Skip to main content
journal@msti-indonesia.com 081377790601
Register
Articles

Monetization Models in Mobile Gaming: Analyzing User Preferences and Willingness to Pay Among Indonesian Players

  • 1* Universitas Muhammadiyah Pontianak

* Corresponding Author: Mahardika Agung Madepo

Open Access
DOI
https://doi.org/10.59431/jms.v4i1.708
Published
Pages
10-24

Issue

Vol. 4 No. 1 (2026)

Journal Mobile Technologies (JMS)
February

Abstract

The mobile gaming industry has experienced rapid growth and is dominated by freemium/free-to-play models, making understanding of monetization preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) increasingly relevant. The study maps player preferences toward monetization models (free-with-ads, freemium with in-app purchase/IAP, and premium no-ads) and analyzes psychological factors influencing purchase intention (PI) and WTP. A quantitative cross-sectional survey was conducted with 210 active mobile game players (convenience and snowball sampling). WTP was measured in two stages: willingness to pay decision (WTP_bin) and maximum amount (WTP_Rp), with linear regression analysis for PI, logistic regression for WTP_bin, and linear regression on ln(WTP_Rp) for respondents willing to pay. Results show dominant preferences for free models: free-with-ads 54.3% and freemium IAP 30.5%, while premium no-ads 15.2%; payer proportion was 35.2%. Instruments demonstrated reliability (Cronbach's alpha 0.921–0.935). The PI model was significant (R²=0.640), where Perceived Value (PV) and Perceived Enjoyment (ENJ) had the strongest positive effects, followed by Quality, Fairness, and Social Norms, whereas Reference Price & Price Sensitivity (RPPS) and Perceived Aggressive Monetization (PAM) had significant negative effects. For WTP_bin, odds of becoming a payer increased with PV (OR=1.593) and decreased with RPPS (OR=0.468) and PAM (OR=0.651). Among payers (n=74), ln(WTP_Rp) increased with PV, ENJ, and Fairness, but was suppressed by PAM. Findings confirm the necessity of strengthening value, experience, and fairness while avoiding aggressive monetization to enhance conversion and payment amounts.

Keywords

Mobile Gaming Monetization Willingness to Pay Perceived Value Perceived Aggressive Monetization

How to Cite

Madepo, M. A. (2026). Monetization Models in Mobile Gaming: Analyzing User Preferences and Willingness to Pay Among Indonesian Players. Journal Mobile Technologies (JMS), 4(1), 10-24. https://doi.org/10.59431/jms.v4i1.708

