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Article

Examining the User Engagement on Mind-Sport Online Games: A Social Cognitive Theory and Word-of-Mouth Based Model Proposal

by
Manuela Linares
1,*,
M. Dolores Gallego
2 and
Salvador Bueno
2
1
Business Management Engineering, Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas, Lima 15023, Peru
2
Department of Management and Marketing, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, 41013 Sevilla, Spain
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Big Data Cogn. Comput. 2025, 9(4), 91; https://doi.org/10.3390/bdcc9040091
Submission received: 28 February 2025 / Revised: 26 March 2025 / Accepted: 7 April 2025 / Published: 9 April 2025
Browse Figure
Versions Notes

Abstract

:
Online gamers have increased exponentially in the last few years in all types of online games, including mind-sport games. These games, like Bridge or Chess, have been traditionally played face-to-face. Nowadays more and more players prefer to use online platforms to play mind-sport games. Previous studies have investigated different aspects of online games and even a few on mind-sport games. However, the frameworks WOM (Word-of-Mouth) and SCT (Social Cognitive Theory) have been sparsely used in this context. In this manner, the present article proposes two objectives: (1) using the SCT in order to analyse the impact of the sociological factor on user engagement in mind-sport online games and (2) analysing how the WOM affects user engagement in mind-sport online games. Specifically, the proposed PLS-SEM model is defined by combining five constructs from these frameworks: (1) health consciousness, (2) WOM and emotional behaviour, (3) self-efficacy, (4) cognitive engagement, and (5) behavioural intention. The findings reveal that health consciousness affects WOM and emotional behaviour in a positive way as players desire well-being. Also, WOM and emotional behaviour affect cognitive engagement, as positive comments encourage high-skill gamers in mind sports. Finally, this study shows how the environmental factor of SCT is represented by WOM and emotional behaviour in an indirect way and the personal factor represented by self-efficacy in a direct way to positively influence behaviour intention.

