Explaining the Continuous Use of Social Virtual Worlds: An Applied Theory of Planned Behavior Approach

Social virtual worlds (SVWs) have become increasingly popular spaces for social interaction. To be attractive to engage with, maintaining a sufficient base of active users is a sine qua non. Using Habbo as an example, this paper develops a framework for investigating the continuous use of social virtual worlds. Based on a detailed review of literature, we propose that a decomposed theory of planned behavior complemented with critical mass and allure of competitors would be an applicable theoretical lens to explain why users continuously engage with a social virtual world. We suggest that the social aspects are of particular importance in determining the continuous use of SVWs. This research attempts to build a theoretical foundation for further studies empirically investigating the phenomenon.