References

  • Adji, M. N., Chua, D., Kainama, N., & Feranita, F. (2019). Consumer preference on paid game microtransaction. Journal of Research in Marketing, 10(3), 832-842. https://doi.org/10.17722/jorm.v10i3.779
  • Ajzen, I., & Driver, B. L. (1992). Contingent value measurement: On the nature and meaning of willingness to pay. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 1(4), 297-316. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1057-7408(08)80057-5
  • Alha, K. (2019, January). The imbalanced state of free-to-play game research: A literature review. In Proceedings of DiGRA 2019 Conference: Game, Play and the Emerging Ludo-Mix. https://doi.org/10.26503/dl.v2019i1.1097
  • Aprianingsih, A., Nusantara, B. D., Maharatie, A. P., & Widyasthana, G. S. (2024). Factors influencing Indonesian mobile gamers on repurchase intention in freemium mobile game with Perval. Indonesian Journal of Business and Entrepreneurship, 10(2), 351. https://doi.org/10.17358/ijbe.10.2.351
  • Arasyi, M. T. (2025). Developing new product and service using the integrated innovation value framework (IIVF) for sustainable competitive advantage: A case study of Loud Inovasi Indonesia [Master's thesis, Institut Teknologi Bandung]. https://digilib.itb.ac.id/
  • Ariely, D., & Shampanier, K. (2006). How small is zero price? The true value of free products (FRB of Boston Working Paper No. 06-16). Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. https://ssrn.com/abstract=951742
  • Ascarza, E., Netzer, O., & Runge, J. (2024). Personalized game design for improved user retention and monetization in freemium mobile games (Columbia Business School Research Paper No. 4653319). https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4653319
  • Ascarza, E., Netzer, O., & Runge, J. (2025). Personalized game design for improved user retention and monetization in freemium games. International Journal of Research in Marketing. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2025.01.006
  • Baskara, A. S., Jimmy, S. Y., & Natalia, F. (2025). The influence of perceived aggressive monetization on mobile gamers' in-app purchase behavior. Jurnal Ekonomi dan Bisnis, 28(2), 313-336. https://doi.org/10.24914/jeb.v28i2.13957
  • Berger, B., Matt, C., Steininger, D. M., & Hess, T. (2015). It is not just about competition with "free": Differences between content formats in consumer preferences and willingness to pay. Journal of Management Information Systems, 32(3), 105-128. https://doi.org/10.1080/07421222.2015.1095038
  • Coyle, D., & Nguyen, D. (2020). Free goods and economic welfare (ESCoE Discussion Paper 2020-18). Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence.
  • Cuccia, T. (2003). Contingent valuation. In R. Towse (Ed.), A handbook of cultural economics (pp. 119-131). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781781008003
  • Dinsmore, J. B., Swani, K., & Dugan, R. G. (2017). To "free" or not to "free": Trait predictors of mobile app purchasing tendencies. Psychology & Marketing, 34(2), 227-244. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.20985
  • Dinsmore, J. B., Wright, S. A., & Plotkina, D. (2021). When time pressure counters the zero price effect. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 38(3), 399-410. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCM-03-2020-3722
  • Djaruma, H., Wirawan, Z. W., Gunawan, A. A. S., & Saputra, K. E. (2023, November). Systematic literature review of monetization in mobile app: Strategies, trends, challenges, and best practices. In 2023 IEEE International Conference on Communication, Networks and Satellite (COMNETSAT) (pp. 577-583). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/COMNETSAT59769.2023.10420748
  • Duguleană, A. R., Tănăsescu, C. R., & Duguleană, M. (2024). Emerging trends in play-to-earn (P2E) games. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research, 19(1), 486-506. https://doi.org/10.3390/jtaer19010026
  • Ebert, J., Winzer, P., & Müller, C. (2025). Reducing the hypothetical bias in measuring willingness to pay for mobile communication products. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research, 20(2), Article 122. https://doi.org/10.3390/jtaer20020122
  • Ericska, R. A., Nelloh, L. A. M., & Pratama, S. (2022). Purchase intention and behavioural use of freemium mobile games during Covid-19 outbreak in Indonesia. Procedia Computer Science, 197, 403-409. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2021.12.156
  • Gao, S., & Hallikainen, P. (2019). Understanding the mobile gaming context and player behaviour: A review and a research agenda [Unpublished manuscript].
  • Gao, S., & Hallikainen, P. (2024). Rethinking the gaming experience: A critical review, synthesis of current knowledge, and research agenda. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 55(1), 897-945. https://doi.org/10.17705/1CAIS.05535
  • Gutt, D., Mehta, S., & Quinn, M. (2025). Hit the GAS: Designing optimal generalized ad-supported subscription mechanisms (SSRN Working Paper). https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5350556
  • Hamari, J., Hanner, N., & Koivisto, J. (2017). Service quality explains why people use freemium services but not if they go premium: An empirical study in free-to-play games. International Journal of Information Management, 37(1), 1449-1459. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2016.09.004
  • Hamari, J., Hanner, N., & Koivisto, J. (2020). "Why pay premium in freemium services?" A study on perceived value, continued use and purchase intentions in free-to-play games. International Journal of Information Management, 51, Article 102040. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2019.102040