1. Introduction

The current post-pandemic time has driven governments, companies, and individuals to successfully adapt to “the new normal” with innovative Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) solutions [1]. In this context, the online games market has a significant impact on the global economy and is expected to continue doing so. In this way, it is predicted that the video game industry will reach a revenue of US $26.14bn in 2023, US $32.56bn by 2027, and 1.2bn users by 2027 [2].
For instance, the mind sport online game Bridge, which, according to the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL), is considered the largest bridge organisation worldwide, has experienced significant growth regarding the number of tables played online since the isolation generated from social distance [3]. In a similar way, the number of active gamers has increased from approximately 8 million to nearly 17 million on Chess.com from October 2020 to April 2022 [4]. Also, new online tournaments have taken place, like the “Check-mate Coronavirus” launched by the International Chess Federation with 1.5 million games across 2000 tournaments or the Carlsen Chess Tour with a $1 million combined purse, among others [5]. As a result, more and more mind-sport gamers prefer to play through a platform rather than face-to-face, growing the migration from offline to online. These increases in players in mind-sport online games show the importance of understanding their engagement in online bridge and chess platforms. Thus, this study focuses on two online mind-sport games: Bridge and Chess.
Additionally, there has been an increase in mental health-related problems during the COVID-19 pandemic [6,7], and some even stretch to post-pandemic, as a previous study identifies 83% of participants with a level of insomnia severity index above the threshold [8]. Also, news business models, like game studios, were created during COVID-19 and continue growing [9].
Furthermore, there is a gap in the literature, as the constructs of Self-efficacy and WOM have been used in different hypotheses trying to explain the relationship between them and the continuance intention of use. For example, other studies explore the effects of Self-efficacy as a moderated construct in the hypotheses of factors that affect WOM [10,11]. Additional articles investigated the hypothesis that Self-efficacy affects WOM [12,13,14]. Moreover, the constructs WOM and Self-efficacy have been used in previous research as factors that cause continuance intention [15,16]. There have been different results; for example, Ref. [15] only supports the hypothesis that WOM affects continuance intention; on the other hand, Ref. [16] supports both hypotheses. Showing the importance of addressing these constructs in further research to uncover the real relationship between them.
In fact, there are some variations on how the SCT has been applied in different studies. For instance, some researchers have only borrowed the self-efficacy construct for their proposed model [17,18,19], while others include the personal, environmental, and behavioural factors, using the behaviour factor as a continuance intention construct [14,20,21,22,23] or even including a separate construct for continuance use [24]. According to previous studies, self-efficacy affects behavioural intention [21]. Correspondingly, self-education increases academic achievement [17], showing the importance of individual skills. More specifically, online game individual skills increase online game loyalty in a more significant way than game streaming watching [22], displaying the magnitude of self-efficacy. Also, social influence intensifies behavioural intention [21]. Similarly, social effects strengthen online game cheating [23], illustrating the value in environmental factors. Additionally, game-related social connectivity impacts online game loyalty in a more significant way than online game cooperative knowledge [22]. Unveiling the worth of WOM.
The present research has two objectives: (1) using the SCT (Social Cognitive Theory) to analyse the impact of the sociological factor in user engagement on mind-sport online games and (2) analysing how the WOM (Word-of-Mouth) affects user engagement on mind-sport online games. There is been a major increase in the number of players in the game industry [2], highlighting the necessity to develop more online games. As the digital economy grows, so does the demand for more engaging and challenging online games [9]. Thus, the great importance of understanding the effects of sociological factors on user engagement. Additionally, previous studies show that social influence drives online game behaviour [21,22,23].
In order to reach both objectives, the proposed model is mainly based on two approaches: (1) SCT and (2) WOM. On the one hand, the SCT environmental factor helps to analyse the social elements that drive engagement, as well as the personal factors that aid in understanding the players behaviour intention towards online mind-sport games. On the other hand, the positive WOM influence by the health consciousness will be used as the environmental factor of the SCT to grasp the players cognitive engagement. In order to reach both objectives, a survey has been elaborated and released to players of mind-sport games, obtaining 208 valid responses. All participants play either chess or bridge online, achieving an average of approximately 10 h spent playing per week. The dataset was processed using the proposed model and the SEM methodology with SPSS and Smart-PLS software.
This study is structured as follows. Section 2 describes the theoretical background based on the literature and the proposed frameworks of this research. Section 3 explains how the proposed model has been tested and the participants involved. Section 4 shows the results and the hypotheses testing. Section 5 incorporates the discussions that emerge from the results. Finally, Section 6 exposes conclusions, limitations and future directions.

2. Research Frameworks and Hypothesis Development

2.1. Social Cognitive Theory

The Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) posits that external, behavioural and personal factors impact people’s behaviour [25,26,27]. In this manner, a person is capable of selecting and processing cognitive information in order to learn a specific behaviour [28]. In addition, a behaviour is ruled not only by cognitive processes but also by social processes as well [27]. As a consequence, people’s behaviour will be influenced by both personal and environmental factors [26]. Therefore, people’s behaviour will gravitate towards rewarding behaviour or if there is some value in them [28].
Furthermore, players in mind-sport games must have high confidence in their abilities and skills in order to play. Correspondingly, the more they believe in their own skills, the more self-efficient they will be, and consequently, the behaviour intention will increase [21]. In addition, gamers find support in interaction with other players, like team members [29], and they can be influenced by the social interaction during the game [20]. Similarly, the SCT main personal factor is self-efficiency, and the social context is a key environmental factor [25]. In this manner, the SCT is well suited to understand the players behaviour [21,28,30].
In particular, the actions developed by players in mind-sports as a bridge are influenced by their partner and/or rivals during the game [31]. Similarly, the social interaction during the game is one of the main motivations for people to play mind sports [32]. This aspect highlights the importance of the cultural context within mind-sport games [31]. In a similar way, the social environment has a great impact on the dimension of community loyalty [27]. Indeed, a sort of elite group within the players is created in mind-sport [31], generating a community around the game.
Also, the complexity of a mind sport in itself requires a high cognitive function to be able to succeed [31]. Players perceived ability to achieve the game goals increases the perceived goal proximity, growing their desire to play [33]. In addition, playing online brings more functionality to the mind-sport game, having all the information from each game store as data in the platform. Thus, after a game, players can review scores and statistics from each move during the game so they can understand if they made the right decision during the game or not and learn from it [34]. Furthermore, the possibility to engage in an online environment reduces the fear of social risk, wars and terrorism, as the gamers do not have to travel to play the game [35]. Instead, they can engage in the mind sport from their home [35]. Moreover, players cognitive abilities are increasing with the help of an online platform [36]. Besides, the brain cognitive process is complemented with the game information system processing, which releases the brain from part of the cognitive process [36]. Consequently, this study will use the SCT, focusing on the personal and environmental factors to better understand the players’ mind-sport behaviour intentions.

