Continuance use intention with mobile augmented reality games Overall and multigroup analyses on Pokemon Go

Purpose As mobile augmented reality (AR) games enter the maturity stage, understanding how to improve players' continuance use intention with mobile AR games is critical. Drawing upon the uses and gratifications (U&G) theory, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of four major gratifications - content, process, social and technology - and other factors on continuance intention to play mobile AR games. Design/methodology/approach Data collected from 280 Pokemon Go players were used to address research questions. Partial least squares method was employed to assess the relationships in the model and multigroup analysis was conducted based on survey participants' demographics and their gaming experience. Findings Content gratification (i.e. catching Pokemon), process gratification (i.e. entertainment), game knowledge and achievement drive players' continuance use intention. However, social and technology gratifications do not influence players' continuance use intention. Multigroup analysis suggests that mobile AR game developers should capitalize on the fact that different types of gratifications prompt continuance use intention of different user segments in terms of demographics and experience in general mobile games and Pokemon Go. Originality/value The user behavior of mobile AR games has been studied at the early stage of the games, with less attention to variable continuance use intentions across different user segments. This paper attempts to fill the gap by extending the U&G theory to continuance use intention of mobile AR games at the maturity stage and further investigating the importance of player heterogeneity in continuance use intention with mobile AR games. The findings of this study contribute to the literature on U&G, continuance use intention and mobile AR games.