‘Cost’-playing: paid vs. free non-functional virtual goods experiences

• Paid virtual goods, even when identical to free ones, boost consumer enjoyment. • Psychological ownership explains why using paid virtual goods increase enjoyment. • Interoperability of virtual goods is crucial for the platform experience. • This study guides platforms with strategies to enhance user engagement and monetization. The present research examines how paid vs. free non-functional virtual goods influence the enjoyment of overall platform services. Across six studies (i.e., a survey and five online experiments), we find that using paid (vs. free) non-functional virtual goods elicits psychological ownership – the perception of an object as ‘one’s own’– which in turn increases enjoyment. We further examine the moderating role of an emerging phenomenon in online digital services: interoperability. Results indicate that while the main effect is stronger when non-functional virtual goods are interoperable across platforms, low interoperability caps the maximum level of psychological ownership over virtual goods, particularly for paid consumers. The findings contribute to the virtual goods and paid vs. free products literature in marketing and have practical implications for user experience and monetization strategies for gaming operators and freemium online businesses.