"How can the design of the Gacha system affect player payment?"
About
This is a solo project researching the impact of Gacha system design on player in-game payment. The game was designed on StudyCrafter.
Hypotheses
3 hypotheses were posted:
Hypothesis 1 (H1): Players would pay more if the Gacha item in the system has a higher value.
Hypothesis 2 (H2): Players would pay more if the Gacha system has a probability announcement.
Hypothesis 3 (H3): Players would pay more if the Gacha system assures players could get an item after several times of Gacha (a guarantee mechanic).
Hypothesis 1 (H1): Players would pay more if the Gacha item in the system has a higher value.
Hypothesis 2 (H2): Players would pay more if the Gacha system has a probability announcement.
Hypothesis 3 (H3): Players would pay more if the Gacha system assures players could get an item after several times of Gacha (a guarantee mechanic).
Methods
5 different Gacha systems were designed (including 1 control group and 4 experiment groups) on StudyCrafter to verify the hypotheses. 30 players played the game. The money they spent was logged. Paired T-test and Turkey HSD were used to analyze the money players spent in the game.
The introduction of the Gacha systems. The players' goal is to get as many pts as possible.
Results
The distributions of spent money in 5 different Gacha systems were summarized as CG (M = 330.67, SD = 279.92), EG1H1 (M = 111.67, SD = 259.54), EG2H1 (M = 782.67, SD = 268.87), EGH2 (M = 388.33, SD = 460.97), and EGH3 (M = 696.33, SD = 227.32).
The distribution of money spent by 30 players of 5 different Gacha systems. CG was the control group. EG1H1 and EG2H1 were for H1. EGH2 was for H2. EGH3 was for H3.
Tukey HSD
A Tukey HSD test was performed to compare the effect of the Gacha item value on money spent by players (H1). The test revealed that there was a statistically significant difference in money spent by players between the 3 groups. H1 was accepted.
Paired T-Test
The test revealed that there was no statistically significant effect of the absence of the probability notations on money spent by players at the p < .05 level (T(30) = -0.70, p = 0.49). H2 was rejected.
However, the money spent in the Gacha system with a guarantee mechanic compared to the money spent in the control group that did not have the guarantee mechanic demonstrated a significant difference by another paired T-test (T(30) = -7.04, p = 4.8e-8). H3 was accepted.