CHAPTER - 1

INTRODUCTION
Gaming is one of the fastest growing IT and global entertainment industries. In 2020, the
global gaming market reached a value of 168 billion dollars, surpassing cinema and sports
industries in the United States combined, and is set to reach a value of almost 300 billion
dollars over the next five years (Market Watch, 2021). While the pandemic has influenced
game development processes and gaming companies’ modes of operation, it has not
fundament ally changed the market and behaviour of gaming products consumers, but rather
accelerated growth trends already seen previously. New zoo (2021) researchers report that
last year socialization was one of the main drivers behind consumer’s decision to engage in
video games. This outcome stems from the isolation measures that urged people to stay at
home and cut intersocial interactions while encouraging them to seek socialization elsewhere,
which resulted in an influx of new video games players across all platforms, gaming
engagement spike and entertainment spending growth. Even though it currently does seem
unlikely that previous year’s record-breaking numbers would remain throughout 2021,
researchers still expect the global gaming market to show sustainable growth with
approximately 2.8 billion players generating revenues of 189 billion dollars a 19% increase
compared to the previous period. In 2020 global gaming industry exceeded in revenue movies
and music industries s combined; Indian gaming market is forecasted to reach 328 billion. In
addition, the arrival of smartphones has significantly changed the market by increasing
games’ consumption. These changes brought a new dynamic to the market, which now
attracts different types of consumers. Considering the importance of the games market for the
current context, it is relevant to carry out studies to better understand the context and the
consumers.

Traditionally, the video game industry has had six connected layers in its value chain based
on the retail distribution of games:

1.Game development, representing programmers, designers, and artists, and their leadership,
with support of middleware and other development tools.

2.Publishing, which typically include both the source of funding the development of a video
game, as well as providing the marketing and advertising for a game.

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3.Distribution, whether through retail or digital channels. Distribution typically includes
manufacturing and duplication of game media and packaging for retail gam

4.Retailer, storefront where the game is sold.

5.Consumers, the purchasers, and players of video games

6.Hardware platform manufacturers, which can own and place limitations for content on the
platform they have made, charging license fees to developers or publishers.

As games have transitioned from the retail to more digital market, parts of this value chain
have become redundant. For example, the distributor may be redundant as a function of either
the publisher or the retailer, or even in some cases as the case of indie games, the function of
the developer themselves.

There are two major players in the game industry today, computer games and video (console)
games. there is a huge difference between the sales of these two mediums. Video games sold
over 120 billion dollars in 2008 when PC games sold modestly under USD 700 000. This is
solely because of the piracy of PC game. The reason consoles are not affected by the piracy is
that the console must be physically "cracked" or in other words modified so that they can
read any copied CD, DVD or Blu-ray discs This business is extremely hard and expensive
and therefore unprofitable. Also acts from the manufacturer can influence the piracy and
modification of consoles. In the late 2009 there were over million modified Microsoft's Xbox
360 consoles in the market. Microsoft responded by shutting the use of Xbox Live (consoles
web store and community) and preventing any games being installed to those consoles in the
future. Formerly "uncrackable" console PlayStation 3 was also successfully modified by a
young hacker George Hotz

A general perception is that movies make more money than games. This however, is not the
case. For example, biggest gross profits for the first two weeks after publication are for
games, Modern Warfare 2 and Grand Theft Auto were before any movie in 2009 Modem
Warfare 2 (published in 2009) has also made over 500-million-dollar sales, a number that
only 5 movies have ever reached. A popular online game World of Warcraft (which has over
11 million subscribers world-wide) even tops this. It has approximately over 1.8-billion-
dollar subscription income per year since its release in 2005 and had over 72-billion-dollar
total accounting profit at the end of 2008. That is more money than top 10 blockbuster
movies have made combined (Bruce Everiss 2009, Blizzard Entertainment 2009)

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Game industry in general has been growing for over two decades. The general misconception
about players is that they are young male students that play PlayStation in their student pads.
This, however, is far from the truth. Recent study shows (Entertainment Software
Association, ESA-Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry. 2009) that
the average player age is 35 and 68% of American households play games. What is more
surprising. however, is that 40% of players today are women. This is a fact that most game
developers and publishers have been ignoring for years. Majority of games (and their
marketing) that have been published in the last 10 years have been targeted for male audience
their mid-20's.

Game industry divided into three mediums, PC games, console games and mobile device
games.

Video gaming and programming keep us from the traditional understanding of the game and
directing to explore the impact of redefining games on human society (Moulthrop, 2005).
Galloway thinks that the video game belongs to the field of culture (2006, p.1) and integrates
leisure activities needed for people. The game allows moving away from the problems of the
real work and directs the players towards different priorities and behavioural changes in
relation to everyday life. Kucklich believes that games are "cultural products with deep roots
in the culture they stem from"

The video game industry is emerging as a result of continuous innovation. Scholars have
proposed the concept of gamification" which suggests that the psychological elements
involved in the game affect the motivation of employees and animate the consumer
(Zuckerman Cunningham, 2011). Kerr (2006) supports the aspect that video games belong to
the sphere of the 'cultural industry, as video games have many elements in common with
other cultural industries.

