We studied the consumer perceptions of mobile games and found that the fundamental objective constructs can be categorized into (1) satisfaction of quality expectations, (2) gaming experience, (3) ease/quickness of setup, and (4) social aspects. The means objectives are categorized into (1) audiovisual effects, (2) customer support, (3) product information, (4) product comparison, (5) trust, and (6) independence of time and place in purchasing process. Using cluster analysis, we were able to categorize the consumers into four groups: value seekers, heavy players, casual gamers, and non-players. The study was presented at the Global Mobility Roundtable in Auckland, New Zealand in November 2008.
I was just wondering if there is any papers published regarding this matter? I would be interested in reading some additional information to maybe get few ideas for my essay.
I would like to know what would be the perception on mobile gaiming's future from an academic point of view. If mobile gaming could be more popular, I would like to know what those heavy player's opinions are. I am not a mobile gaming player but I am a loyalty console and pc player. What would be the future molile gaming development direction?
I'm interested to know if the results of the study would vary tremendously if carried out in different societies. I'm not sure where the initial study was conducted at, but is there a "universal gaming" gaming culture? or do our culture habits create different expectations? Who were the consumers surveyed and was there a certain sample population targeted (was it 14-35)?
An interesting research. I am wondering: what is the disparity between needs and wants? Furthermore, how were the values for needs established? (considering a difference between expressed and latent ones)
I am one of those gamers and I believe that there are easily identifiable attributes in different genres of games (free roaming, complex choice and growth models), which form the drivers for demand. (I believe influence of wants is bigger than the one of needs, also in mobile gaming)
In marketing language the term 'immersive gameplay' kept popping up in last year's ad campaigns for games. It has served as an umbrella term for these attributes. The psychological mechanics fuelling the user perception of immersion deserve more attention in the field of IT service development.
Thank you for your comments. You can find the paper in pdf-form from here
http://www.hse.fi/EN/research/t/p_7/RTE/publications/
The demographics of the respondents are explained in the paper.
It would be interesting to see how the results would change if the same study was conducted in other settings (other cultures, other types of games such as online console gaming etc.).
We have found that there not many academic papers tackling the question of consumer values of mobile games. Looking forward to reading your comments on the paper!