2.2. Word-of-Mouth (WOM)

In marketing WOM has been widely use to promote customer loyalty, trust and/or brand identity [37,38,39,40]. It has also been used in other fields like ICT, expanding with the EWOM and taking advantage of the information online, such as social media, virtual communities [41,42,43]. Also, in the online game industry [44,45,46,47].
People interactions are not exclusive to the offline world, as a group of friends may discuss their experiences, or even a volunteer may call to share some experience on a specific matter, but it can be extended to the online world as well through social media, blogs and more [48]. In fact, in this digital age, there is also EWOM composed of the user comments and/or ratings on a platform giving recommendations and/or feedback to other users [49]. In addition, customers are free to reply to any comment they encounter interacting with the user of the initial comment, giving WOM power to influence customer future behaviour towards the product or brand [50].
In this manner, WOM occurs when users comment about their experience with a particular product or brand in a written or oral way, providing marketing information [51]. There can be a negative WOM, which denigrates the object of the discussion, or a positive WOM, which encourage behaviour intention toward the object of discussion [50]. In addition, nowadays, customers are more alert and distrusting of traditional advertising, turning to trust other customers points of view, giving WOM more influence over them [52]. Correspondingly, WOM has become one of the most credible sources of information for users, due to this information being not only obtained from a personal source, but also allowing them to interact directly with the other customer [51]. Accordingly, the WOM does not finish with a customer comment. Instead, it continues with the interaction of other customers who may have a different experience with the product or brand, and these response comments may change the initial customer opinion [53].
The negative WOM increases distrust, which reduces perceived ease of use, reducing adoption intention [38]. As a result, this study focuses on positive WOM and how this can influence gamers engagement within the online platform. From the literature, positive WOM communication increases brand credibility, also self-brand connections, and indirectly brand loyalty [37]. It stands to reason that positive WOM affects engagement. This study is concentrated on cognitive engagement in mind-sport online games.
As the pandemic has increased health consciousness; it is more important for gamers to feel safe while playing mind sports. Indeed, a previous study postulates that the perceived security and safety increase positive WOM intention [41]. This study explores the relation between health consciousness and WOM and emotional behaviour. Basically, players with a high health consciousness will prefer to play online rather than travel for a face-to-face game [35]. In addition, these players will encourage others to perform the same using positive WOM.

2.3. Proposed Model and Hypotheses

The proposed model is represented in Figure 1. The WOM and emotional behaviour construct refers to the environmental factor of the SCT [52,54]. Furthermore, the environmental factor can work as facilitators encouraging the behaviour or as barriers preventing it [29]. As a result, the health consciousness [55] construct influences the environmental factor of the SCT, as the pandemic crisis has driven companies and individuals to “the new normal” [1].
In addition, personal factors of the SCT are represented with the self-efficacy [56] construct in the proposed model. This construct has been widely used in several studies, as it measures the person’s belief in accomplishing a certain goal [21,28,29,30,33]. Besides, the SCT helps to understand the player’s cognitive engagement [54] construct and behavioural intention [54,57] construct.
Furthermore, different studies have used the SCT to understand motivation [33] or loyalty [27], which are both related to engagement. In this study it is particularly important for cognitive engagement, as the subjects are mind-sport gamers. Finally, the behaviour intention construct is a pivotal element in the SCT, as it represents the future behaviour of the individual [20,21,27,28,30,35]. Finally, the WOM and emotional behaviour represent the environmental factor, and the self-efficacy embodies the personal factor that influences the behaviour intention in the SCT.
Moreover, previous studies use different constructs within the environmental and personal factors [18,20,21,23,24]. However, the constructs that are affect frequently in a more significant way are the social influence in the environmental factor and self-efficiency in the personal factor [17,19,21]. Exposing the relevance for a better understanding of social influence, in this study represented by the constructs WOM and Emotional Behaviour and the self-efficacy constructs. And their effects, direct or indirect, on the behaviour intention.