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 CHAPTER - 2

RESEARCH DESIGN

2.1 SCOPE OF STUDY

 With this project I am trying to solve what are the factors that influence players'
buying decision when buying video or computer games
 and mainly what is the weight of the factors in the buying decision process.
 Also, to be researched are the factors that influence to the buying decision and what
is the stage where the buying decision has been made.

2.2 OBJECTIVES OF STUDY

The research object of this study is people who play and purchase video games on consoles or
personal computers. The context of this research is India. The research subject is factors
influencing consumer purchase intention in the gaming industry.

To understand the different factors that effect on the buying of games one must understand
how the game industry works and what gaming is all about. Knowing different branches of
the game industry is extremely relevant, because before the player buys a game the same
game (or the rights to it) has been bought by the game publisher from the game developer.
This symbiosis is the essence of the industry but it is also the fact that a change in this
dualism is already happening.

1. To identify features and peculiarities of the video game market, especially in India.

2. to find out if and how the buying process of a player differs from a normal consumer.

3. To identify how marketing influence buying process.

4.To identify the relationship between motivation factors of playing games, gaming
engagement and customer's intent to purchase video games.

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5. To evaluate the role of motivation, engagement, and gamer's decision to commit to a video
game purchase.

2.3 METHODOLOGY

Qualitative and quantitative researches are the two types of making research. Qualitative
research is for example an interview or something else that is related to or something that is
concerned with quality rather than numeric values. Quantitative research on the other hand is
all about gathering hard data and numerical values for comparison. For my study I chose to
do quantitative research because numerical values were needed to create a good picture of
different buying habits from large number of players.

As research to test these theories in practice I made a questionnaire about games and what
influences the buying decision of a casual player. Majority of the players that answered were
between the age of 18-25 and 26-35 but there were some over 36 as well.

It was problematic at the beginning of the survey to choose a channel through which the
questions would be published to reach an audience large enough and complex enough. I
choose to promote the questionnaire through Facebook, emails, and some forum channels.

This gave me a wide player base since most of my Facebook friends are casual players, there
are men and women in all these sources and the email list had many casual and hardcore
players.

The questionnaire was formed of 17 questions which were scored from 0 to 5 (0 being "no
importance" and 5 being "extremely important" based on how important they found price,
advertising, genre, theme, game rating and violence, reviews, forum posts, graphics,
developer and publisher, previous releases, replay ability, and friends’ recommendations.

All these questions were asked from PC players, console players and mobile players.

The reason why I chose to do a questionnaire is that the data is easily collectible and
analysable and with it I could have answers from hundreds rather than dozens. I first planned
to do an in-depth interview after the questionnaire to get better results from the free fill
questions in the survey but it turned out that the questionnaire was more than enough to make
conclusions about player's buying process.

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2.4 SAMPLING PLAN

This study includes collection of data from the primary sources available. Primary Data is
very important for any researcher because it is completely reliant on the respondent’s
opinion.

The method used for taking survey was Convenience Sampling- Convenience sampling is a
type of non-probability sampling method that relies on data collected from population
members. In this sampling method, we cannot take the whole population so we take some
people for our survey to determine the choice of the whole population

There were 233 participants to the survey of which 66 (28%) were women and 167 (71%)
were men. It is extremely difficult to know the exact answer percentage since most of the
channels that the questionnaire was published are open for public and therefore the amount of
people not answering to the survey cannot be tracked. My personal estimate is that about 15%
of people in Facebook & forums and around 5% of TUAS email network answered the
survey.

The reliability of the survey relies on the amount of people answered to the questionnaire.
Since every player has own criteria for which factors contribute their buying decision and
what kind of buying process, they have the answer percentage is not important. With 233
answers the random sample is good and reliable.

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 2.5 PLAN OF ANALYSIS

This project consists of an introduction, three chapters and a conclusion. The structure of the
thesis is determined by the set objectives. The work was divided into six major stages. During
the first stage, review of academic literature dedicated to consumer behaviour, gaming
motivations and engagement was conducted. Second stage was dedicated to formulation of
research questions based on literature review. The third stage included the overview of the
overall state of the gaming market through the analysis of its structure, main competitors and
recent industry developments and trends. According to formulated research questions, the
research methodology was designed, the questionnaire was developed, the respondents'
selection criteria and main channels of questionnaire distribution were determined. The fifth
stage involved response collection and data analysis. During the six stages, obtained results
were analysed in terms of its theoretical and managerial applicability, implications for
business were formulated, and major conclusions were defined.

The data which was collected from the 233 respondent was carefully and systematically
analysed so that the data could be accurately represented error free.

The results of the first 17 questions (0-5 questions) were analysed via MS Excel graphs after
the raw info was collected from the database. Graphs gave clear picture for which factors
have most impact on buying decision process and which factors are not important. Open
answers were all read, translated, and moved to MS Word from the Internet database. After
this they were read again and sorted by different keywords. This helped me to see the similar
buying processes more easily.

