Attitude Toward Playing the Game (ATPG)

Abstract

The Attitude Toward Playing the Game (ATPG) scale is a concise, psychometrically validated three-item self-report instrument developed by Kyle B. Murray and Steven Bellman in 2011. Designed to capture a consumer’s situational, post-consumption evaluation of and affective response to engaging with an interactive video game, the ATPG operationalises consumer demand and preference for experiential, hedonic consumption. Rather than measuring an enduring, dispositional trait such as general computer playfulness or generalized media usage traits, the ATPG isolates an episodic, state-level attitude formed immediately following an interactive play experience. The instrument evaluates three tightly coupled facets of the post-play state: intrinsic hedonic enjoyment, behavioral re-engagement intention, and holistic experiential liking. The scale employs a 7-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (“Strongly disagree”) to 7 (“Strongly agree”), aggregated into a single composite score via arithmetic mean. Across experimental trials investigating skill acquisition, practice schedules, and experiential decision-making, the ATPG exhibits robust internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha exceeding .90), strong unidimensional structural stability, and superior convergent and predictive validity when evaluated against downstream behavioral metrics such as time spent playing, willingness to pay, and voluntary choice persistence. This article provides a comprehensive psychometric review of the ATPG, detailing its theoretical underpinnings, dimensional mechanics, empirical validity, statistical reliability, and scoring protocols for both consumer psychologists and human-computer interaction (HCI) researchers.

Keywords

Attitude Toward Playing the Game, ATPG, hedonic consumption, consumer psychology, video game engagement, intrinsic motivation, psychometrics, experiential marketing, user experience evaluation, interactive media, post-consumption attitude.

Authors

The Attitude Toward Playing the Game scale was introduced by:

• Kyle B. Murray, Ph.D. — Professor of Marketing and former Dean at the Alberta School of Business, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Dr. Murray’s research focuses on consumer judgment, decision-making, digital marketing, and retail customer experiences.
• Steven Bellman, Ph.D. — Research Professor and Director of the Centre for Applied Research in Media and Information (CARMI) at Murdoch University, Perth, Australia; formerly of the Interactive Television Research Institute (ITRI). Dr. Bellman’s scholarship centers on interactive television, digital media engagement, advertising effectiveness, and consumer-technology interfaces.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Attitude Toward Playing the Game (ATPG) scale is to deliver an efficient, standardized, and theoretically rigorous measurement of consumer demand and post-consumption affective utility for interactive hedonic experiences. In contemporary consumer behavior and experiential marketing scholarship, measuring the value extracted from utilitarian goods is often straightforward—relying on metrics of efficiency, functional performance, and cost savings. Conversely, measuring experiential goods—defined by Holbrook and Hirschman (1982) as goods consumed primarily for emotional arousal, aesthetic enjoyment, sensory stimulation, and fun—presents complex psychometric challenges.

Murray and Bellman (2011) designed the ATPG specifically to serve as a high-precision dependent variable in experimental investigations exploring how learning, cognitive practice schedules, and skill progression influence hedonic demand. When consumers practice an interactive task (such as a casual video game), changes in their affective evaluation of that experience reflect the cognitive and hedonic value derived from mastery. Traditional consumer satisfaction scales often place excessive weight on product attributes or cognitive expectations-disconfirmation paradigms, which can obscure the purely experiential, dynamic pleasure of interactive gameplay.

In both research and practical contexts, the ATPG fulfills multiple roles:

• Experimental Dependent Measure: Quantifying how situational variables—such as difficulty curves, practice regimes, user interface responsiveness, or reward mechanics—modulate immediate consumer preferences.
• A/B Testing and Usability Research: Assisting game designers, software engineers, and UX researchers in benchmarking player reception immediately following play sessions, playtests, or onboarding tutorials.
• Gamification Evaluation: Evaluating non-entertainment platforms (e.g., educational software, gamified wellness applications, interactive e-commerce platforms) to determine if gamified elements generate genuine hedonic engagement rather than cognitive fatigue or frustration.