2.3.1. Health Consciousness

Health consciousness refers to the awareness of people and their commitment to increase or maintain their personal health [55]. During the global pandemic crisis, stress and loneliness increase due to the isolation measures taken by the government. Thus, people were drawn to online platforms, like online games, increasing their normal usage. Furthermore, the interaction with other players in a virtual world helps them alleviate the stress and loneliness [58]. Similarly, gamers who suffered from emotional distress due to the pandemic crisis increased their emotional engagement in online games [59]. Also, people with a high level of health consciousness are more willing to accept health-related messages [55], which can be distributed by means of WOM.
Thus, a higher health consciousness will generate greater WOM and emotional behaviour. As a result, the following hypothesis is presented:
Hypothesis 1 (H1).
Health consciousness impacts positively on WOM and Emotional Behaviour.

2.3.2. WOM and Emotional Behaviour

The WOM and emotional behaviour construct represents how players interact, sharing information [52] in a positive way about an online game [54]. Correspondingly, EWOM has increased exponentially in the last few years, providing gamers with online reviews [45]. Moreover, there is a clear connection between WOM and customer-brand relationships [37]. In fact, the stronger the player’s affection for the platform, the more identified he is with the game [40]. As a result, the construct WOM and emotional behaviour is used in this study. In addition, positive WOM communication increases brand credibility [37], which is associated with cognitive engagement.
Consequently, WOM and emotional behaviour will generate a greater cognitive engagement. Therefore, the following hypothesis is proposed:
Hypothesis 2 (H2).
WOM and Emotional Behaviour impacts positively on Cognitive Engagement.

2.3.3. Self-Efficacy

The self-efficacy construct embodies the personal factor in the SCT [56]. This construct is referred to the perception of players on their own abilities to achieve the game goals [21,33]. In the same way, players optimism is related to self-efficacy, given that it measures gamers feelings toward achieving the game goals [60]. Correspondingly, self-efficacy level is defined by the player itself based on his/her own beliefs [29]. In other words, players outcome expectations (utilitarian or hedonic) will impact the behaviour intention within the game [20].
Therefore, a relationship between self-efficacy and behaviour intention could be identified [20,33]. In fact, a superior self-efficacy could generate a greater behaviour intention [21]. Hence, the following hypothesis is defined:
Hypothesis 3 (H3).
Self-efficacy impacts positively on Behaviour Intention.

2.3.4. Cognitive Engagement and Behaviour Intention

The cognitive engagement construct represents the level of mind-sport players interaction, like the cognitive dimension of consumers’ brand engagement [54]. Correspondingly, mind sports, like bridge and chess, demand strategy, planning and cognitive abilities [31], indicating that this dimension is the most important to engage players [32,61]. Furthermore, previous studies support the idea that players cognitive processes can be expanded with online platforms, helping the gamers’ cognitive processes while increasing their engagement in the game [36]. As a consequence, players attention in the game increases, while improving their engagement and subsequently their behaviour intention [29].
Therefore, a relationship between cognitive engagement and behaviour intention could be identified [36]. Thus, a greater cognitive engagement will generate a higher behaviour intention [29]. In this manner, the following hypothesis is offered:
Hypothesis 4 (H4).
Cognitive Engagement impacts positively on Behaviour Intention.
The behaviour intention construct measures the players intention to continue using the online game [57]. Also, this construct refers to the actual behaviour toward the online platform, like the preference for bridge and/or chess online mind-sport over other online platforms [54].
This construct has been widely used in several studies using SCT, such as behavioural intention [21], continuance intention [20], game usage [33], community loyalty behaviour [27], and the behavioural intention of healthy food [30], among others. Likewise, other models use behavioural intention to use [35], travel intention [62], continued use intention [63], among others.