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2.6 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

I have tried to make the research work as accurate & authentic as possible. However, the
following constraints were still unavoidable

 The information provided by the respondents on which all the results were drawn
cannot denied that here was always a possibility of response error.
 The study was conducted within a time frame work of 2-week duration only.
 The respondents feel reluctant about the survey conducted.
 The study is based on the opinion on only 233 respondents. It cannot be generalised.
 The data was collected through structured questionnaire and analysed based on the
information given by respondents.
 The study largely based on the perception of the respondents.
 choosing a channel through which the questions would be published to reach a large
audience.

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 CHAPTER - 3

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

The results were as I expected when started the survey - there was no significant difference
between the answers of PC and console players. There are some differences between men and
women players and these will be brought up. Here I present only the factors that clearly
influence the buying decision of games. There were 233 answers in the survey with almost
equal spread between PC and Video players. There were 158 answers from console players
and 138 from PC players. Some players play both platforms and answered to both platform's
questions.

3.1 PRICE

Table 1

Table showing results for pc and console players from price

CONSOLE PC
IMPORTANCE NUMBERS IMPORTANCE NUMBERS

0 13 0 16
1 12 1 21
2 20 2 19
3 31 3 23
4 32 4 28
5 50 5 31

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 Chart 1.1

Chart showing console players answer spread from Price

PRICE
60

50

40

30

20

10

0
0 1 2 3 4 5

Chart 1.2

chart showing PC players answer spread from Price

PRICE

35

30

25

20

15

10

0
0 1 2 3 4 5

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the price seems to be rather important for majority of players. down there is the PC and up
the answers from console players. The trend is clearly the same in both graphs and the
conclusion is that price has influence to the buying decision of games. According to the
survey more people are inclined to buy games if the price of the game is less and vice versa.

3.2 GENRE

A video game genre is an informal classification of a video game based on how it is played
rather than visual or narrative elements. This is independent of setting, unlike works of fiction
that are expressed through other media, such as films or books. For example, a shooter game
is still a shooter game, regardless of where or when it takes place. A specific game's genre is
open to subjective interpretation. An individual game may belong to several genres at once.

TABLE 2

Table showing results for pc and console players from genre

CONSOLE PC
IMPORTANCE NUMBERS IMPORTANCE NUMBERS
0 3 0 2
1 9 1 4
2 12 2 5
3 22 3 12
4 43 4 43
5 69 5 72

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 Chart 2.1

Chart showing console players answer spread from Genre

GENRE
80

70
Chart
60
2.2
50

40 Chart
30
showing
20
PC
10
players
0
0 1 2 3 4 5
answer
spread from Genre

GENRE
80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
0 1 2 3 4 5

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 3.3 THEME

A game theme refers to the subject matter the game is built around. A theme could be very
abstract, like “shapes” for example. A game could also be very story driven and have a theme
like “mystery.” Themes are a great way to find other games with a similar subject matter to
games you like.

TABLE 3

Table showing results for pc and console players from theme

CONSOLE PC
IMPORTANCE NUMBERS IMPORTANCE NUMBERS
0 12 0 9
1 11 1 15
2 24 2 12
3 36 3 30
4 41 4 36
5 34 5 35

Chart 3.1

Chart showing console players answer spread from Theme

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 THEME
45

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

0
0 1 2 3 4 5

Chart 3.2

Chart showing PC players answer spread from Theme

THEME
40

35

30

25

20

15

10

0
0 1 2 3 4 5

Genre and theme are both sort of a backbone to the game. They dictate the frames in which
the game experience and gameplay occur. Let us take an example from Wolfenstein game
series. The game is set in World War II, in an imaginary Nazi experiment facilities and other
dark and gloomy locations. The idea of the game is to shoot all the Nazis in sight. This is the
theme of the game. The genre is First Person Shooter, FPS.

For me this was probably the most surprising discovery from the study. As seen in Table
genre has a huge role when deciding which game to buy. 72 people from PC players

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considered genre to be "extremely important when buying a new game. This was the case in
both, console, and PC players' answers. Also, the theme of the game is very important as
indicated in Table.

3.4 REVIEWS

A review is judgement or discussion of the quality of something. A review is a critique of

something a look at something’s good and bad points. Reviews are very common in every
industry, and many people rely on them to learn more about something they are interested in,
especially something they want to buy. Previews and reviews mean the professional game
critics given by journalists whose job is to evaluate games. Usually, these reviews are
published in game magazines and web sites, but some are now finding their way even to local
newspapers.

Previews and reviews are important mediums when talking about factors that influence
players buying decisions. Especially reviews have always been an indicator how well a game
is going to sell. Critics or reviews made by different independent journalists or critics are
generally very similar and therefore just one review in a popular game site can influence
games sale rates significantly. So, it is important that the information about game being good
or bad is easily available when the game releases.

