Study: Impulse Purchases Amongst Gamers On The Rise
How many of you wander into GameStop with no intention of buying anything, but still walk out with a bag? Well, if nearly half of you won't admit you've done it at least once in the past six months, we might have a few liars on our hands.
According to the latest results compiled by a Canadian NPD study, 40% of gamers say they've made an "impulse purchase" in the past half-year. Of course, we're willing to bet that downloadable content is to blame for such a high number; I too have logged on to the Store just to peruse, and ended up purchasing something small. And not surprisingly, the researchers do attribute that statistic to "creative packaging, online accessibility and a rise in the availability of low cost pre-owned games." Said Matthew Tattle, NPD Group manager:
"Clearly gamers are becoming much less reluctant to spend on games. One would think it is a little unusual to see impulse purchases during a recession but it's clear that hardcore gamers will find a way to satisfy their need for something new, different and enjoyable."
Yeah, well, for the millionth time, it doesn't appear as if we're in a recession (stop listening to the propaganda and just look around, I say). Obviously, the average cost of an impulse buy is significantly lower than a planned purchase; the former averages about $27.19 while planned purchases are around $42.97. That makes perfect sense. And yes, packaging and marketing does matter, as 40% of gamers also claim that the packaging alone was either "very" or "extremely important" to them. Oh, and one last intriguing stat: the study found that girls were more likely to buy on impulse than guys...okay, I could make some kind of relevant crack here, but I won't. I promise.
...
...no, I promised.
10/16/2009 12:32:06 PM Ben Dutka
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Comments (50 posts)
bigrailer19
Friday, October 16, 2009 @ 12:50:55 PM
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This happened the other day, i went to get marvel ultimate alliance 2 and walked out with heavenly sword and ratchen and clank future: tools of destruction for the same price instead! yes i finally got to play these two games i have wanted for a very long time!
If i wanna buy i buy, if i dont i ussually can restrain myself be it whatever reason!
NoSmokingBandit
Friday, October 16, 2009 @ 8:27:30 PM
I always research games before i buy too. I did kinda impulsively buy R&C:Quest for Booty. I imported the disc from Hong Kong. I knew i was going to buy the game anyway because Insomniac makes awesome games, but i wasnt really looking to drop $30 on the disc version.
It came today. And it was worth every penny.
fundando
Friday, October 16, 2009 @ 1:09:12 PM
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I think gaming might be a little bit recession proof. I bought way more games due to the fact I have lots of time to play them.
Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Friday, October 16, 2009 @ 2:12:01 PM
There is no recession. It was created and invented by the media to give the government an excuse to save the American car companies.
Famous quote: "The economy is magic. If you tell people the economy is bad, it will be bad. If you tell people the economy is good, it will be good."
Jawknee
Friday, October 16, 2009 @ 2:45:36 PM
I certainly believe we have seen a downturn but it wasn't nearly as bad as the media portrayed it. It's getting worse and won't get better until taxes are cut and the new Prince of Peace stops spending our money like a kid with a credit card who won a shopping spree.
Sorry Ben. Don't mean to start any political arguements. It's just refreshing knowing theres more then just me out there who's sketical of our "MSM".
Highlander
Friday, October 16, 2009 @ 2:50:02 PM
@Jawknee
Tax cuts won't help. I won't argue it here, this is not the place. However it is a fact that the transition to more consumption taxation has reduced the taxation burden on high earners while increasing it on lower earners. It is an absolute fact that lower earners spend a higher proportion of their income on necessities that are all taxed than higher earners do. As a proportion of total income, low/mid earners pay more in total tax (income + all other forms of taxation) than high earners do. So instead of those with more helping those with less, we have the reverse where those with less are helping those with more. The usual calls for tax cuts will not help the majority of people in the US at all.
Lastly, the downturn is probably worse than is portrayed by the media. If you don't believe me, talk to all those poor saps who have been laid off or made homeless, or had their savings, and pension funds obliterated by the unfettered greed of Wall Street whizz-kids.
</rant>
Before anyone bothers, I know, I'm a socialistic communist with a naive Utopian mind-set and have failed to grasp reality. Whatever.