3. Materials and Methods

This study proposed an SCT-WOM-based model using PLS-SEM. Previous studies based on SCT or WOM have used PLS-SEM, demonstrating that it is the appropriate method for these theories [20,21,30,38,41,44]. In that respect, the dataset has been obtained through a survey. Therefore, SEM permits testing observable and unobservable dimensions from a relational model [64].
It is relevant to understand the differences between PLS-SEM and covariance-based structural equation modelling (CB-SEM) methods. Even though they both help to evaluate models with cause-effect relationships between latent constructs, they do it in a different manner. For instance, PLS-SEM does not need the data to assume a normal distribution and can use smaller sample sizes, granted the precision increases with a larger sample size [65,66].

3.1. Participants

The participants in this research have been players of the online mind sports Bridge and/or Chess. The survey was sent using social media, mainly Facebook and LinkedIn, because both social media have a great number of Bridge and Chess groups with a large number of members. A URL with the questionnaire was sent upon the participants agreeing to take part in the study. The survey was conducted from May to September 2022. During this period, 211 questionnaires were gathered, from which only 208 responses were valid. Taking into account a statistical power of 80% and assuming a 1% significance level and an R2 = 0.1, this sample size is greater than the recommended [66].
The demographic profile of the participants is shown in Table 1. It is noted that more than 62% of the participants are between the ages of 50 and 79, and also more than 46% are between 60 and 79 years of age. Furthermore, more than 74% of the participants play at least one mind-sport game online a day. In addition, 60.58% of the participants are male.

3.2. Instrument

The instrument to gather the dataset was a questionnaire. This questionnaire was created using previous relevant literature to this study’s theoretical framework. Appendix A shows the item descriptions and sources for the five constructs. The instrument was designed online using Google Forms.
The questionnaire had two parts. The first one contains demographic questions to determine the participant’s profile. In the second part, 24 items were used to measure the five constructs of the proposed model: (1) health consciousness, (2) WOM and emotional behaviour, (3) self-efficacy, (4) cognitive engagement and (5) behaviour intention. In fact, a 9-point Likert scale was used for each item. In this manner, the participants were able to respond with their level of agreement with the item, being (1) “strongly disagree” and (9) “strongly agree”. Several studies that applied the SCT used the Likert scale to measure their constructs [20,27,30,41,50,58,59,62].

3.3. Data Analysis

The software SPSS v. 26 and Smarts PLS v. 4.0.8.8 have been used in the analysis of this study. More specifically, descriptive statistics and reliability analysis were measured with SPSS software. Also, the correlation coefficient was verified in the proposed model using the Smart PLS software.

4. Results

This study assessed the validity of the model by assessing internal composite reliability, measuring Cronbach’s Alpha, and measuring composite reliability. In addition, the convergent and discriminant validity was tested with a factor analysis of the constructs.

4.1. Convergent Validity

The convergent validity for the measurements has been analysed for all the constructs. In order to affirm the convergent validity, first, Average Variance Extracted (AVE) should have values greater than 0.5. Secondly, Cronbach’s Alpha must be at least 0.7 or higher. Finally, factor loadings have to be more than 0.70 [67,68]. In particular, all these values are above their thresholds. In addition, all loadings for each construct were higher than 0.70 [69]. As a consequence, the convergent validity is met.

4.2. Discriminant Validity

This study used factor loading and AVE measurements in order to aid in assessing the discriminant validity. In this manner, for each construct, AVEs squared root is higher than between correlations [67]. Moreover, all the indicators have a greater factor loading in their own construct than with any other construct in the proposed model [70]. Thus, the discriminant validity has been proved for the constructs in the proposed model.

4.3. Model Test

The calculation of the explained variance and the path coefficient relationship in the proposed model (Appendix B) has been estimated using the Smart PLS v. 4.0.8.8 software with the bootstrapping procedure of 5000 samples.
All hypotheses were supported in the proposed model. Table 2 shows the statistical significance of each hypothesis relation [71]. Furthermore, Appendix B displays the proposed model and the results. In addition, the percentage of the variance per construct is describe with R2. For instance, 51.2% of behaviour intention to play mind-sport online, 43.2% of cognitive engagement and 16.3% of WOM and emotional behaviour, are explain in this model. Moreover, Table 2 illustrates how significant is the prediction of each hypothesis with the coefficient path. Specifically, each hypothesis shows how strong those predictions are as follows: (1) health consciousness project WOM and emotional behaviour with β = 0.404 (p < 0.001), (2) WOM and emotional behaviour prognosticate cognitive engagement with β = 0.657 (p < 0.001), (3) self-efficacy foresees behaviour intention with β = 0.444 (p < 0.001), and (4) cognitive engagement estimates behaviour intention with β = 0.420 (p < 0.001).