TABLE 4

Table showing results for pc and console players from review

CONSOLE PC

IMPORTANCE NUMBERS IMPORTANCE NUMBERS

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 0 9 0 3
1 17 1 18
2 21 2 25
3 36 3 35
4 41 4 38
5 24 5 19

Chart 4.1

Chart showing console players answer spread from Review

REVIEWS

0
5 6%
16% 1
11% 0
1
2
3
2
4
14%
5
4
28%

3
24%

Chart 4.2

Chart showing PC players answer spread from Review

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 REVIEW

14% 2% 0
13%
1
2
3
18% 4
28% 5

25%

As indicated in Table, reviews have a dramatic impact on the buying decision with both, PC,
and console players. Over 100 players answered 3 or above when asked how reviews
influence to their buying decisions. Large number of players also thought reviews being their
top 3 buying decision factor. The results clearly tell the expected; review scores have a strong
impact to the buying decision of most players.

This reflects the importance for the developer to create a quality game but at the same time
game to be for the masses. Games should not be too artistic and different (which usually get
great review scores but low sales) from the mainstream but at the same time they should
somehow be differentiated from other games on the market. Reviews have been and will
surely always be one of the main selling points of any game and a requirement for a game to
be successful and selling.

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3.5 GRAPHICS

The visual side of the game is as important as the game content itself and therefore a lot of
players consider it to be important to them when buying a new game.

TABLE 5

Table showing results for pc and console players from graphics

CONSOLE PC

IMPORTANCE NUMBERS IMPORTANCE NUMBERS

0 27 0 8
1 17 1 21
2 33 2 25
3 32 3 37
4 33 4 32
5 20 5 15

Chart 5.1

Chart showing console players answer spread from Graphics

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 GRAPHICS
35

30

25

20

15

10

0
0 1 2 3 4 5

Chart 5.2

Chart showing PC players answer spread from Graphics

GRAPHICS
40

35

30

25

20

15

10

0
0 1 2 3 4 5

Chart 5.3

Chart showing PC players answer spread from Graphics between male and
female

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 GRAPHICS
35

30

25

20

15

10

0
0 1 2 3 4 5

male female

Chart 5.4

Chart showing console players answer spread from Graphics between

male and female

GRAPHICS
30

25

20

15

10

0
0 1 2 3 4 5

male female

In Table there is an equal spread between the answers from 0 to 5. Graphics are generally
considered as one of the major reasons people buy games so this result was quite interesting.
Therefore, I decided to look deeper in to the results in this case. In Table we can clearly see

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that male players consider graphics: to much more important than female counterparts. This
explains the equal spread seen in Table. The difference between these two can be found in the
psychological factors. Men are more visual thinkers than women which explains why they
also consider the appearance of the game to be much more important than women. Women
on the other hand are seen to be more interested e.g., about the dynamics and content of the
game than the looks.

3.6 DEVELOPER

Game industry rests on two mediums that co-exist within the industry, game publishers and
game developers. There are numerous references to both parties so it is important to know the
roles of these two.

A video game developer is a broad term for a software developer specializing in video game
development the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer
can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large business with employee
responsibilities split between individual disciplines, such as programmers, designers, artists,
etc. Most game development companies have video game publisher financial and usually
marketing support. Self-funded developers are known as independent or indie developers and
usually make indie games.

A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that have been developed
either internally by the publisher or externally by a video game developer.

TABLE 6

Table showing results for pc and console players from developer

CONSOLE PC

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 IMPORTANCE NUMBERS IMPORTANCE NUMBERS

0 37 0 8
1 38 1 21
2 31 2 25
3 27 3 37
4 22 4 32
5 3 5 15

Chart 6.1

Chart showing console players answer spread from Developer

DEVELOPER
40

35

30

25

20

15

10

0
0 1 2 3 4 5

Chart 6.2

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 Chart showing PC players answer spread from Developer

DEVELOPER
40

35

30

25

20

15

10

0
0 1 2 3 4 5

Developer is much more genre dependent than the publisher. If a developer releases for
example an arcade racing game, it is very unlikely that a role-playing game from them would
sell afterwards. The reason, however, for a developer to continue in the same genre it has
chosen does not entirely depend on the desire to build a strong brand image in that field. It is
the intellectual property within the company. The designers, animators and programmers
making the game are one reason why developers tend to publish similar games. When these
people are developing the game, they have researched and studied a vast amount of
information needed to create for example a believable imaginary historical setting with
wooden houses and ships. In this example blueprints of old houses and ships must be
researched, the environment and clothing must be historically correct etc. If a development
team would jump from for example RPG genre to racing games all the required info would
have to be studied from scratch.

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3.7 PUBLISHER

TABLE 7

Table showing results for pc and console players from publisher

CONSOLE PC
IMPORTANCE NUMBERS IMPORTANCE NUMBERS
0 54 0 45
1 42 1 37
2 21 2 28
3 23 3 19
4 17 4 7
5 1 5 2

Chart 7.1

Chart showing console players answer spread from Publisher

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 PUBLISHER

1%
11%

0
34% 1
15% 2
3
4
5

13%

27%

Chart 7.2

Chart showing PC players answer spread from Publisher

PUBLISHER

5% 1%

14% 0
33% 1
2
3
4
5

20%

27%

Publishers oversee marketing and promoting the game. Therefore, publishers' name is more
exposed than the developers' and therefore it is more easily affected by positive or negative
reactions towards the published game. Publishers' brand image is also based on previous

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games they have published. It is not the type or genre of the games they publish but it is the
success and visibility they have got from them that matters. After reading great reviews or
playing a game from a certain publisher, it is likely that the same player will get interested on
their next ventures.

