隨著數位遊戲產業持續發展，遊戲已不僅是休閒娛樂工具，更逐漸成為人們日常生活中的主流娛樂媒介與重要的社交場域。在高度競爭的遊戲市場中，如何提升玩家留存與忠誠度，已成為遊戲設計與營運的重要目標。為促進玩家互動與遊戲參與，多數遊戲透過即時聊天、公會系統、合作任務等強社交機制建立玩家連結；然而，亦有部分遊戲採取留言、交換與贈禮等低干擾、非即時的互動方式，形塑出溫和且獨特的社群文化。相較於合作或競爭等常見互動形式，現有研究對於遊戲內贈禮行為之動機來源及其後續影響仍缺乏深入探討。

因此，本研究以社交養成遊戲《寵物島 Livly Island》為研究情境，結合自我決定理論（Self-Determination Theory）與社會交換理論（Social Exchange Theory），探討玩家進行遊戲內贈禮行為之內外在動機，並進一步分析贈禮行為對玩家歸屬感、遊戲忠誠度及口碑傳播意圖的影響。同時，本研究亦檢驗歸屬感在贈禮行為與玩家後續行為之間的中介效果。

本研究採用問卷調查法蒐集資料，共獲得 471 份有效樣本，並以驗證性因素分析（Confirmatory Factor Analysis, CFA）及結構方程模型（Structural Equation Modeling, SEM）進行資料分析。

研究結果顯示，在影響玩家進行遊戲內贈禮行為的各項動機中，僅自主性動機與社交規範具有顯著正向影響，而勝任感動機、連結感動機、互惠期待與社交壓力則未達顯著。其次，遊戲內贈禮行為能顯著提升玩家的歸屬感與遊戲忠誠度，但對口碑傳播意圖未呈現直接影響。另一方面，歸屬感對遊戲忠誠度與口碑傳播意圖皆具有顯著正向影響，且在贈禮行為與兩項後續行為之間皆具有中介效果。此外，自主性動機與社交規範亦可透過贈禮行為及歸屬感，進一步影響玩家的遊戲忠誠度與口碑傳播意圖。

本研究發現，在缺乏強連結與即時互動機制的遊戲情境中，玩家仍可能透過自發性的贈禮互動建立社群連結與歸屬感，進而影響其對遊戲的支持與推薦意願。研究結果不僅補充遊戲內贈禮行為相關研究之不足，也有助於理解低干擾社交設計在玩家經營與遊戲社群發展上的價值。

With the continuous development of the digital game industry, games have evolved beyond mere entertainment tools and have gradually become mainstream media and important social spaces in people’s daily lives. In a highly competitive gaming market, enhancing player retention and loyalty has become a crucial objective for game design and operation. To promote player interaction and engagement, most games establish social connections through strong social mechanisms such as real-time chat, guild systems, and cooperative tasks. However, some games foster unique and gentle community cultures through low-interference and asynchronous interactions, including messaging, item exchanges, and gifting. Compared with commonly studied forms of interaction such as cooperation and competition, the motivations underlying in-game gifting behavior and its subsequent effects remain underexplored.

Therefore, this study adopts the social simulation game Livly Island as the research context and integrates Self-Determination Theory and Social Exchange Theory to examine the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations of players’ in-game gifting behavior. Furthermore, this study investigates the effects of gifting behavior on players’ sense of belonging, game loyalty, and word-of-mouth intention. The mediating role of sense of belonging between gifting behavior and subsequent player outcomes is also examined.

A questionnaire survey was conducted, resulting in 471 valid responses. The collected data were analyzed using Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM).

The results indicate that among the various motivations influencing players’ in-game gifting behavior, only autonomy motivation and social norms exert significant positive effects, whereas competence motivation, relatedness motivation, expected reciprocity, and social pressure show no significant effects. In addition, in-game gifting behavior significantly enhances players’ sense of belonging and game loyalty but does not directly influence word-of-mouth intention. Furthermore, sense of belonging has significant positive effects on both game loyalty and word-of-mouth intention and serves as a mediator between gifting behavior and these two outcomes. Moreover, autonomy motivation and social norms indirectly influence players’ game loyalty and word-of-mouth intention through gifting behavior and sense of belonging.

The findings suggest that even in gaming environments lacking strong social ties and real-time interaction mechanisms, players can still establish social connections and develop a sense of belonging through voluntary gifting interactions, thereby strengthening their support for and recommendation of the game. This study contributes to the literature on in-game gifting behavior and provides further insights into the value of low-interference social design for player management and the development of gaming communities.

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