Oh, I seem to be stuck in rant mode. Ah well. At least the weekend is here.
Last edited by Highlander on 10/16/2009 3:08:10 PM
JackC8
Friday, October 16, 2009 @ 3:56:59 PM
Jawknee
Friday, October 16, 2009 @ 4:12:59 PM
Yes your correct. Tax cuts will not have an immediate effect on peoples wealth but it sure a heck will open up more opertunities for those who want it. When there more money in the private sector there's more jobs and less people out of work.
Last edited by Jawknee on 10/16/2009 4:17:40 PM
Jawknee
Friday, October 16, 2009 @ 4:32:47 PM
NoMoreWar
Friday, October 16, 2009 @ 4:44:50 PM
As for the media, they certainly don't help matters, but they sure as hell did not cause this thing. Anyway, you can't just base a recession on how much you see people buying useless crap. Certain industries almost never feel a major impact of recessions while others get hammered.
Fane1024
Friday, October 16, 2009 @ 5:38:52 PM
Generally speaking, recessions only (significantly) affect the people they affect.
By which I mean that most people keep their jobs and are able to keep spending money on unnecessary luxury items (though sometimes they refrain somewhat), but the people who do get laid off certainly feel the crunch. Judging the condition of the economy by the behavior of a few individuals is what makes people think Reaganomics works. AND IT DOESN'T.
Ben is right that proclaiming that the economy is in trouble is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Scarecrow
Friday, October 16, 2009 @ 8:16:38 PM
Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Friday, October 16, 2009 @ 8:29:13 PM
So certain things are down. But the ONLY time things got bad was AFTER the uber-liberal the-sky-is-falling press TOLD everyone things were bad. Maybe you should look THAT up.
Jawknee
Friday, October 16, 2009 @ 10:54:38 PM
Now im out! =P
NoMoreWar
Saturday, October 17, 2009 @ 12:11:54 AM
Last edited by NoMoreWar on 10/17/2009 12:13:56 AM
Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Saturday, October 17, 2009 @ 12:38:54 AM
You think looking at how people behave and how they spend their money doesn't matter? You'd rather go by numbers? Well, feel free. The simple bottom line is that most everyone responds the same way when they're frightened about losing their money, and that's save as much as they can. Luxury items disappear. One of the first things that go away are trips to restaurants; they're entirely unnecessary and expensive, what with the overall cost. And yet, in the midst of this so-called "recession," all restaurants in my area were flourishing. All of them.
People were out and about. People stay HOME when they have no money to spend. In this case, in the worst of the situation (right around February), I was in a club where bottles of liquor were between $250 and $400 and all bottle-service tables were always full. Full of the young and older, and NOT all from affluent areas. There's absolutely nothing in there that's essential; it'd be one of the very first things people would cut out if they were facing financial problems.
Look around. Don't stick your head into numbers. Believe what your eyes tell you. There ARE parts of the economy that are down, but a recession? My family's business nearly failed during the REAL recession of the early '90s; during this entire period of the past two years, it has only gone up. In the early '90s, roads were almost empty. Malls closed. Yes, there's some of that still, but nowhere near enough around here that tells me we're in trouble.
I don't care what the parameters are. I really don't. Considering the fact that they rarely mean much of anything in regards to how people live their lives, I always question their relevance.
Last edited by Ben Dutka PSXE on 10/17/2009 12:40:31 AM
fluffer nutter
Saturday, October 17, 2009 @ 2:23:22 AM
NoMoreWar
Saturday, October 17, 2009 @ 11:36:38 AM
if you want to see what this one looks like as far as how its affecting people, go to Miami, Detroit, Reno, San Diego, Riverside, Las Vegas (try living there when the housing bubble burst).
i am done. if you want to continue to believe that recessions are subjective, thats up to you. but i'd encourage you to look it up.
