knowledge management, social media, and
team creativity. His research has published in the Journal of Organisational Behaviour, Asia Pacific Journal of
Management and, Information Technology & People, among others. Email: Ahsanali@mail.ustc.edu.cn
How to cite this article: Gong, M., Wagner, C., & Ali, A. (2024). The impact of social network embeddedness
on mobile massively multiplayer online games play. Information Systems Journal, 34(2), 327–363. https://doi.
org/10.1111/isj.12479
APPENDIX A
Social network embeddedness in game for peace

SNS account login interface.
355
Visible identity of SNS friends.

SNS friends list interface.
GONG ET AL.
356 GONG ET AL.
Visible game information of SNS friends
APPENDIX B
Literature review on the social relationships of online multiplayer games

We conducted a context search within the major information systems (IS) journals to find articles that focus on the
topic ‘online multiplayer games’ and ‘social relationships.’ We selected articles manually based on the criteria: focus-
ing on the player relationships in online multiplayer games. The selection process generates 20 papers previously
published in major IS journals in recent years. We did not find highly related articles in MIS Quarterly. The major IS
journals include Information Systems Research (ISR), Journal of Management Information Systems (JMIS), Journal of the
Association for Information Systems (JAIS), Information Systems Journal (ISJ), Computers in Human Behaviour (CHB), Infor-
mation & Management (I&M), International Journal of Information Management (IJIM), Information Systems Frontiers
(ISF). The table below presents the review of the 19 papers on the social relationship of online multiplayer games in
the IS discipline.
Game types Social units Social relationships Social factors Dependent variables Theories Sources
General multiplayer — Friendships with strangers — More friends — (Sundberg, 2018)
online games from virtual game world
GONG ET AL.
Violent multiplayer Team Generic others from the Social functioning; prosocial Increased subjective well- General learning model (Shoshani
video game virtual game world interactions being et al., 2021)
Massively Group Group members from the Social identity complexity Increased willingness to Social identity theory (Setterstrom &
multiplayer online virtual game world pay Pearson, 2019)
games
Multiplayer online — Generic others from the Social identity value In-game item purchasing Consumption values theory (Wang et al., 2023)
battle arena virtual game world
General smartphone — Generic others from the Social norm Intention to decrease use Protection motivation (Chen, Zhang,
game virtual game world theory et al., 2020)
Mobile social — Generic others from the Social influence Behavioural intention to The Unified Theory of (Baabdullah, 2020)
network games virtual game world use Acceptance and Use of
Technology 2
Massively Community Community members from Normative interpersonal Virtual purchase Social Influence Theory (Shukla &
multiplayer online the virtual game world Influences; community intentions Drennan, 2018)
role playing games identity
Online Social Group Group members from the Social identity; group Impulsive use; compulsive Identity Theory (Gong et al., 2021)
Gaming virtual game world familiarity, homogeneity, use; excessive use;
and communication addictive use
Massively — Generic others from the Social affordance Addiction Hedonic management (Lee et al., 2021)
multiplayer online virtual game world model; technology
role playing games affordance perspective
Massively — Generic others from the Online bridging and bonding Gaming engagement — (Kaye et al., 2017)
multiplayer online virtual game world
games
Massively Team Team members from the Structural, relational, and Individual benefits Resource-based view (Petter et al., 2020)
multiplayer online virtual game world cognitive social capital
role playing games
Massively — Generic others from the Interaction and social Socio-emotional — (Zhang &
multiplayer online virtual game world motivation Wellbeing Kaufman, 2017)
role playing games
357
(Continues)
Game types Social units Social relationships Social factors Dependent variables Theories Sources
358
Massively — Generic others from the Social orientation Features of virtual avatars — (Korkeila &
multiplayer online virtual game world Hamari, 2020)
role playing games
Online social games Group; Group and community Subjective norm; group norm; Online social game Dual-system theory (Gong et al., 2019)
community members from the social identity addiction
virtual game world
Online multiplayer — Generic others from the Subjective norms Attitude toward virtual — (Hamari, 2015)
games virtual game world goods
Massively Team Team members from the Team commitment Gifting intention Social identity theory; Social (Sharma
multiplayer online virtual game world exchange theory et al., 2021)
games
Online multiplayer — Generic others from the Social value Continued use intention; Perceived value framework (Hamari
game virtual game world purchase intention et al., 2020)
Freemium social — Pure friends; Simmelian-tie Social ties Willingness to pay in- — (Fang et al., 2019)
games friends game item
Massively — Strangers, friends and Social capital Health disruptions Social capital theory (Shen &
multiplayer online families Chen, 2015)
role playing games
Online-only Team Real-life friends, online- Bonding social capital; Engagement — (Perry et al., 2018)
multiplayer first- only friends, strangers bridging social capital
person shooter
game
Note: ‘Social relationships’ pertains to the relationship among players which the research focuses on in online multiplayer games (e.g., SNS friendship in this study). ‘Social factors’
encompass the variables related to social aspects that are included in the research model (e.g., social interaction, social support, shared vision, and social pressure in this study). ‘Team’
refers to four or five players form as a temporary unit to fight in the battleground. ‘Group’ refers to a more organised gathering of players within the game. Groups range in size from a
few players to dozens of players. ‘Community’ consists of dozens or hundreds of players who join to socialise, make friendships and to gain help from other members with same interests.
GONG ET AL.
GONG ET AL. 359
APPENDIX C
Play performance and play frequency
Note: Players upload their game information at the end of the season SS12. The term ‘Number of games-37’ means
that the player has finished 37 games (or matches) in the season. ‘Score information-75.5’ means that the numerical
value of scores is 75.5 assigned by the game system based on the player's overall performance in the season. We
code the two indicators generated by the game system to measure players' play frequency and performance.
360 GONG ET AL.
APPENDIX D
TABLE D1 Constructs and measurements
Variables Items Measurements