  • Harviainen, J. T., Ojasalo, J., & Nanda Kumar, S. (2018). Customer preferences in mobile game pricing: A service design based case study. Electronic Markets, 28(2), 191-203. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12525-018-0285-6
  • Hsiao, K. L., & Chen, C. C. (2016). What drives in-app purchase intention for mobile games? An examination of perceived values and loyalty. Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 16, 18-29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.elerap.2016.01.001
  • Hsu, C. L., & Lin, J. C. C. (2016). Effect of perceived value and social influences on mobile app stickiness and in-app purchase intention. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 108, 42-53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2016.04.012
  • Hsu, P. F., Yen, H. R. R., Hu, P. J. H., & Nguyen, T. K. (2025). Converting free users to paying customers in freemium services: A SaaS success model. Information Systems and E-Business Management, 23(2), 355-390. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10257-024-00690-2
  • Hussain, A., Abbasi, A. Z., Hollebeek, L. D., Schultz, C. D., Ting, D. H., & Wilson, B. (2022). Videogames-as-a-service: Converting freemium-to paying-users through pop-up advertisement value. Journal of Services Marketing, 36(3), 398-415. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSM-05-2020-0164
  • Hüttel, B. A., Schumann, J. H., Mende, M., Scott, M. L., & Wagner, C. J. (2018). How consumers assess free e-services: The role of benefit-inflation and cost-deflation effects. Journal of Service Research, 21(3), 267-283. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094670517746779
  • Korajoki, V. (2024). Customer perception on the monetization of video games [Unpublished manuscript].
  • Kostopoulos, I., Magrizos, S., Chun Chua, Z., & Dhosi, P. (2023). Freemium mobile gaming: Exploring the missing link between playing a "free" mobile game and paying for its premium version. International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management, 20(4), Article 2350023. https://doi.org/10.1142/S0219877023500232
  • Lee, G. K. S. (2025). In-app purchase behaviour and game design in mobile gaming: A review of monetisation and player experience. International Journal of Mobile Applications and Technologies, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.51137/wrp.ijmat.2025.glit.45789
  • Li, Z., & Cheng, Y. (2014). From free to fee: Exploring the antecedents of consumer intention to switch to paid online content. Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, 15(4), 281-296.
  • Lin, P. J., Cangelosi, M. J., Lee, D. W., & Neumann, P. J. (2013). Willingness to pay for diagnostic technologies: A review of the contingent valuation literature. Value in Health, 16(5), 797-805. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jval.2013.04.005
  • Lundy, T., Raman, N., Fu, H., & Leyton-Brown, K. (2024, March). Pay to (not) play: Monetizing impatience in mobile games. In Proceedings of the AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (Vol. 38, No. 9, pp. 9856-9864). https://doi.org/10.1609/aaai.v38i9.28846
  • Marty, G. (2025). Understanding consumer behavior in in-app purchases for mobile games [Bachelor's thesis, Turku University of Applied Sciences]. https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025060621149
  • Mihaylov, V. (2020). Drivers for purchase/repurchase intentions in mobile games applying the freemium business model [Master's thesis, University of Eastern Finland].
  • Mishra, N., Najafi, S., Najafi Asadolahi, S., & Tsay, A. (2018). How freemium gets consumers to pay a premium: The role of loss-aversion (SSRN Working Paper). https://ssrn.com/abstract=2961548
  • Nieborg, D. B. (2015). Crushing candy: The free-to-play game in its connective commodity form. Social Media + Society, 1(2), Article 2056305115621932. https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305115621932
  • Niemand, T., Mai, R., & Kraus, S. (2019). The zero-price effect in freemium business models: The moderating effects of free mentality and price-quality inference. Psychology & Marketing, 36(8), 773-790. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21211
  • Park, H. J., & Kim, S. H. (2013). A Bayesian network approach to examining key success factors of mobile games. Journal of Business Research, 66(9), 1353-1359. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2012.02.036
  • Paul, C. A. (2020). Free-to-play: Mobile video games, bias, and norms. MIT Press.
  • Perni, Á., Barreiro-Hurlé, J., & Martínez-Paz, J. M. (2021). Contingent valuation estimates for environmental goods: Validity and reliability. Ecological Economics, 189, Article 107144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2021.107144
  • Purnami, L. D., & Agus, A. A. (2020, September). The effect of perceived value and mobile game loyalty on mobile game's in-app purchase intention. In 2020 3rd International Conference on Computer and Informatics Engineering (IC2IE) (pp. 224-229). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/IC2IE50715.2020.9274662
  • Purnami, L. D., & Agus, A. A. (2021). The effect of perceived value and mobile game loyalty on in-app purchase intention in mobile game in Indonesia (Case study: Mobile Legend and Love Nikki). ASEAN Marketing Journal, 12(1), 9-19. https://scholarhub.ui.ac.id/amj/vol12/iss1/2
  • Putra, D. R., & Hawignyo, H. (2024). Pengaruh perceived value terhadap purchase intention pada game mobile. Jurnal Ilmiah Wahana Pendidikan, 10(6), 252-260. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10642705
  • Pytela, A. (2025). Effect of monetization models in video games on revenue [Bachelor's thesis, Charles University]. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11956/199652
