From experience to spending: Female Valorant consumer segment in China
Zhou, Liang (2025)
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025121134892
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025121134892
Tiivistelmä
This thesis examined how Chinese female Valorant players moved from first contact with the game to sustained participation and making purchases on the mainland China server. The aim was to describe and explain their participation journeys, everyday community experiences, and virtual consumption practices.
The study was conducted as a qualitative research study. Fifteen average female players were recruit-ed through Chinese social and gaming platforms. Semi-structured interviews were conducted online, transcribed, anonymized, and analyzed using inductive thematic analysis to identify recurring paths, situations, and decision points.
The findings showed that, first, participation developed through several stages rather than as a single decision. Most interviewees entered the game via short clips, streams, and friends’ demonstrations, and spent long periods of time practicing in low-pressure modes. They finally stayed in the game when they experienced small but visible improvements that were supported by specific, respectful feedback from teammates. Second, their community experiences strongly influenced whether they had the courage to use voice chat and remain in mixed teams. A priori judgement, joking disparagement, and double standards in public voice chats hindered speaking and led to layered coping strategies. At the same time, all-female teams and women-oriented groups offered a temporary “safe space” for playing. Third, in-game spending was guided by a combination of functional feel, emotional fit, and social visibility. Time-limited shop offers and reruns shaped “buy on first seen” behavior, and creator-driven “same item” purchases were only evaluated positively when actual use matched expectations. Across these areas, several recurrent player profiles were identified, each combining different goals, community strategies, and spending orientations.
The study provides a process-based view of female participation in a tactical FPS game and offers practical implications for game and platform design. These include safer voice chat environments, clearer governance feedback, and more transparent store mechanisms.
The study was conducted as a qualitative research study. Fifteen average female players were recruit-ed through Chinese social and gaming platforms. Semi-structured interviews were conducted online, transcribed, anonymized, and analyzed using inductive thematic analysis to identify recurring paths, situations, and decision points.
The findings showed that, first, participation developed through several stages rather than as a single decision. Most interviewees entered the game via short clips, streams, and friends’ demonstrations, and spent long periods of time practicing in low-pressure modes. They finally stayed in the game when they experienced small but visible improvements that were supported by specific, respectful feedback from teammates. Second, their community experiences strongly influenced whether they had the courage to use voice chat and remain in mixed teams. A priori judgement, joking disparagement, and double standards in public voice chats hindered speaking and led to layered coping strategies. At the same time, all-female teams and women-oriented groups offered a temporary “safe space” for playing. Third, in-game spending was guided by a combination of functional feel, emotional fit, and social visibility. Time-limited shop offers and reruns shaped “buy on first seen” behavior, and creator-driven “same item” purchases were only evaluated positively when actual use matched expectations. Across these areas, several recurrent player profiles were identified, each combining different goals, community strategies, and spending orientations.
The study provides a process-based view of female participation in a tactical FPS game and offers practical implications for game and platform design. These include safer voice chat environments, clearer governance feedback, and more transparent store mechanisms.