Table clearly shows the importance of developer to pc players compared to publisher. The
same result was also seen among console players. What supports this is the importance of
popularity & experiences from previous releases from a developer as seen in Table below.
This is an interesting fact since I personally thought developer and publisher as brands would
be equally important for players. Publishers have little to do with the content of the game
which could explain these results. Players are more interested about the game itself rather
than who is promoting it.

3.8 POPULARITY OF PREVIOUS RELEASE

TABLE 8

Table showing results for pc and console players from popularity of

previous release

CONSOLE PC
IMPORTANCE NUMBERS IMPORTANCE NUMBERS
0 10 0 9
1 23 1 15
2 35 2 28
3 37 3 41
4 37 4 28
5 15 5 11

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 Chart 8.1

Chart showing console players answer spread from popularity of previous

release

popularity of previous release

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

0
0 1 2 3 4 5

Chart 8.2

Chart showing PC players answer spread from popularity of previous

release

popularity of previous release

45

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

0
0 1 2 3 4 5

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It is clearly seen that people prefers series games as their previous versions has already
caught people’s attention and market. As people are already familiar with the game. Series
games like GTA and FIFA are great example of this. people eagerly wait for these games and
no matter how bad or same these games are people would want to try their new release.

3.9 EXPERIENCE FROM PREVIOUS RELEASES

Experience from the previous release of the game is very important for players. If the player
experiences the game to be good, he most likely will buy again from the same publisher
or/and from the same developer or the same game series. This obviously works vice versa, if
the experiences from the game are negative it is likely for the developer or the publisher to
lose a customer. Therefore, it is crucial to have a great product in the market right from the
first game. Satisfaction or dissatisfaction created by the game will not affect to the player's
choice of a genre since that preference is rooted deep in the players socio cultural behaviours.

TABLE 9

Table showing results for pc and console players from experience from
previous releases

CONSOLE PC
IMPORTANCE NUMBERS IMPORTANCE NUMBERS
0 6 0 0

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 1 3 1 3
2 15 2 9
3 27 3 22
4 47 4 43
5 60 5 63

Chart 9.1

Chart showing console players answer spread from experience from

previous release

experience from previous release

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
0 1 2 3 4 5

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 Chart 9.2

Chart showing PC players answer spread from experience from previous

release

experience from previous release

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
0 1 2 3 4 5

Personal experiences from any previous release seem to be the most important factor that
contributes the buying decision process of players. This reflects the importance of game
series and the quality of the first game in the series. As indicated in Table 8 out of 9 top
selling games are part of a game series. When players have found out that a certain game is
worth playing it is easier for them to make the decision to buy the sequel for the game rather
than some similar game. This lowers the involvement and problem solving of buying decision
from High problem-solving towards Low problem-solving in other words makes it easier for
the player to buy the game.

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3.10 FRIENDS RECOMMENDATION

Persons place in his/her social environment, the family and friends of the individual, other
relationships like marriage, cohabitation etc. all contribute on the buying habits of the
specific individual.

TABLE 10

Table showing results for pc and console players from friends’

recommendation

CONSOLE PC
IMPORTANCE NUMBERS IMPORTANCE NUMNBERS
0 9 0 5
1 6 1 16
2 22 2 17
3 43 3 31

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 4 52 4 53
5 20 5 16

Chart 10.1

Chart showing console players answer spread from friends’

recommendation

FRIENDS RECOMMENDATION

13% 6% 0
4%
1
14% 2
3
4
5
37%
27%

Chart 9.2

Chart showing PC players answer spread from Friends recommendation

FRIENDS RECOMMENDATION

12% 4% 0
12%
1
2
12% 3
4
5
38%

22%

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As Table shows, social factors play a big role when deciding which game to buy. The results
from PC players and console players were the same as seen. This reflects the marketing
power of a single consumer. With one extremely satisfied player the creators of the game can
gain even 10 or more new customers and again from those 10 some might recommend the
game to their friends and so on.

This again reflects the experienced quality of the game. If a player has found the game to be
good, he/she will most likely promote it and vice versa.

3.11 ADVERTISING

The marketing of games is generally much more complex and different than the usual b2c
product marketing. Where a normal product is marketed mainly on the brand image, a game
is marketed not only with superb brand value and great product but also through extensive
communication with the users via different game community channels. This occurs mainly in
gaming Internet sites and forum discussion. Developers and publishers posting screen shots
pictures taken in-game for promotional or informational purposes to different game sites and
forums is just one example how games are promoted. Internet advertising for game publishers
in general is an excellent way to market and sell their products since it is cheap and it reaches
the targeted demography world-wide. Screen shots, videos and developer diaries are a great
way to build up the hype around the game before the announced release date.