Last edited by NoMoreWar on 10/17/2009 11:44:28 AM
Highlander
Saturday, October 17, 2009 @ 7:21:23 PM
Credit where credit is due. I agree about the credit crunch and people taking too much debt. Too many people who could not and never will be able to afford it, were advanced far, far too much credit by banks and other lenders who made criminally stupid lending decisions. I could never understand why banks started lending money to people who clearly were not safe risks to buy homes that were just as clearly over values by a market that was clearly a growing bubble. How their risk analysis could have been so poor is beyond me. I also cannot understand why the people who preside over such abject failure continue to be both employed and paid bonuses for leading people and country into ruin.
kevinater321
Friday, October 16, 2009 @ 1:09:54 PM
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Highlander
Friday, October 16, 2009 @ 1:21:52 PM
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englishgolfer
Friday, October 16, 2009 @ 2:56:04 PM
Highlander
Friday, October 16, 2009 @ 3:20:19 PM
My oldest PS3 is coming up on 3 years old, and has been played pretty constantly over those three years. I'm actually impressed that something that gets so heavily used is still working. That said, I guess it's only a matter of time now before age eventually takes it's toll on my original PS3.
Fane1024
Friday, October 16, 2009 @ 6:06:24 PM
Occassionally, I will pick up a game I didn't expect to get because the price is so good. Recent examples: Madden 07 ($4.99), SOCOM Tactical Strike ($7.99, I think) and R&C Up Your Arsenal ($4.99).
WorldEndsWithMe
Friday, October 16, 2009 @ 4:44:46 PM
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As far as PSN stuff goes, it is VERY easy to spend your money when you can't actually see it in front of your face.
Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 10/16/2009 4:45:19 PM
Jawknee
Friday, October 16, 2009 @ 5:17:54 PM
WorldEndsWithMe
Friday, October 16, 2009 @ 10:45:32 PM
tes37
Saturday, October 17, 2009 @ 9:10:31 AM
Because of PSN, Sony is making more money off me at a faster rate this generation than any other. As more people become owners of ps3's, this could turn out to be Sony's most profitable generation yet.
bOnEs
Friday, October 16, 2009 @ 5:22:11 PM
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i've only bought 3 games on the PSN so far... echochrome, PAIN (impulse) and linger in shadows... for some reason, none of the PSN games ever interest me... echochrome is the only one that seemed worth the purchase...
fluffer nutter
Friday, October 16, 2009 @ 6:44:06 PM
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Wage SLAVES
Saturday, October 17, 2009 @ 12:23:06 AM
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Kangasfwa
Saturday, October 17, 2009 @ 12:23:50 AM
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@ Ben's recession comment (personal experience)
Restaurant revenue in general has actually been on the decline since mid to late 2007 (according to a training seminar this past summer). Around the same time I started working where I am now so I've watched it happen. I think there's more to our gradual decline in business than the 'worst economic disaster since the fall of Rome,' but it's just the way things are rights now.
Last edited by Kangasfwa on 10/17/2009 12:24:30 AM
___________
Saturday, October 17, 2009 @ 12:49:20 AM
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i never buy a game without either trying a demo, reading countless reviews or renting it from the store first.
i wish foxtell had a fast forward function on live TV.
im sick of trying to watch mythbusters but have to put up with 5 minute adds every 20 minutes.
i dont like paying for adds of a soldiers funeral.
i mean seriously WTF does that have to do with halo ODST?
seriously.
that has to be the stupidest,randomest, most irrelevant add i have ever seen.
whats next?
a cat chasing a mouse to advertise the army?
adds are becoming more and more random these days, i use to understand straight away what the adds for.
now im still trying to figure it out today.
like the add for sony bravia TVs has a whole heap of colourfull rabbits bouncing around piling up in a pyramid shape.
WHAT THE ^%$# does colourfull rabbits have to do with TVs???????????????????????????
seriously advertisers seriously need to lay off the acid!
___________
Saturday, October 17, 2009 @ 8:34:33 AM
fluffer nutter
Saturday, October 17, 2009 @ 11:08:24 AM
DeadReaper
Sunday, October 18, 2009 @ 6:03:16 PM
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BikerSaint
Sunday, November 08, 2009 @ 12:22:51 AM
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Since I'm not into the sports games too much, I I still pick up tons of those games on the Gamecube, Xbox,PS1, & PS2 for only 99 cents each.

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Friday, October 16, 2009 @ 12:44:45 PM