Far from the stereotype of teenage boys, the average gamer is aged 41 and has a income of $55,000. Research by comScore found that 52 percent of gamers are female, most have been online for nine years and 84 percent have home broadband access. Twenty-four percent of those surveyed listed previous experience as the most important factor in buying a game and sequels also scored highly at 16 percent.
Although advertising was less of a motivator at only 6 percent, interestingly the survey found that heavy gamers, that’s 16+ hours each week, were more likely to accept and respond to in-game ads. More than half of heavy gamers felt advergaming will inevitably be in all or most games in the future, and 37 percent felt that featuring real products and companies in games made the games feel more realistic.
Erin Hunter, EVP of comScore’s Media and Entertainment Group: “From the advertiser’s standpoint, gaming is a potentially powerful medium for reaching consumers who may not be reachable via more traditional means. A sizable portion of this consumer segment seems to agree that product placement in video games may in fact enhance the game to more closely resemble reality.” Release
Related: EA Ties With Massive and IGA For In-Games Ads
— Casual Gaming Eats Away At Consumer Media Time: Study
— MSFT’s Massive Launces Interactive In-Game Video Ads; Toyota’s First
This article originally appeared in MediaGuardian.
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