TABLE 11

Table showing results for pc and console players from advertising

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 CONSOLE PC
IMPORTANCE NUMBERS IMPORTANCE NUMBERS
0 22 0 26
1 32 1 28
2 37 2 36
3 31 3 34
4 36 4 9
5 6 5 5

Chart 11.1

Chart showing console players answer spread from Advertising

ADVERTISING
40

35

30

25

20

15

10

0
0 1 2 3 4 5

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 Chart 11.2

Chart showing PC players answer spread from Advertising

ADVERTISING
40

35

30

25

20

15

10

0
0 1 2 3 4 5

Advertising is quite evenly spread among the answers. This shows that the advertising does
not directly have much influence to the buying decision. It is merely a reminder about the
game but it is the previous experiences will determine whether the advertisements have any
impact or not.

3.12 REPLAYABILITY

Replayability is the potential of a video game for continued play value after its first
completion. Factors that can influence perceived replay value include the game's extra
characters, secrets, and alternate endings. The replay value of a game may also be based
entirely on the individual's tastes. A player might enjoy repeating a game because of the
music, graphics, gameplay or because of product loyalty. Dynamic environments, challenging
AI, a wide variety of ways to accomplish tasks, and a rich array of assets could result in a
high replay value.

TABLE 12

Table showing results for pc and console players from replayability

CONSOLE PC
IMPORTANCE NUMBERS IMPORTANCE NUMBERS
0 5 0 3

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 1 14 1 19
2 30 2 22
3 34 3 30
4 44 4 34
5 30 5 30

Chart 12.1

Chart console players answer spread from Replayability

REPLAYABILITY

3% 0
19% 9%
1
2
19% 3
4
5
28%

22%

chart 12.2

Chart showing PC players answer spread from Replayability

REPLAYABILITY

2% 0
22% 14%
1
2
3
16% 4
5
25%
22%

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As Table indicates, the replay ability value is important for most of players. Replay ability is
a one indicator for the quality of a game. If the lifetime of a game is under 20 hours it is most
likely to be forgotten quickly and the expectations for any following publishes are low. Some
critics also measure game's lifetime span with the price. If a game costs 500rs and has 50
hours of play time the lifetime value is 10rs/h. The less the value is the better. With good
replay ability the lifetime span can be stretched with dozens of hours.

3.13 FORUM POSTS

When talking about games and game industry it is extremely important to know what
different forums exist and what forum discussion means. Forums are a vital part of social
media and an advertising tool in game industry. When buying a new game or having
questions about a recently bought one, majority of players will go and check the
developers/publishers’ forums about the matter. It is a direct link between the user and the
developer.

Forums themselves are discussion channels (or boards) for a specific theme or subject. There
also are forums for game publishers, developers, and fan-sites. There are practically forums
for every subject that exists. Forums are kept up by administrators (managing the technical
details required to run the site) and moderators (moderating, deleting etc. discussions) and
used by members.

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Forums are based on posts of a subject. It is a submitted message to the board. Posts are
contained in threads which is a collection of two or more posts.

TABLE 13

Table showing results for pc and console players from forum post

CONSOLE PC
IMPORTANCE NUMBERS IMPORTANCE NUMBERS
0 42 0 6
1 22 1 25
2 26 2 22
3 34 3 34
4 29 4 38
5 7 5 11

Chart 13.1

Chart showing console players answer spread from forum posts

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 FORUM POSTS
45

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

0
0 1 2 3 4 5

Chart 13.2

Chart showing PC players answer spread from forum post

FORUM POSTS
40

35

30

25

20

15

10

0
0 1 2 3 4 5

There seems to be a difference between console and pc players on forum posts. On one hand
forum posts are not important for console players and on other for pc players its important
this could maybe because pc players use forum more frequently compared to console players.

3.14 MATERIAL POSTED TO INTERNET

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These are the games videos and photos why are posted on the internet by the game owners or
other players. It can be a means to advertise their games and can strengthen or weaken the
buying decision.

TABLE 14

Table showing results for pc and console players from material posted to
internet

CONSOLE PC
IMPORTANCE NUMBERS IMPORTANCE NUMBERS
0 19 0 4
1 26 1 27
2 33 2 23
3 36 3 37
4 28 4 32
5 14 5 15

Chart 14.1

Chart showing Console player answer spread from material posted to

internet

MATERIAL POSTED TO INTERNET

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

0
0 1 2 3 4 5

Chart 14.2

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Chart showing PC player answer spread from material posted to internet

MATERIAL POSTED TO INTERNET

40

35

30

25

20

15

10

0
0 1 2 3 4 5

numbers

the responses are evenly spread for both pc and console which suggests for some players it is
important and vice versa. Buying decision and generally made by seeing first glimpse of the
game if it interests the players then probably, they would buy the game.

3.15 DEMO PLAYED

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A demo is a limited or trial version of a game intended to let interested gamers try it before
purchasing. Demos usually offer a very limited window into the game usually just a few
levels or features. A game demo comes in forms such as shareware, demo disc, downloadable
software, and tech demos.