5. Discussion

Current trend towards a sustainable, healthy lifestyle has prompted a higher health consciousness in each person regarding their wellbeing [30]. For instance, the emotional distress created by the global pandemic crisis and its imposed isolation period was reduced by increasing online activity [35]. For example, online gaming increases the emotional engagement in online games [59]. In this context, the proposed model has shown the relationship between health consciousness and WOM and emotional behaviour (Hypothesis H1). This hypothesis is supported in this research, as it was expected based on previous studies. As a result, an increase in health consciousness will increase the emotional engagement, generating positive WOM from gamers about the online platform. This study shows that 16.3% of the WOM and emotional behaviour is explained by the health consciousness.
Moreover, the present study has demonstrated that WOM and emotional behaviour impact cognitive engagement in a positive way (Hypothesis H2). In fact, these results are in line with the previous literature. Moreover, a previous study shows that an increase in EWOM will increase customers’ engagement with the hotel [53]. However, Ref. [62] posited that cognitive factors positively affect WOM, and from the three factors used in that research, only one is supported. The difference in the direction of the relationship between these constructs can be explained, as this study focuses on how WOM created by previous users positively affects cognitive engagement in current users [72] and subsequently behaviour intention [73,74]. In contrast, Ref. [62] focuses on the cognitive factor of travel vlogs to drive users to generate WOM and subsequently intention to travel. Thus, the cognitive construct is from a different element than the WOM. In addition, the proposed model supports the Hypothesis H4, expressing that an increase in cognitive engagement increases behaviour intention. This is in line with the literature, as cognitive processing positively affects brand usage intention [54].
It is highlighted that Hypothesis H3, self-efficacy impacts directly and positively on behaviour intention, even though is supported in this study there are contradictive findings in previous studies. According to [21], self-efficacy has positive on behaviour intention. In another previous study, self-efficacy affects negatively on behaviour intention [56]. This can be explained as the mention previous study focuses on an assistance application. Therefore, it stands to reason that a user who is very confident in his ability to use a platform, would have no intention of using an assistance application of the platform. The positive direct relationship between self-efficacy and behaviour intention is in agreement with SCT [21]. Furthermore, the SCT involves personal and environmental factor that influence the behaviour [20,27]. This study identified self-efficacy with the personal factor and WOM and emotional behaviour with the environmental factor, both influences, the first one directly and the second indirectly, on the behaviour intention. Future research can focus on self-presence as it can influence players behavioural intention [28,30]; this construct can complement the self-efficacy within the SCT.