Social interaction (Zhang SI1 When playing Game for Peace, I engage in a high level of interaction with
et al., 2017) SNS friends (e.g., Gifting, invite them to play together, communicate in
the game).
SI2 When playing Game for Peace, I spend considerable time interacting with
SNS friends and discussing how to play in the battleground.
SI3 When playing Game for Peace, I have frequent communication with SNS
friends through typing or voice chat.
Shared vision (Lin et al., 2010) SV1 When playing with SNS friends, we share the vision of winning the game.
SV2 When playing with SNS friends, we share the same goal of defeating
enemies.
SV3 When playing with SNS friends, we share the same value of trying our best
to win through teamwork.
Social support (Jang SSP1 When playing with SNS friends, we will help each other.
et al., 2016) SSP2 I can count on my SNS friends when I am in trouble and need help in the
game
SSP3 When playing with SNS friends, we will help each other in crisis.
Social pressure (Osei-Frimpong PRE1 When playing with SNS friends, I think they will expect me to play at my
et al., 2020) level and play well.
PRE2 When playing with SNS friends, I think I must get the best out of me to
satisfy them.
PRE3 When playing with SNS friends, they will blame me if I play carelessly.
(Deleted)
Information transparency IT1 Game for Peace enables me to notice my SNS friends' game ranks and
(Chen, Wei, & Rice, 2020) levels.
IT2 Game for Peace enables me to notice my SNS friends' online history and
game condition.
IT3 Game for Peace enables me to see the players' performance and records of
my SNS friends.
IT4 Game for Peace enables me to see my SNS friend's ranks in my ranking
system.
Identity transparency (Chen, ID1 Game for Peace enables me to recognise my SNS friends in my friends' list
Wei, & Rice, 2020) interface.
ID2 When playing with SNS friends, I can match their game avatar and SNS
name.
ID3 I can recognise my SNS friends' avatar icons or names in the ranking
system and the interface of game results.
GONG ET AL. 361
APPENDIX E
TABLE E1 Common method bias analysis
Constructs Indicators Substantive factor loading (R1) R12 Method factor loading (R2) R22
Social SI1 0.841*** 0.707 0.106 0.001
Interaction SI2 0.871*** 0.759 0.035 0.019
SI3 0.817*** 0.667 0.138 0.006
Shared vision SV1 0.858*** 0.736 0.079 0.000
SV2 0.897*** 0.805 0.011 0.004
SV3 0.883*** 0.780 0.067 0.011
Social support SSP1 0.744*** 0.554 0.106 0.007
SSP2 0.870*** 0.757 0.084 0.003
SSP3 0.869*** 0.755 0.057 0.019
Social pressure PRE1 0.886*** 0.785 0.138 0.007
PRE2 0.886*** 0.785 0.084 0.004
Information IT1 0.903*** 0.815 0.067 0.002
Transparency IT2 0.764*** 0.584 0.042 0.016
IT3 0.820*** 0.672 0.125 0.000
IT4 0.741*** 0.549 0.020 0.010
Identity ID1 0.816*** 0.666 0.102 0.002
Transparency ID2 0.831*** 0.691 0.047 0.007
ID3 0.878*** 0.771 0.086 0.000
Average 0.843 0.713 0.003 0.007
Note: ***p < 0.001.
APPENDIX F
The group comparison

