Copyright 2017 by Kelley School of Business, Indiana University. For reprints, call HBS Publishing at (800) 545-7685.

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Business Horizons (2017) 60, 725—728

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Key factors in the triumph of Pokémon GO
Ailie K.Y. Tang

Centennial College1, 3 Wah Lam Path, Pokfulam, Hong Kong

KEYWORDS

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Abstract The mobile app market, particularly the app game sector, is a multibillion-
Mobile app; dollar space. This study conducted in-depth interviews and two large-scale surveys with
Game apps; a total 1,437 respondents to investigate the consumer behavior of mobile app game
Digital consumer players. The app game Pokémon GO became a worldwide phenomenon not only as a
behavior; social sensation but also as a high profitable business model. Taking the theoretical lens
The Pokémon GO; of telepresence theory and social capital theory, this develops a framework to explicate
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Augmented reality; the success factors of Pokémon GO. The theoretical framework also provides guidelines
App market for practitioners who plan to enter the lucrative app game market.
# 2017 Kelley School of Business, Indiana University. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights
reserved.
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1. The bandwagon of Pokémon GO content related to the game and Pokémon GO man-
aged to become the number one most-searched
Pokémon GO came as a shock to the world. The term–—even beating ‘porn,’ which held the title
Pokémon GO app is a multiplayer, location-based for decades (Cuthbertson, 2016). Pokémon GO has
augmented reality game that brings fictional crea- undoubtedly amassed a user base that other com-
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tures known as Pokémon into the real world via panies can only dream about. It is likely that the
smartphone technology. As of August 24, 2016, $3 mobile app game business will grow enormously
million a day were spent on in-app purchases and in the near future. Using the theoretical lens of
$222 million were earned, with 21 million daily telepresence theory and social capital theory, this
active users and 700,000 downloads per day article aims to shed light on the critical success
(Gerencer, 2016). The game quickly rose to become factors of Pokémon GO and provide a valuable
a worldwide phenomenon. Within hours of its re- reference to practitioners who plan to enter and
lease, the game shot up to number one in all app succeed in the lucrative app game market.
stores. Major media outlets regularly published
1.1. About the research
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This study investigated the consumer behavior of

E-mail address: ailie.tang@centennialcollege.hku.hk
1
An independent college established by The University of Hong
players in mobile app games with a three-phase study.
Kong. It began with focus group interviews to gain first-hand

0007-6813/$ — see front matter # 2017 Kelley School of Business, Indiana University. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2017.05.016

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 726 A.K.Y. Tang

insights about how and why study participants were People tend to have a favorable view of the past
addicted to app games, and was followed by a large- (Holbrook & Schindler, 1996). Each generation pos-

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scale questionnaire survey with 990 respondents. One sesses a distinctive imprint from events occurring

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yearafter thefirstsurveyand3 weeksafter theofficial during their shared childhood and youth so that
release of Pokémon GO, an additional survey was memories will be structured along the age dimen-
conducted focusing on the players of Pokémon sion resulting in cohort effects (Schuman & Scott,
GO with 447 responses received from Hong Kong, 1989). One of the key success factors of Pokémon
the U.S., Australia, Japan, and other nations. GO is its success in tapping into the childhood
memories of a large number of young adults.

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The nostalgia begins with the long history of
2. Theoretical framework: Pokémon. Pokémon has existed for over 2 decades
Telepresence theory and social capital with hundreds of thousands of fans worldwide. First
theory starting out as a series of video games for Nintendo’s
popular handheld Game Boy console in the late
Telepresence theory defines telepresence as the 1990s, Pokémon expanded over the years into a
experience of presence in an environment by means trading card game, comic books, movies, and other
of a communication medium (Steuer, 1992). The merchandise. The Pokémon animated TV series

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theory suggests that the structure of the medium further contributed to the childhood attachment.
affects the interactivity of the users, resulting in It was first broadcast in Japan in 1997 and in the U.S.
the medium’s usage (Song & Zinkhan, 2008). Schol- in 1998, introducing children to a male protagonist
ars in the social capital research field, on the other named Satoshi (Japanese version)/Ash Ketchum
hand, postulate that social capital is the aggregate (English version). This male protagonist was pre-
of the norms, values, and understandings that sented as someone who had big dreams of becoming
formulate the rules by which people coordinate a Pokémon Master while developing relationships
their actions along with systems of sanctions and with friends and enemies. Satoshi/Ash became a
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incentives that ensure consistency in those actions character who audiences could consider as a friend,
(Reimer, Lyons, Ferguson, & Polanco, 2008). There someone to look up to, or simply someone relatable.
are three dimensions related to social capital: the Stories are fundamental to memory and preserv-
cognitive dimension, the structural dimension, and ing rich sets of meaning (Lesser & Storck, 2001;
the relational dimension (Nahapiet & Ghoshal, 1998). Read & Miller, 1995). The animated television series
As illustrated in Table 1, this study consolidates and depicting the adventure story loved by many fans
offers the three success factors of Pokémon GO
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led to the foundation of the success of Pokémon GO.

