Wang, Cecilia A.2018-12-152018-12-152018-06https://hdl.handle.net/1794/2413344 pages. Presented to the Department of Economics and the Robert D. Clark Honors College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Science June 2018Abstract: In-app purchases have been more common due to the accessibility of them in our digital age. In the gaming community, a spectrum of online spenders have been identified, ranging from free to play players who spend no real currency for in game items to “whales” who will spend massive amounts of currency on the virtual platforms. This thesis strives to recognize the spending habits of these players on items in real life in comparison with those in a virtual economy and explore the economic factors in fictional, in-game societies in regard to consumer behavior and reflects upon how this affects their decisions in purchasing in the real world.en-USCreative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0-USEconomicsVirtualConsumer BehaviorGamesGachaConsumer SpendingVirtual SpendingThesis/Dissertation