Real Buyers for Virtual Goods

PlaySpan and consulting firm Frank N. Magid Associates conducted a study to determine consumer attitudes and behaviors regarding buying virtual goods.
Study results included:
• 12% of the those surveyed reported purchasing a virtual good within the year
• 46% of virtual world users and 33% of iPhone users have purchased virtual goods.
• Predominant age demographics for virtual goods purchases are males aged 12 to 24 and females aged 25 to 44.
• Racial breakdown of buyers is 16% Asian, Latinos 14%; Caucasians 12%, African-Americans 10%. and “Other” 15% "
• The majority of purchases are made directly through official item shops located either in game or virtual applications (29%), or a game or virtual world's official Web site (29%)
• 25% of buyers purchase virtual items on authorized secondary markets.
• 8% purchase on the grey market, unauthorized sellers of virtual items.
• 51% of buyers could not recall the amount they spent on virtual goods in the previous year. Of those who could recall, 27% said they spent less than $50 while 15% said they spent over $100.
Mike Vorhaus, President of Magid says "The fact that lots of people are reaching into their pocket to buy virtual goods is impressive, but even more impressive is that some of those consumers are spending considerable dollars. As this market grows, the majority of consumers will continue to spend $50 or more on virtual goods every year, and this will grow to be a multi-billion dollar market."