6. Conclusions

This study focuses on two objectives: (1) using the SCT to analyse the impact of the sociological factor in user engagement on mind-sport online games and (2) analysing how the WOM affects the user engagement on mind-sport online games. On the one hand, the first objective has been covered by the theoretical background and demonstrated with the results. Correspondingly, from the literature, the SCT is composed of environmental, personal, and behavioural factors, represented in this study with the WOM and emotional behaviour, self-efficacy, and behavioural intention constructs, respectively.
This study helps to unveil the relationship between sociological factors and engagement, bringing a valuable insight to academia and the gaming industry. Specifically aiding game developers to create more engaging mind-sport online games. Also, it helps to understand the importance of WOM and emotional behaviour, in particular the effect it has on cognitive engagement, which is key to increasing behaviour intention in mind-sport games. Furthermore, the results not only support Hypothesis H1 but also exhibit that health consciousness represents 16.3 of the variance of WOM and emotional behaviour. Thus, showing that even though there are other factors that contribute to the WOM and emotional behaviour construct, health consciousness is a significant one. In addition, 51.2% of the variance of behaviour intention is represented in this proposed model, indicating that the behaviour intention to play mind-sport online games is mainly driven by self-efficacy and cognitive engagement. Correspondingly, hypotheses H3 and H4 are supported.
On the other hand, previous studies have shown some controversies with this second objective, and it is based on how to analyse WOM. Particularly, most literature centres on how to motivate users to generate WOM, rather than concentrating on how previously generated WOM affects users. In this manner, the present article has focused on the latter, and this important difference of approach has been detailed in the theoretical background. Moreover, the results of this research show that WOM and emotional behaviour represent 43.2% of the variance of cognitive engagement. In other words, user cognitive engagement is driven mainly by WOM and emotional behaviour. Likewise, Hypothesis H2 is supported.
In addition, the experience of the world pandemic crisis has prompted a higher health consciousness in each person. Furthermore, this desire for wellbeing drives players to develop positive WOM. This environmental factor of WOM and emotional behaviour leads to cognitive engagement, as it is focused on playing mind-sport games which require a high cognitive function from gamers. Making self-efficacy the most important personal factor, as users need specific abilities to be able to play mind-sport games. As a result, the behaviour intention is affected by both constructs: the self-efficacy and the cognitive engagement.
This research highlights the large amount of self-efficacy each player must have to increase their intention to play mind-sport games. Exposing how important it is to build the gamer’s confidence. Also, the behaviour intention will increase with higher cognitive engagement. Correspondingly, mind-sport games required high cognitive function of each user, like concentration and anticipating other players’ moves and strategy. In addition, gamers are influenced by positive WOM generated by other users, increasing their cognitive engagement. Furthermore, players who are very conscious of their health are more likely to generate positive WOM, as they will prefer to play online from home. Thus, software developers can use this knowledge to create mind-sport online game platforms more engaging to players. Also, gamers can understand the need to build confidence in themselves by playing with easier opponents first and continuing onwards. In addition, WOM brings a social element by allowing a channel of interaction between players, enriching their experience.
Finally, this study is limited to mind-sport online games; future studies can expand to other types of online games to further analyse the impact of previous users’ WOM on current users’ engagement. Moreover, future research can analyse how users’ interactions through WOM can create value. Additionally, future studies can concentrate on identifying other factors that drive users to generate WOM, especially positive EWOM. Also, future research can be conducted to expand on age-related implications in health consciousness and the use of WOM.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, M.L., M.D.G. and S.B.; methodology, M.L. and M.D.G.; software, M.L. and M.D.G.; validation, M.L. and M.D.G.; formal analysis, M.L. and M.D.G.; investigation, M.L., M.D.G. and S.B.; resources, M.L. and M.D.G.; data curation, M.L. and M.D.G.; writing—original draft preparation, M.L.; writing—review and editing, M.L., M.D.G. and S.B.; visualization, M.L., M.D.G. and S.B.; supervision, M.L., M.D.G. and S.B.; project administration, M.L., M.D.G. and S.B.; funding acquisition, M.L., M.D.G. and S.B. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Funding

This research received no external funding.

Institutional Review Board Statement

This study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Ethical review and approval were waived for this study according to Recital 26 of GDPR 2016/679, Royal Decree-Law 5/2018, of 27 July, on urgent measures for the adaptation of Spanish law to European Union regulations on data protection, and the Spanish Organic Law 3/2018, of 5 December, on the Protection of Personal Data and the Guarantee of Digital Rights.

Informed Consent Statement

Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

Data Availability Statement

Data will be available upon request.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Appendix A. Questionnaire