TABLE 15

Table showing results for pc and console players from demo played

CONSOLE PC
IMPORTANCE NUMBERS IMPORTANCE NUMBERS
0 19 0 10
1 16 1 12
2 30 2 34
3 35 3 23
4 39 4 30
5 19 5 23

Chart 15.1

Chart Console players answer spread from Demo played

DEMO

12% 12% 0
1
10% 2
3
25% 4
5
19%

22%

Chart 15.2

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 Chart showing PC players answer spread from demo played

DEMO

8% 0
17%
9% 1
2
3
4
23% 26% 5

17%

Demo of the game seems to be an important factor for players as they can experience the
game before buying it or before the release of the game. Demos can really help here. They
satisfy that desire for the “new;” you want to play something fresh and different from what is
in the collection, but instead of getting bored of a RS3000 game after a few hours, the demo
is free. If anyone really enjoyed the demo, and feel buying the full game is worth the price,
then they buy the game, and support the game developers along the way. However, if the
game was not what they expected, or it does not feel worth the cost, then they may decide not
to buy the game.

3.16 RATINGS/VIOLENCE

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A video game content rating system is a system used for the classification of video games
based on suitability for target audiences. Most of these systems are associated with and/or
sponsored by a government, and are sometimes part of the local motion picture rating system.
Video game content rating systems can be used as the basis for laws that cover the sales of
video games to minors. Rating checking and approval is part of the game localization when
they are being prepared for their distribution in other countries or locales. These ratings
provide guidance to consumers and parents to help them decide whether the content is
suitable for a child. Failure to plan for Age Rating certification can not only affect which
audiences can experience the game but also sales and revenue generated from the game.

TABLE 16

Table showing results for pc and console players from ratings/violence

CONSOLE PC
IMPORTANCE NUMBERS IMPORTANCE NUMBERS
0 83 0 73
1 20 1 27
2 19 2 11
3 18 3 10
4 11 4 9
5 9 5 8

Chart 16.1

Chart showing Console players answer spread from Rating/violence

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 RATING OF GAME
90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
0 1 2 3 4 5

Chart 16.2

Chart showing PC players answer spread from Rating/violence

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
0 1 2 3 4 5

As seen in the tables there is a similar spread between console and pc players. Ratings and
violence in the games is the least important issue for the players as most players look for
violence and thrills in a game before buying which could also be understood by looking at
sales of the games. Games like Grand theft auto series, battlefield series, assassin’s creed are
extremely popular game which depicts heavy violence.

CHAPTER-4

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SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND
SUGGESTIONS
4.1 FINDINGS
 Price of the games seems to be an important factor while buying a video game for
both the PC as well as console players as most of the players choose either 4 or 5 on
scale of importance which suggest that they will be very interested to buy a game if its
price is low.
 As seen in the above graph theme and genre of the game also seems to be very
important for PC and console players as most players rated them from 3 to 5 on scale
of importance. It was surprising for me as personally for me a game genre and theme
does not matter.
 As seen in the above graph reviews of the game is moderately important for pc and
console players as most of the players choose between 3 and 4 on scale of importance
which suggests that review of the game influence the buying behaviour of the players.
 As seen in the graph there is an equal spread between answers from 0 to 5. This result
was quite interesting as graphics are one of the main reason a player buys a video
game. Therefore, I looked deeper into the result. As seen in the table men players
considers graphics more important than female players.
 As seen in the graph developer of the game seems to be important to the players as the
most players rated it between 3 and 4 on scale of importance. As developer are the
one developing games. when a player likes certain developer that develop a certain
type of game the players will most likely continue playing the same developer’s
game.
 As seen in the graph publisher of the game seems to be less important to the players
and most players rated it between 1 and 2 on scale of importance. This is an
interesting fact since I personally thought developers and publisher would be equally
important for players.

 As seen in the graph experience and popularity of previous release of the game is very
important for a player as most player rated these between 2 to 5 on scale of
importance. The result is not surprising as player wants to experience games if they

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 have a good experience and they are popular than any player wants to try the next
edition again and will buy it.
 As seem in the graph friend’s recommendation is important factor for a player as most
players rated it between 3 to 5 on scale of importance. Social factors play big role
when deciding which game to buy.
 As seen in the graph advertising is quite evenly spread among the answers. Which
suggests that it is not important for the players and it does not much influence the
buying behaviour of the players. The result is quite surprising as advertising is very
important for any product.

 As seen in the graph replay ability value of the game is important factor for most
players as most players rated it between 3 to 5 on scale of importance. Replayability
of the game is one indicator for the quality of a game.

