Choosing a website to play Poker - A comparison between utilitarian and hedonic users

Abstract

The objective of this thesis is to identify the relative importance of criteria in online poker website selection among utilitarian and hedonic poker players. This study aims to reveal whether the relative importance of the criteria varies according to a player's motives for playing. Although user acceptance of both utilitarian and hedonic technologies has been relatively widely studied, similar research on systems that can be used for both purposes appears to be lacking.

To address this issue, extensive research methods are utilized to form thorough understanding of the issue at hand. First, an extensive literature review is conducted to discover potential criteria that are likely to determine whether users will accept or reject a certain poker website, based on previous research on technology acceptance. The recognized criteria are validated through four interviews with utilitarian and hedonic poker players.

To discover the relative importance of criteria for different users, an online survey is conducted, including a Discrete Choice Experiment. Responses are gathered from over 300 respondents, including both utilitarian and hedonic users. The data is thoroughly analyzed to identify the relative importance of the criteria, and to reveal how the motivation for playing affects the order of the criteria.

The findings suggest that the most important criterion for all users is reputation. Network size is also found to be a significant criterion for many poker players, as well as the loyalty program provided by a poker website. The findings also propose that the relative importance of criteria does vary according to a user's motives for playing.