To mitigate the limitations of the method in this study, we also conducted a group comparison between these
players who play with SNS friends frequently (i.e., high-frequency group n = 164) and players who play with SNS fri-
ends sometimes (i.e., low-frequency group n = 72). We have the filter questions to ask about the frequency of social
play with SNS friends in the questionnaire. We compared the mean values of variables in the model of the two group
players (see the table below) and conducted a structural model analysis using two groups of data respectively (see
the figure below). As a result, we can generally summarise that the high-frequency group has a higher perception of
IT ID SI SSP SV PRE PP PF
Mean (SD) Low group 5.12 4.79 5.19 5.17 5.77 5.04 59.36 71.26
(n = 72) (1.67) (1.37) (1.41) (1.56) (1.26) (1.30) (9.76) (56.76)
High group 5.95 5.81 5.86 5.77 5.98 5.23 71.94 98.25
(n = 164) (1.24) (1.14) (1.26) (1.16) (1.12) (1.19) (9.59) (86.54)
vision; PRE, social pressure; PP, play performance; PF, play frequency.
362 GONG ET AL.
the SNE features. Players who social play with SNS friends more often bring positive impacts on gameplay frequency
and performance than the low-frequency group.
High R2 = 0.238
Low R2 = 0.208
Social support
High: -0.069
High: 0.446*** Low: -0.164
Low: 0.123 High R2 = 0.333 High: 0.190* High R2 = 0.196
High: 0.070 Low R2 = 0.302 Low: -0.091 Low R2 = 0.288
Low: 0.173***
Identity High: 0.407*** High: 0.142* Play
transparency Low: 0.169+ Shared vision Low: 0.086 performance
High: 0.239** High: 0.236**
Low: 0.173** Low: 0.178+
High R2 = 0.228
High: 0.399*** High R2 = 0.245
High: 0.261** Low R2 = 0.139
Low: 0.161* Low: 0.448*** Low R2 = 0.109
Social
Information High: 0.171* High: 0.025
Low: 0.167* interaction Low: 0.206* Play frequency
transparency
High: 0.315***
High: 0.037
Low: 0.143
High: 0.196*
High R2 = 0.207 Low: 0.137
Low: 0.334* Low R2 = 0.177
High: -0.333**
Low: -0.024
Social pressure
Note: +p < 0.1, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.
GONG ET AL. 363
APPENDIX G
Post hoc analysis
TABLE G1 Game ranks as play performance
Scores Post hoc: Ranks
Variables Model I Model II Model I Model II

Control
Age 0.075* 0.149** 0.128** ns
Gender 0.426 0.520*** ns ns
Privacy concern ns ns ns ns
Perceived enjoyment ns ns ns ns
Predictors
Social support ns ns
Shared vision 0.235** 0.169*
Social interaction 0.258*** 0.232***
Social pressure ns ns
2
R 0.089 0.245 0.029 0.249
Note: +p < 0.1; *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001.
Abbreviation: ns, insignificant.
TABLE G2 Game seasons as play frequency
Matches Post hoc: Seasons
Variables Model I Model II Model I Model II

