When does frustration not reduce continuance intention of online gamers? The expectancy disconfirmation perspective

Online game providers frequently encounter a dilemma, i.e., should they design games that offer only a limited challenge or ones that are highly challenging which will likely inspire gamers but may also create frustration. This study contributes to efforts to solve this dilemma by establishing when frustration does not reduce continuance intention and is the first answering this research question. Expectancy disconfirmation theory was used to develop the study hypotheses along with responses from 406 online gamers to test the hypotheses. The analytical results indicate that frustration is negatively related to expectancy disconfirmation only for gamers with a high gaming intensity, but not for gamers with a long gaming history. Moreover, expectancy disconfirmation is positively related to continuance intention. The analytical results theoretically extend the expectancy disconfirmation theory and also enable game providers to design challenging games without losing their gamers.