Console Videogames: Monthly Market Tracking

Our monthly tracking of the console videogame market consists of 1,000 interviews with gamers (defined as an owner of a Playstation, Nintendo 64, and/or Dreamcast). The following describes our goals, methodology, schedule, and pricing.

1) Awareness measurement

This report was created with two of our key videogame clients. The idea was based on their interest in measuring awareness for unreleased games in order to measure the effect of marketing campaigns on these issues. For example, if a game is to be released in April, we will put it on our list and begin tracking it now. Each month we can see if awareness is growing, and check to see what type of gamer is learning about the game (i.e. hardcore, serious, casual, or occasional gamer). As the release date approaches, a publisher would hope to see a consistent rise in awareness, first among hardcore gamers, then later casual gamers. Publishers also hope to see a spike in overall awareness when the full-scale marketing effort is enacted. When the title arrives in April, we keep the title on our list for that month so the publisher can gauge how the gamers reacted to the marketing campaign. We currently track thirty games at a time for the PSX and N64 (Dreamcast begins in January): a third are "Future Releases" (3 - 5 months from release), a third are "Imminent Releases" (1 - 2 months from release), and "Recently Released".

2) Purchase intent measurement

Once we decided to measure awareness, an obvious question presented itself: "How does this awareness translate into interest in actually buying the game?" So we decided to gauge purchase intent, using a method that does not involve reading any lists to the respondent - we felt completely unaided questions would get the best feel for the titles that are most in demand. Most of the time "Future Releases" do not register any purchase intent at all, unless they are one of the most highly anticipated titles (like Final Fantasy 8 or The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time). But as the release date nears, purchase intent begins to rise with awareness, to varying degrees. This allows us to see if a marketing campaign is not only reaching gamers, but whether it is influencing them to buy.

3) Title buyer profiles

We also ask all respondents which games they have purchased recently. Over time, we will gather enough owners of specific titles to be able to form a profile. We feel the minimum sample size to get solid results is around 100 people - we currently have that amount for most of the major titles. We can find out what other games these people buy, what games they intend to buy, demographics, etc.

4) Specific issues

In addition to the core research that comprises the three points above, we also ask specific questions on a different issue every month.

Omnibus questions

One important issue I did not address with you on the phone is clients' ability to add omnibus questions to the monthly survey. Subscribing to the Videogame Snapshot will allow you access to 1,000 gamers every month, something no other monthly study can match. The results from any omnibus questions are not shared with any other Snapshot subscribers.

Methodology and schedule

It is important to note that our research is based on interviews with 1,000 gamers, not head-of-households. Our data supplier finds households through predictive dialing (not lists of gamers), and speaks to the head-of-household. If the home has a PSX, N64 or Dreamcast, the head-of-household is then asked if it is OK to speak with the "primary user of that system (or systems)". Sometimes the person on the phone is the primary gamer, in which case he/she is interviewed. However, this is usually not the case, so it is necessary to see if the gamer is home. If the person is nearby and agrees to do the survey, he/she is interviewed. In our last wave of research, respondents' ages ranged from 7 to 60 years.

We conduct this research on a monthly basis. The research takes sixteen days to complete, and the report is issued a week later. All input from clients (games to tracked, omnibus questions, etc.) is due a week before the survey is put into the field. This gives you the ability to add titles of your choosing into the awareness tracking list, and the ability to add omnibus questions at cost. In addition to the report, you are provided full-page color charts and two SPSS (or Excel) data files, one for the month's research and another that compiles all purchase data from past months.

Questions? Contact our videogame research team.