  • Salehudin, I., & Alpert, F. (2022). To pay or not to pay: Understanding mobile game app users' unwillingness to pay for in-app purchases. Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, 16(4), 633-647. https://doi.org/10.1108/JRIM-02-2021-0053
  • Salehudin, I., & Alpert, F. (2024). Perceived aggressive monetization: Why some mobile gamers won't spend any money on in-app purchases. Electronic Commerce Research, 24(3), 1831-1858. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10660-022-09603-2
  • Schmidt, J., & Bijmolt, T. H. (2020). Accurately measuring willingness to pay for consumer goods: A meta-analysis of the hypothetical bias. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 48(3), 499-518. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-019-00666-6
  • SD, S. I. (2024, November). Examining the influence of social values on purchase intentions in virtual item stores for mobile games. In 2024 8th International Conference on Information Technology (InCIT) (pp. 387-392). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/InCIT63192.2024.10810543
  • Shampanier, K., Mazar, N., & Ariely, D. (2007). Zero as a special price: The true value of free products. Marketing Science, 26(6), 742-757. https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.1060.0254
  • Smith, R. D. (2006). It's not just what you do, it's the way that you do it: The effect of different payment card formats and survey administration on willingness to pay for health gain. Health Economics, 15(3), 281-293. https://doi.org/10.1002/hec.1055
  • Sorvari, T. (2018). How the different retention and monetization features affect the user experience in free-to-play mobile games [Bachelor's thesis, Turku University of Applied Sciences]. https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201803123276
  • Surer, E. (2025). The impact of digital transformation on the gaming industry and the extended reality technologies: Limitations, challenges, and opportunities. In M. Çakır & E. Surer (Eds.), Digital globalization of creative industries (pp. 191-203). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781035314775.00023
  • Syahrivar, J., Chairy, C., Juwono, I. D., & Gyulavári, T. (2022). Pay to play in freemium mobile games: A compensatory mechanism. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 50(1), 117-134. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJRDM-09-2020-0358
  • Tang, A. K. (2019). A systematic literature review and analysis on mobile apps in m-commerce: Implications for future research. Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 37, Article 100885. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.elerap.2019.100885
  • Tirtasamita, R. P. (2020). In-app purchases on mobile gaming: What makes player willing to pay based on perceived values [Unpublished manuscript].
  • Tyrväinen, O., & Karjaluoto, H. (2024). Willingness to pay for freemium services: Addressing the differences between monetization strategies. International Journal of Information Management, 77, Article 102787. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2024.102787
  • Wang, L., Lowry, P. B., Luo, X., & Li, H. (2023). Moving consumers from free to fee in platform-based markets: An empirical study of multiplayer online battle arena games. Information Systems Research, 34(1), 275-296. https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2022.1127
  • Wang, L., Luo, X. R., & Li, H. (2022). Envy or conformity? An empirical investigation of peer influence on the purchase of non-functional items in mobile free-to-play games. Journal of Business Research, 147, 308-324. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.04.011
  • Whitehead, J. C., & Cherry, T. L. (2007). Willingness to pay for a green energy program: A comparison of ex-ante and ex-post hypothetical bias mitigation approaches. Resource and Energy Economics, 29(4), 247-261. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.reseneeco.2006.10.001
  • Wilia, T. T., Sari, D. K., & Lenggogeni, S. (2025). Persepsi nilai dan niat pembelian pada layanan premium: Studi kepada para gamers di Indonesia. Ranah Research: Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Development, 7(2), 773-779. https://doi.org/10.38035/rrj.v7i2.1270
  • Wu, B., & Andrizal, K. (2021). Perceived value and willingness to consume in online mobile games. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 49(5), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.10193
  • Zendle, D., Flick, C., Deterding, S., Cutting, J., Gordon-Petrovskaya, E., & Drachen, A. (2023). The many faces of monetisation: Understanding the diversity and extremity of player spending in mobile games via massive-scale transactional analysis. ACM Games: Research and Practice, 1(1), 1-28. https://doi.org/10.1145/3582927

Author Biographies

  • Mahardika Agung Madepo, Universitas Muhammadiyah Pontianak

    Digital Business Study Program, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Muhammadiyah Pontianak, Pontianak City, West Kalimantan Province, Indonesia

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Mahardika Agung Madepo

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

This is an open-access journal. All articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Under this license, you are free to:

  • Share: Copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format.
  • Adapt: Remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.

Attribution Requirements:
You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.

Copyright and Retention:
Authors retain copyright without restrictions and grant this journal the right of first publication under an open-access model. The journal retains non-exclusive publishing rights for archiving, indexing, and scholarly dissemination.

Usage Statistics

Similar Articles

View all similar articles