行動應用程式發展蓬勃以及智慧型裝置普及性讓行動應用程式的市場變得更加競爭，因此對於行動應用程式的公司、行銷、工程師來說，專注於有效的市場溝通變得極為重要。 本研究旨在了解主要影響使用者決定花錢在應用程式上的因素為何。 本研究架構使用心理帳戶理論建構研究架構的基礎來調查消費者產生消費意圖的過程，除此之外，我們加入沈浸理論來調節意圖與實際購買之間的關係。本研究採用量化實證研究來驗證模型，並收集了729份有效問卷。研究結果顯示，在購買決策過程中的效用評估是刺激使用者產生消費意圖的關鍵，再者，對於購買應用程式和在行動應用程式內購的意圖並無顯著的差異性。最後，不同程度的沈浸程度可能會因為使用者對現階段的滿足，因此減少實際購買的可能性。本研究對行動應用程式的相關購買的研究對現在行動商務有一定的貢獻，期待透過本研究可以增加對行動應用程式相關花費的認識與了解。

The development of mobile applications (apps) has increased significantly as smart devices have become widely available. With the app market expected to become increasingly competitive, it is crucial for app marketers to focus on effective marketing communications. This study aims to identify the key factors that influence mobile device users’ decisions to spend money on apps.

Our study builds on mental accounting theory to formulate a fundamental framework and to investigate the process by which spending intentions are formed. We further introduce ‘flow’ as a moderator to help us better discern the explanatory power of actual purchases. Quantitative confirmatory investigations with a large-sample survey and logistics regressions are carried out in this study.

The findings indicate that utility assessment (or the assessment of a product’s monetary worth in the purchase decision-making process) is extremely important for affecting spending intention. In addition, our research model and results indicate that app spending intention and in-app spending intention are formed in similar ways. Last but not least, we find that the level of flow state affects the likelihood of actual purchase, which helps to explain the necessity for app companies to update functions or to launch various new services if they hope to keep attracting consumers.

This study contributes to the understanding of app purchasing, which is an important aspect of mobile commerce. We consider that the study’s findings can increase our knowledge and conceptualisation of app purchases.

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