eThesis - School of Business electronic theses

INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT AND GENDER: An Empirical Approach Related to Gender Specific Differences in Gaming together with Attractiveness of Game Products and Promotions to Women

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The main purpose of the study is to find out the possible gender specific differences in the attitude towards the computer and video games and at the same time find features that women value and appreciate in games. More specifically find out are women as interested in interactive entertainment as men and what actual game genres women play or would be potentially interested in trying. In the process of determining gender specific differences an additional objective is to generate ideas regarding successful marketing practices of computer and video games to women.

DATA

The main focus in the thesis is on the empirical section and data gathered between April and May 2011. More specifically, data was generated via questionnaire that was located in Petsie.fi-web service and all together the sample size was 110, consisting of 56 women and 54 men. This set of data is then compared to earlier findings

RESULTS

Firstly, it was found that women in this sample are in fact as interested in interactive entertainment as men. In parameters such as interest towards gaming and suitable price level women indicated even higher interest than men. This is quite significant shift when compared to earlier studies regarding this subject matter. Currently, the four most frequently played game genres for women are: free internet games, windows, adventure and mobile games. Respectively, for men the game genres were: sport, strategy, shooting and action. These findings are in line with previous research that in general men prefer more hand-eye-coordination based games whereas women appreciate quick access, puzzle-solving and playing while doing other things. In all, men indicated higher scores for the majority of game genres with respect to current activity and potential interest parameters. However, women answers were relatively close and when compared to earlier studies it seems that, women tend to play a wider variety of games genres than before. Moreover, women already are and will definitely be an increasingly profitable segment for the game industry also in the future. However, the increased activity is not recognized by the industry totally yet. Moreover, there is demand for more tailored game products and marketing to women and the increasing rate of playing offers good possibilities for that. Also, new ideas for games could be generated by using women in the design process.

KEYWORDS

Computer and video games, game industry, gender, interactive entertainment, marketing, women