grounded in the key concepts of the two theories. The app came to the world, therefore, not only as a
game but also as a childhood dream-come-true for
2.1. Tapping into nostalgia young adults. Everyone could now become the hero
of the story. The emergence of Pokémon GO trig-
Business literature has long identified the influence gered these fond memories from childhood, fulfill-
of nostalgia in the success of certain products. ing intrinsic feelings of pleasure. Social capital
No

Table 1. Theoretical framework grounded on telepresence theory and social capital theory to explicate the
success factors of Pokémon GO
Telepresence theory
Interactivity Structure of the medium Medium usage
Social Cognitive Shared codes and languages and
capital dimension shared narratives to cultivate the
theory interactivity among users
Structure Configuration and the
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dimension organization of the medium, how

the network ties together
Relational Norms, obligation,
dimension identification
Key success Tapping into nostalgia Adopting technologies in Normative
factors of transmedia storytelling influence to be in
Pokémon GO the cult

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 Key factors in the triumph of Pokémon GO 727

theory suggests this nostalgia linked with memories 2.3. Pokémon GO as social capital: You
and dreams form a shared code among the players. have to be in ‘the cult’

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The shared narratives and the terms of the game

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become the common language that cultivate inter- The social usage and structure of Pokémon GO
activity among players. This research found that comes via two routes: norms and network. The
among the group perceiving high enjoyment in the social epidemic of Pokémon GO spread widely
game, 68.5% agreed they played the game because across the media (both online and offline) from
of the animated TV series and 53.0% agreed this influencers (celebrities playing the game) through
game made their childhood dream come true–— to ordinary users. Pokémon GO seemed to have

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specifically that of becoming the hero of the story attained cult status in a short time. What made
to catch all the Pokémon in real life. the phenomenon even more noteworthy is that the
game encourages players to go outside as part of its
2.2. New technologies adoption in mechanics, so even individuals who are not active
transmedia storytelling online can see the effects of Pokémon GO in society,
opening up the potential for those who are not
One salient feature of Pokémon GO is the use of digital natives to experience the effects. Because
augmented reality (AR) and global positioning sys- of its high exposure, both online and offline, and its

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tems (GPS). Indeed, the concept of combining both mass participation, it can be easy for non-players to
AR and GPS is nothing new as previous games have feel left out.
already implemented similar technology in the On the other hand, current players are
past. The term AR has been around since 1968, experiencing reciprocity expectations and group
and in 2011, products like Takara Tomy’s Virtual enforcement of the network. Social capital litera-
Master Reel, an AR fishing reel that uses a built-in ture suggests the members may carry out various
camera to insert your real surroundings into a fish- types of collective action to facilitate their assets
ing game, were already available in the market. and network. They may give referrals, which are the
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Geocaching, an activity wherein participants processes of providing information regarding avail-
use GPS devices to discover caches or containers able opportunities to people or actors in the net-
around the world and write their names inside log- work, hence influencing the opportunity to combine
books within them, has been around since early and exchange. People who have not seen the
2000. Niantic released a game for Android devices animated TV series may be affected by fans of
in 2013 called Ingress, which combined AR and GPS Pokémon and thus be induced to play the game.
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technologies, and later released it for iOS in 2014. This study indicated that among those who played
Pokémon GO stands out not because of the tech- the game for a reason other than the animated TV
nology alone but due to the perfect fit of the series, over half said that most people in their social
technology into the story itself–—the idea of roaming group play the game frequently (36.1% strongly
around the world and having random encounters agree, 19.4% agree). On the other hand, fans
with creatures. Pokémon GO utilizes real world of Pokémon tend to get together and spread in-
maps, locations, and settings during play and re- formation about the game, thus enlarging their
quires players to go outside to fulfill the aims of the game networks. This study found that 60.8% of
No

game. The marriage of computer-generated ele- respondents who played the game because of the
ments with the real world creates immersive story- animated TV series indicated they would recom-
telling experiences. The game utilizes real life mend the game to others, as compared to only
environments as part of gameplay when players 29.9% that would give a recommendation from the
encounter creatures and attempt to capture them. group of people who did not watch the animated
A telepresence medium is assembled from the phys- TV series.
ical and the virtual environment. This correlates
with the concept of telepresence theory that a
medium’s structure influences users’ sense of per- 3. Conclusion and message to
ception and usage, leading to a great sense of practitioners: Reciprocal factors
Do

satisfaction. In this research, 67.1% of respondents contributing to the game’s success

agreed that the game appealed to them aestheti-
cally and 53.3% liked the AR technology of the In the case of Pokémon GO, its success actually
game. More interestingly, those with a high opinion came from the amalgamation of the three factors
of the game’s aesthetic appeal enjoyed interacting instead of any one factor alone. For instance, as
with other players significantly more than did those mentioned previously, the use of AR and GPS tech-
with a low opinion of the game’s aesthetic appeal. nology in the game is not anything groundbreaking.

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 728 A.K.Y. Tang

Its success is due to its perfect match, in that it References

allows players who had childhood fantasies of be-

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This study is substantially funded by a research 73—93.
grant (CRG/14/06) and supported by the Case
Research Centre of Centennial College.
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