ConstructItemsDescriptionSource
Health consciousnessHC1Eating right, exercising and taking preventive
measures will keep me healthy for life		[55]
HC2Living life in the best possible health is very important
to me
HC3My health depends on how well I take care of myself
HC4I actively try to prevent disease and illness
HC5I do everything I can to stay healthy
WOM and Emotional behaviourWE1I will recommend online bridge game to my friends and relatives.[52]
WE2When I talk about playing online bridge game, I will say good things about it.
WE3I will encourage friends and relatives to play online bridge game.
WE4I will share good things about online bridge game in social media.
WE5I feel very positive when I use online bridge game.[54]
WE6Using online bridge game makes me happy.
Self-efficacySE1I believe I have the ability to use the online bridge game.[56]
SE2I am confident that I am able to control each move during an online bridge game.
SE3I am confident that I am able to find information about each move after an online bridge game.
SE4I am confident that I am able to play the online bridge game.
Cognitive engagementCE1Using online bridge game gets me to think about mind-sport games.[54]
CE2I think about online bridge game a lot when I am using it.
CE3Using online bridge game stimulates my interest to learn more about bridge.
Behavioural-intentionBI1I will intend to play the online bridge game[57]
BI2I predict that I will play the online bridge game
BI3I will play the online bridge game frequently in the future
BI4I spend a lot of time using online bridge game; compared to other mind-sport games.[54]
BI5Whenever I am using mind-sport games, I usually use online bridge game.
BI6Online bridge game is one of the games I usually use when I use mind-sport games.

Appendix B. Path Coefficient of the Analysis

Bdcc 09 00091 i001

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Bdcc 09 00091 g001
Figure 1. Propose model.
Figure 1. Propose model.
Bdcc 09 00091 g001
Table 1. Profile of participants.
Table 1. Profile of participants.
DimensionsOptionsNumber of Responses
GenderMale126 (60.58%)
Female82 (39.42%)
Age (years old)<4049 (23.56%)
≥40 and ≤4913 (6.25%)
≥50 and ≤5933 (15.87%)
≥60 and ≤6946 (22.12%)
≥70 and ≤7950 (24.04%)
>7917 (8.17%)
Mind-sport Online Games use frequencyRarely10 (4.81%)
Once a week41 (19.71%)
Once a day83 (39.90%)
Several times a day74 (35.58%)
CountryArgentina4 (1.92%)
Australia8 (3.85%)
Belgium2 (0.96%)
Canada3 (1.44%)
Denmark2 (0.96%)
France3 (1.44%)
Germany4 (1.92%)
Greece2 (0.96%)
India9 (4.33%)
Indonesia2 (0.96%)
Ireland4 (1.92%)
Israel2 (0.96%)
Italy2 (0.96%)
Mexico2 (0.96%)
Netherlands5 (2.40%)
Norway2 (0.96%)
Peru5 (2.40%)
Philippines2 (0.96%)
Romania3 (1.44%)
South Africa3 (1.44%)
Spain3 (1.44%)
Turkey4 (1.92%)
United Kingdom19 (9.13%)
Uruguay24 (11.54%)
USA61 (29.33%)
Other28 (13.46%)
Table 2. Test of the hypotheses.
Table 2. Test of the hypotheses.
Path Coefficientt-ValueSupported
H1: HC → WE0.4045.064 ***Yes
H2: WE → CE0.65713.938 ***Yes
H3: SE → BI0.4445.002 ***Yes
H4: CE → BI0.4205.168 ***Yes
Significant at: *** p < 0.001; t(0.001;∞) = 3.3195.
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Linares, M.; Gallego, M.D.; Bueno, S. Examining the User Engagement on Mind-Sport Online Games: A Social Cognitive Theory and Word-of-Mouth Based Model Proposal. Big Data Cogn. Comput. 2025, 9, 91. https://doi.org/10.3390/bdcc9040091

AMA Style

Linares M, Gallego MD, Bueno S. Examining the User Engagement on Mind-Sport Online Games: A Social Cognitive Theory and Word-of-Mouth Based Model Proposal. Big Data and Cognitive Computing. 2025; 9(4):91. https://doi.org/10.3390/bdcc9040091

Chicago/Turabian Style

Linares, Manuela, M. Dolores Gallego, and Salvador Bueno. 2025. "Examining the User Engagement on Mind-Sport Online Games: A Social Cognitive Theory and Word-of-Mouth Based Model Proposal" Big Data and Cognitive Computing 9, no. 4: 91. https://doi.org/10.3390/bdcc9040091

APA Style

Linares, M., Gallego, M. D., & Bueno, S. (2025). Examining the User Engagement on Mind-Sport Online Games: A Social Cognitive Theory and Word-of-Mouth Based Model Proposal. Big Data and Cognitive Computing, 9(4), 91. https://doi.org/10.3390/bdcc9040091

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