Why gamers play and how they shop | WARC | The Feed

Why gamers play and how they shop

Many people might still associate avid game playing with time wasting – but that’s not how the gamers see things, according to a new study by innovation agency Outform.

And, while groups of players do have strikingly different gaming habits, they all do seem to shop in much the same way, whatever their age, the study of more than 1,000 respondents across France the US and UK reveals.

Three findings

• Brain stimulation is a big reason for gaming, all generations say, with it becoming more important as players get older – 74% of Boomers say this is a main reason for playing, along with 79% of Gen X, and 57% of Gen Z.
• When it comes to gaming, Gen Z is not wedded to phones but is far more likely to stick with traditional consoles: 94% prefer Xboxes and PlayStations; 91% of Boomers, meanwhile, opt to play on their tablets and phones.
• Boomers have a stronger preference for gaming alone (nine in ten prefer to play solo) but they have very similar buying habits to Gen Z. More than half (57%) cited convenience as a reason for shopping online for gaming paraphernalia – the same reason was given by 59% of Gen Z gamers.

Key quote

“While so many industries were left decimated by the pandemic, gaming is one of the few that came out relatively unscathed. But this doesn’t mean retailers can become complacent – shopping habits will continue to evolve and expectations will not stop being reset with every visit and every click” – Simon Hathaway, MD EMEA at Outform.

Sourced from Outform