4.2 CONCLUSION
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 The price spread suggests than price of a video game is very important for PC and
console players. price of a video game will influence buyers buying behaviour if a
price of a game is low and reasonable then the buyers would be more interested to buy
and try it and vice versa.
 Genre and theme of the game is important for buyers while purchasing a video game
as you can also see most popular game in today’s times are battle royale, open world
exploring games or a shooting game like pubg, GTA most of bestselling games are
from these categories.
 As seen in the table spread from review suggests that review has a dramatic impact on
buying decision of the pc and console players. If a review and rating of the game is
good then the people will want to try it and if the review is bad buyers will probably
ignore the game.
 Graphics of the game seems more important to male players than female players
which explains equal spread in the table. The difference between these two can be
found in the psychological factors. Men are more visual thinkers than women which
explains why they also consider the appearance of the game to be much more
important than women.
 The developer of the game is also an important factor in buying a video game as they
are the one developing a game certain developers are dominating the gaming market
like rockstar game which produces GTA Ubisoft which have many popular series
game the reason players like those developers are because they bring games which are
innovative, fun to play and enjoyed by the players.
 Surprisingly publisher of the game seems to be among least importance for players.
The reason could be as publisher name is more exposed than the developer and
therefore it is more affected by positive or negative reactions towards game published.
Players are more interested about the game itself rather who is promoting it.
 There is no surprise that the popularity and experience of the previous release of the
game is an important factor for the players. This reflects importance of game series
and the quality of game in the series. If the player experiences the game to be good,
he will most likely will buy again from same developer/publisher. And if the previous
edition of the game is popular then the players will also want to try and play the new
edition of the game.
 Recommendation of friend is important factor while buying a video game as player
most of the time will try a game if it is suggested by someone friends and family. If a

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 player has found the game good, he will most likely recommend to someone. This
reflects the marketing power of a single consumer. One extremely satisfied player of
the game can give 10 more new customers.
 Advertising is among the least important factor and does not directly have much
influence on buying behaviour of the players. It is just a merely remainder of the
game that it is going to release soon the previous experience of the game will
determine whether the advertisement have any impact or not.
 Replayability of a game is an important factor in influencing a buying behaviour of a
player. Its is generally seen that people often prefer those commodities which offer
great value same goes with games if a game high replay ability then it provides
greater value than the games which has low replay ability and players will generally
go with the game which provides them greater value.

4.3 SUGGESTIONS
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 As seen in graph 1.1 and 1.2 price plays an important factor in buying game. The
games should not be priced high and should be reasonably priced so that a consumer
may be able to buy it without any second thought it should not also be too low as the
publisher and developer must make some profits.
 A game publisher or the developer should bring out those genre and theme games
which is currently being bestselling and liked by the consumers. this would allow
them to sell more game thus making profit.
 A game should be made with effort and the developer should make sure that it is up to
a certain standard before releasing the game various test should be conducted to
ensure its quality as the consumer do not want a bad experience as gaming is an
activity to have fun. Bad game may result in losing customers.
 Graphics is one of the important aspects of the game as a player not only consumes
just a game but the experience that comes with it. Game should contain a good
graphics so that players may experience full fun of gaming.
 The developers should continue making good games which are liked by the players as
players seems to buy games from those developers which develops interesting games
and built a strong brand image.
 Publisher need to choose the game wisely which game to publish and which game not
to as a bad game and reviews could spoil their brand image. A great game and
positive reviews from a certain publisher may result in players interested on their next
venture.
 It is crucial to have a great product in the market from the first game as the experience
of the previous and popularity of the previous game is important factor that
contributes the buying decision process of the players. The developer of the game
needs to continue giving the same experience or even better that they got from
previous releases for it to be successful and popular which may benefit them.

 The game developer should include multiplayer options in game so that more players
can enjoy the game together which may result in players recommending good games
to other players which may result in other players buying the game. The developer
should also encourage player to use game forums so that the players may
communicate with each other.

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 As seen that advertisement does not have much influence. the developer and publisher
should advertise less and concentrate more on improving the game and providing best
possible experience to the players a good game will always works better the game
which is more advertised this will also save expenses on advertising which can be
now used for other important areas.
 As seen replayablity of the game greatly influence players buying behaviour. the
developers of the game should develop games which has high replayability rate and it
provides great value. the game should be interesting such that a players should always
find something new about the game every time he plays which will keep him engaged
with the game.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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 Zackariasson, P. and Wilson, T.L. eds. (2012). The Video Game Industry: Formation,
Present State, and Future. New York: Routledge
 Dovey, J. 2006. Games Cultures: Computer Games as New Media. Open University
Press.
 Laramee F.D. 2005. Secrets of Game Business. Charles River Media.
 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0080210717301838
 Growing science- a study on game consumer behaviour
http://growingscience.com/beta/msl/4978-a-study-on-game-consumer-behavior.html
 Wikipedia.com

QUESTIONNAIRE ON CONSUMER BUYING

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 BEHAVIOUR IN GAMING INDUSTRY
1.NAME-

2.GENDER-

3.AGE-

4.EMAIL-

5.Are you a PC or a Console player? PC CONSOLE

0 1 2 3 4 5

How important is price while buying a video

6. game?

7. Does advertising affect your purchase behaviour?

8. How important is game genre to you?

9. Is theme of the game relevant for you?

10. Does game ratings and violence influence your

buying decision?

11. Are forum posts important?

12. What role does graphics of the game plays in your

buying behaviour?

13. Does your experience of the game from the

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 previous release important for you?

14. How important is a developer of the game?

15. How important is the publisher of the game?

16. Is popularity of the previous released game

important?

17. How important is replay ability of the game for

you?

19. How important are friends’ recommendation to

you?

20. Does demo of the game influence your buying

decision?

21. How important is review by other players to you?

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