Crucially, the scale addresses the need to minimize respondent burden in multi-round experimental designs. In studies requiring consumers to complete repetitive trials under varying cognitive loads or practice regimens, administering extensive batteries can induce survey fatigue and distort post-experience evaluations. The three-item architecture of the ATPG circumvents this issue while maintaining the structural fidelity needed for structural equation modeling (SEM) and regression analyses.

Psychological Construct

The ATPG operationalizes a state-based, affective-behavioral attitude toward a discrete experiential consumption episode. Rooted in the multi-component view of attitudes (Eagly & Chaiken, 1993), an attitude represents a psychological tendency expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor. Within the context of hedonic video game play, this evaluation is not formed through detached, rational deliberation of feature specifications; rather, it is synthesized from experiential sensations, intrinsic pleasure, and the cognitive appraisal of one’s engagement during the activity.

The ATPG synthesizes three core facets into a unified, unidimensional psychological construct:

• Hedonic Enjoyment: Operationalized by the assertion that the activity was “enjoyable.” Enjoyment is the primary subjective dimension of hedonic consumption. As conceptualized by Csikszentmihalyi’s flow theory and Deci and Ryan’s Self-Determination Theory (SDT), enjoyment emerges when an individual experiences intrinsic satisfaction, task absorption, and positive affect free from external pressures. The scale captures the emotional residue of this state.
• Behavioral Re-engagement Intention: Operationalized by the forward-looking desire to play the game again. Attitude strength is intimately tied to behavioral intention (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975). When an experiential activity satisfies hedonic needs, it produces an immediate appetite for continuation or repetition. Measuring re-engagement intentions prevents the scale from capturing passive, inert amusement and instead indexes active consumer demand.
• Holistic Experiential Liking: Operationalized by the global evaluation that the participant “liked playing this game.” While enjoyment captures emotional resonance and re-engagement indexes behavioral drive, liking reflects the overarching evaluative appraisal of the experience. It integrates sensory impressions, cognitive challenges, and affective peaks into a stable cognitive judgment.

Importantly, the construct captured by the ATPG must be distinguished from generalized constructs such as trait gaming playfulness, video game affinity, or brand equity. The ATPG is localized in time and object; it reflects the consumer’s appraisal of the immediate encounter with the specific software architecture. It represents an episodic state variable, sensitive to contextual fluctuations such as latency, game difficulty, practice patterns, and personal agency.

Theoretical Framework

The conceptual architecture of the ATPG rests upon three interconnected theoretical traditions in consumer psychology, cognitive economics, and motivation science: Hedonic Consumption Theory, Skill Acquisition and the Learning Curve, and Self-Determination Theory.

Hedonic Consumption and Experiential Value

Traditional economic and consumer theories historically treated consumers as rational, information-processing decision-makers focused on utilitarian problem-solving (Bettman, 1979). In contrast, the experiential perspective pioneered by Holbrook and Hirschman (1982) posits that consumption often centers on fantasies, feelings, and fun. In hedonic consumption, value does not reside within an inert physical object or a static service output; rather, it is co-created during the temporal engagement between the consumer and the stimulus.

Because the core value proposition of a video game is experiential pleasure rather than functional utility, classic metrics (e.g., perceived usefulness or ease of use from the Technology Acceptance Model) fail to capture whether the experience was inherently rewarding. The ATPG provides a psychometric translation of experiential value by treating the game not as a utility tool, but as an affective stimulus evaluated through positive emotional resonance.

Productive Play and Practice Regimens

Murray and Bellman’s (2011) primary theoretical advance was the conceptualization of “productive play time.” Drawing on cognitive learning theory (Anderson, 1982; Newell & Rosenbloom, 1981), the authors demonstrated that skill acquisition in hedonic tasks follows systematic cognitive laws. However, unlike utilitarian tasks—where increased skill universally improves efficiency and objective performance—hedonic activities present a psychological trade-off: practice enhances competence, but over-repetition can induce cognitive satiation and boredom.

Murray and Bellman explored how practice schedules (e.g., massed versus distributed practice) influence consumers’ subjective demand for the hedonic experience. The ATPG serves as the vital psychological conduit in this framework, assessing how the cognitive ease gained through practice balances against the psychological threat of monotony to shape final consumer demand.

