Humans turn to other humans for decision making. They don’t know how the algorithm operates but they understand how a human mind operates. Ergo, they would be more likely to follow a human’s recommendation.

최근 중국을 비롯하여 전세계적으로 모바일 게임의 사용자 수와 시장 규모는 지속적으로 확대되고 있다. 성공적인 모바일 게임 특성은 무엇이며 어떤 요소가 사용자에게 영향을 미치는지를 살펴보기 위해 현재 세계 최대 규모의 게임 시장인 중국 모바일 게임의 대표적 특성을 분석하고 이용자가 게임의 선택과 지속적인 이용에 영향을 미치는 중용한 원인을 찾아봤다. 특히, 게임 방송의 영향력을 감안하여 오피니언 리더로서의 게임 BJ 가 사람들의 게임 선택과 지속적인 이용에 어떠한 영향을 미치는지도 함께 살펴보았다. 기술수용모델(TAM, Technology Acceptance Model)에 기반하여 모바일 게임의 특성과 오피니언 리더에 대한 인식의 외적 변수가 게이머 인식(지각된 유용성, 지각된 용이성, 지각된 오락성)에 미치는 영향을 통해 모바일 게임에 대한 태도와 지속적인 이용 의도를 예측하는 모델을 구축하고, 이를 검증하기 위하여 346 명의 게이머를 대상으로 설문 조사를 실시하였다. 분석 결과, 모바일 특성, 특시 상호작용성과 비용 저렴성, 시공간 편의성이 모바일 게임 이용자의 인식에 큰 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났으며, 오피니언 리더에 대한 인식이 지각된 오락성에 긍정적인 효과를 보였다. 지각된 오락성과 지각된 유용성은 모바일 게임 태도에 유의한 효과를 보였으며, 게임 태도는 지속적 이용 의도를 유의하게 예측하는 결과를 나타냈다.

The more the marketplace become competitive, the more clear and distinct market segments the marketers need to identify. A minority of consumers takes important roles in the marketplace as market influencers or diffusers of information to others, for instance, market maven or opinion leaders. Market mavens tend to have overall market-related knowledge, while opinion leader and fashion leader possess product class-specific information. Fashion leaders are more likely to adopt a product at the early stage, but opinion leaders or market mavens are not necessary. Despite significant roles as reference groups, limited research has examined the differences in the essential traits of three influential groups. The purpose of this research is to examine and compare the differences of psychological attributes in market maven, opinion leaders, and fashion leaders with respect to consumer self-confidence, clothing involvement(INV), status consumption(STATUS), and price consciousness(PRICE). The instrument was modified based on the previous studies(Bearden, et al., 2001; Clark & Goldsmith, 2005; Feick& Price, 1987;Goldsmith, et al., 1991) and each item was measured by seven-point Liker type scales. A total of 857 data were collected through the internet survey method. About 50.3% of respondents were female, 39.2% were single, and age ranged from 20 to 59 years old. Exploratory factor analysis confirmed the differences of the measurement in three influential groups, explaining 70.76% of variances. Consumer self-confidence was generated into five factors, information acquisition & consideration-set formation (IA&CF), personal outcomes(PO), social outcomes (SO), persuasion knowledge(PKN), and marketplace interfaces(MI). Cronbach's alpha was ranged between .78 and .93. In order to investigate the effects of psychological attributes on three influential groups, five factors of self-confidence (IA&CF, PO, SO, PKN, and MI), INV, STATUS, and PRICE were entered as the independent variables in the regression model respectively. In explaining market maven, IA&CF(β=.37) and SO(β=.35) showed the strong positive effects, and STATUS, PKN(-), MI(-), and PRICE were also significant in order (F=107, adj. R2=.498). Opinion leaders were significantly related with SO(β=.84), and PO, INV, and PRICE presented the minor effects(F=496.2, adj. R2=.822). SO(β=.38), STATUS(β=.37), INV(β=.34), and PKN were significant predictors for fashion leaders (F=289.3, adj. R2=.729). When analyzing the influence of market maven, opinion leader, and fashion leader on buying behaviors, market maven and fashion leaders were significantly, positively related with impulse buying behavior (F=69.28, adj. R2=.193), and overall satisfaction(F=38.21, adj. R2=.115). The implications were discussed.