More than half (55 percent) of mobile gamers who use iOS and Android devices say that obtaining their games for free is the most important motivator when choosing gaming products to download. The next important motivator is friends' recommendations, cited by 13 percent of mobile gamers, followed by good ratings and reviews, which influence downloads of 12 percent of these customers. Additional but less important factors include the ability to play with friends (5 percent), screenshots in the product description (5 percent), presence of the app on a top games list (4 percent), the product's brand (3 percent) and others (2 percent).
The consumer market's preference for free vs. paid apps has been driving downloads for app developers, and these findings, released with a new study from Inside Network, help characterize the importance of the free model to the gaming audience. The study found that not only are free apps the leading motivator, but 63 percent of mobile gamers will only download free games. The other 37 percent say they download premium games or various combinations of free and premium games.
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Copyright 2012 Inside Virtual Goods: Spending and Usage Habits of the Mobile Gaming Audience published by Inside Network, Inc., http://research.insidenetwork.com/ |
Inside Network also found that 17 percent of respondents have paid for in-game purchases of virtual goods, currency or special features in mobile games. The sample included U.S. consumers who are older than 18, own or have access to an iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android phone or Android tablet and play mobile games on those types of devices at least once per week. The study found that the vast majority (72 percent) download one to two games per month.
For more:
- read the release
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