Control
Age 0.136+ ns ns ns
Gender ns ns 0.268* ns
Privacy concern ns ns ns ns
Perceived enjoyment 0.152** 0.124+ 0.280** 0.135*
Predictors
Social support 0.131+ 0.146+
Shared vision 0.208*** 0.176*
Social interaction 0.211** 0.228**
Social pressure 0.274** 0.168*
2
R 0.051 0.214 0.109 0.278
Note: +p < 0.1; *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001.
Abbreviation: ns, insignificant.

The Impact of Social Network Embeddedness On Mobile Massively Multiplayer Online Games Play

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The Impact of Social Network Embeddedness On Mobile Massively Multiplayer Online Games Play

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Received: 10 November 2021 Revised: 13 September 2023 Accepted: 30 September 2023

The impact of social network embeddedness on

Mingchuan Gong 1 | Christian Wagner 2 | Ahsan Ali 3

aspect. Finally, we lend insights on how game operators can

2.1 | Mobile massively multiplayer online games play

2.2 | The affordance framework

2.2.1 | SNE technology affordance

TABLE 1 Social media affordance in information systems literature

2.2.2 | The interaction outcomes of players and SNE

3.1 | SNE technical features and social capital

Hypothesis H1a. Identity transparency is positively related to players' social support.

Time 1 (T1) : Subjective data Time 2 (T2) : Objective data

FIGURE 1 Research model.

TABLE 2 Constructs and descriptions

Hypothesis H1b. Identity transparency is positively related to players' shared vision.

Hypothesis H1c. Identity transparency is positively related to players' social interaction.

Hypothesis H1d. Identity transparency is positively related to players' social pressure.

Hypothesis H2a. Information transparency is positively related to players' social support.

Hypothesis H2b. Information transparency is positively related to players' shared vision.

Hypothesis H2c. Information transparency is positively related to players' social interaction.

Hypothesis H2d. Information transparency is positively related to players' social pressure.

3.2 | Social capital and play performance

Hypothesis H3a. Social support is positively related to players' in-game performance.

Hypothesis H4a. Shared vision is positively related to players' in-game performance.

Hypothesis H5a. Social interaction is positively related to players' in-game performance.

Hypothesis H6a. Social pressure is positively related to players' in-game performance.

Hypothesis H6b. Social pressure is negatively related to players' in-game performance.

3.3 | Social capital and play frequency

Hypothesis H3b. Social support is positively related to players' play frequency.

Hypothesis H4b. Shared vision is positively related to players' play frequency.

Hypothesis H5b. Social interaction is positively related to players' play frequency.

Hypothesis H6c. Social pressure is negatively related to players' play frequency.

4.1 | Instrument development

4.2 | Data collection

5 | DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS

5.1 | Measurement model analysis

TABLE 3 Sample demographics

Measures Items Counts Percentages

TABLE 4 Validity, descriptive statistics, and inter-correlations of variables

Mean SD CR AVE ID IT SI SSP SV PRE

TABLE 5 Loadings and cross-loadings

5.2 | Structural model analysis

TABLE 6 Significant level of direct and indirect effects

95% confidence 95% confidence

Note: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.

6.1 | Key findings

6.2 | Theoretical implications

6.3 | Practical implications

6.4 | Limitations and future research

FUND ING INFORMATION

DATA AVAI LAB ILITY S TATEMENT

Social network embeddedness in game for peace

Visible identity of SNS friends.

Visible game information of SNS friends

Literature review on the social relationships of online multiplayer games

Play performance and play frequency

TABLE D1 Constructs and measurements

Variables Items Measurements

TABLE E1 Common method bias analysis

Note: ***p < 0.001.

The group comparison

Post hoc analysis

TABLE G1 Game ranks as play performance

Note: p < 0.05, p < 0.01, p < 0.001.