Self-Determination Theory and Intrinsic Motivation

Under Ryan and Deci’s (2000) Self-Determination Theory, intrinsic motivation flourishes when an environment supports three basic psychological needs: competence, autonomy, and relatedness. Interactive digital games serve as premier laboratories for intrinsic motivation because they offer immediate feedback, progressive mastery, and autonomous agency. The ATPG assesses the emotional and behavioral manifestations of these satisfied needs. When players achieve competence through practice without feeling coerced, the ATPG registers elevated ratings across its enjoyment, liking, and re-play intentions.

Validity

The ATPG possesses robust empirical validation documented across experimental trials in marketing, media psychology, and human-computer interaction literature.

Construct and Convergent Validity

Construct validity denotes the degree to which an instrument accurately operationalizes its theoretical target. In the foundational studies conducted by Murray and Bellman (2011), the ATPG demonstrated substantial convergent validity when correlated with conceptually related constructs. Specifically, ATPG scores correlated strongly and positively with:

• Flow State Measures: Instruments assessing focused attention, temporal distortion, and intrinsic reward during gameplay (r = .68 to .76, p < .001).
• Attitude Toward the Ad / Site: Standardized measures of consumer attitudes toward the hosting website or digital interactive environment (r = .61 to .72, p < .001).
• Perceived Competence: Self-reported feelings of mastery and gaming self-efficacy post-practice (r = .52 to .64, p < .01).

Discriminant Validity

Discriminant validity requires that the scale does not conflate its focal construct with related but distinct phenomena. In structural equation modeling evaluations using the Fornell-Larcker criterion, the average variance extracted (AVE) for the ATPG exceeded .75 across experimental conditions, noticeably higher than the squared correlations between the ATPG and extraneous constructs such as general computer self-efficacy (r² < .18), baseline mood prior to the experiment (r² < .09), or demographic traits. This confirms that the instrument reliably differentiates situational game attitude from general affective traits or baseline digital literacy.

Predictive and Criterion-Related Validity

The predictive utility of the ATPG is particularly notable when evaluating downstream consumer behaviors. In experimental consumer settings:

• Willingness to Pay (WTP): Higher ATPG scores significantly predicted higher financial willingness to purchase full versions of the software or in-game microtransactions (β = .44, t = 5.82, p < .001).
• Voluntary Time Allocation: In free-choice paradigms where participants could choose between continuing the game or switching to alternate entertainment/utilitarian tasks, ATPG scores predicted the number of voluntary minutes spent playing (β = .51, p < .001).
• Word-of-Mouth (WOM) Intentions: The scale accounted for over 48% of the variance in participants’ willingness to recommend the interactive experience to peers.

Reliability

Reliability evaluates the precision, stability, and internal consistency of an instrument across administrations. Given that the ATPG is an episodic state measure, internal consistency is the paramount reliability standard, as test-retest reliability can be confounded by natural shifts in player satiety, skill decay, or boredom over time.

Internal Consistency

Across empirical marketing and media psychology literature, the ATPG consistently meets and exceeds rigorous psychometric benchmarks:

• In the original validation studies by Murray and Bellman (2011), the scale yielded high internal consistency coefficients, with Cronbach’s alpha values ranging between α = .91 and α = .95 across varied practice and difficulty treatments.
• Subsequent replications using interactive educational software and casual mobile games have reported composite reliability (CR) metrics consistently exceeding .92, well above the conventional threshold of .70 recommended by Nunnally and Bernstein (1994).
• Inter-item correlations among the three items typically fall between r = .75 and r = .88, confirming that while each item approaches the target construct from a slightly different angle (affect, behavior, global evaluation), they collectively capture a tightly unified conceptual domain.

Measurement Equivalence and Invariance

Testing for measurement invariance across disparate demographic groups (e.g., casual vs. hardcore gamers, male vs. female participants) has supported full metric and scalar invariance. Factor loadings and item intercepts remain statistically equivalent across participant skill levels, confirming that variations in ATPG scores reflect genuine shifts in experiential evaluation rather than structural measurement artifacts.

Factor Analysis

The structural dimensionality of the Attitude Toward Playing the Game scale has been verified through both Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA).

Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA)

When subjected to principal axis factoring and maximum likelihood extraction with oblique or orthogonal rotations, the three items reliably resolve into a single, clean factor:

• Eigenvalues: A single dominant factor emerges with an eigenvalue typically exceeding 2.45, accounting for over 82% to 88% of the total item variance.
• Scree Plot Examination: The scree plot shows a sharp drop-off after the first factor, with second-factor eigenvalues consistently remaining below 0.35, firmly establishing unidimensionality.
• Factor Loadings: Standardized factor loadings across diverse experimental play sessions consistently exceed .85, as illustrated in the typical matrix below:

Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA)

Because a standard three-item single-factor model has zero degrees of freedom (df = 0) and is mathematically just-identified (saturated), empirical fit evaluation requires either multi-group constraints or embedding the ATPG within a broader structural equation model containing antecedents (e.g., practice trials, task difficulty) and consequences (e.g., purchase intent, retention time).

When evaluated within expanded structural models, the ATPG consistently displays excellent fit indices:

• Comparative Fit Index (CFI): > .98
• Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI): > .97
• Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA): < .05 (with 90% confidence intervals spanning .000 to .068)
• Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR): < .03

These indices confirm that conceptualizing the three items as manifestations of a single latent hedonic attitude construct is statistically justified and structurally robust.

Instrument / Measurement Tool

• Instrument Name: Attitude Toward Playing the Game (ATPG)
• Alternative Name in Literature: Attitude Toward the Game (A_Game)
• Authors: Kyle B. Murray and Steven Bellman (2011)
• Construct Measured: Consumer post-experience hedonic evaluation and situational demand for an interactive video game.
• Administration Type: Self-report questionnaire; administered immediately post-gameplay via digital or paper formats.
• Number of Items: 3 items
• Dimensionality: Unidimensional (single latent factor)
• Response Scale: 7-point Likert-type scale anchored from 1 = “Strongly disagree” to 7 = “Strongly agree”
• Reverse-Scored Items: None (all items are positively phrased)
• Scoring Procedure: Items are summed and averaged to produce a composite mean score ranging from 1.00 to 7.00. Higher mean scores indicate a more positive attitude, greater hedonic enjoyment, and stronger demand to re-engage with the game.
• Completion Time: Approximately 30 to 60 seconds.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

• Publication Year: 2011
• Original Source: Published in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science (Volume 39, Issue 3, pp. 376–391).
• Copyright Status: Academic copyright belongs to the Academy of Marketing Science and Springer Nature. The instrument items, however, are published within the public scholarly domain for scientific, educational, and research use.
• Licensing and Fees: The scale is an open psychometric tool. Non-commercial researchers and educators may use the three items without paying licensing fees or requesting explicit formal permission, provided proper academic attribution is given to Murray and Bellman (2011).
• Commercial Applications: Commercial practitioners incorporating the scale into proprietary gaming analytics packages or monetization software should consult Springer Nature’s permissions portal (RightsLink) to verify rights compliance.

References

• Anderson, J. R. (1982). Acquisition of cognitive skill. Psychological Review, 89(4), 369–406. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.89.4.369
• Bettman, J. R. (1979). An Information Processing Theory of Consumer Choice. Addison-Wesley.
• Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Harper & Row.
• Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227–268. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1104_01
• Eagly, A. H., & Chaiken, S. (1993). The Psychology of Attitudes. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers.
• Fishbein, M., & Ajzen, I. (1975). Belief, Attitude, Intention, and Behavior: An Introduction to Theory and Research. Addison-Wesley.
• Holbrook, M. B., & Hirschman, E. C. (1982). The experiential aspects of consumption: Consumer fantasies, feelings, and fun. Journal of Consumer Research, 9(2), 132–140. https://doi.org/10.1086/208906
• Murray, K. B., & Bellman, S. (2011). Productive play time: The effect of practice on consumer demand for hedonic experiences. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 39(3), 376–391. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-010-0226-9
• Newell, A., & Rosenbloom, P. S. (1981). Mechanisms of skill acquisition and the law of practice. In J. R. Anderson (Ed.), Cognitive Skills and Their Acquisition (pp. 1–55). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
• Nunnally, J. C., & Bernstein, I. H. (1994). Psychometric Theory (3rd ed.). McGraw-Hill.

Items of the Scale