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Study: Gamers More Likely To Date, Marry, Socialize Than Non-Gamers
by Leigh Alexander
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October 22, 2008
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55 percent of gamers are married, 48 percent have kids, and single gamers are twice as likely to go on dates in a given month than non-gamers. That's according to the results of a new research study from IGN Entertainment and Ipsos Media CT obtained by Gamasutra.
The study, which involved 3,000 participants, says it demonstrates that, contrary to popular stereotypes, gamers are more social, more active and more influential to their friends than non-gamers -- and that the average age of gamers who picked up the habit within the past two years is 32.
Gamers apparently are bigger earners, too. The study finds that the average gaming household's income is $79,000 per year, compared to the average non-gamer annual income of $54,000.
37 percent of gamers studied say their friends and family look to them for suggestions on other kinds of entertainment like TV and movies, while only 22 percent of non-gamers say they're media influencers.
Since gamers are twice as likely to buy new technology -- even at a premium price, or with bugs -- it's unsurprising that the study also found that 39 percent of gamers say they help their friends and family keep up on new tech trends.
And while gamers spend five more hours on the internet per week than non-gamers, two more hours of TV time and two more hours of music time, the study says they're also more socially active.
In addition to being more likely to date and be married, gamers are apparently 13 percent more likely to go to the movies, 11 percent more likely to play sports, and 9 percent more likely to go out with friends than non-gamers.
"Based on the research, it's obvious that the gaming market has outgrown many commonly held stereotypes about the relative homogeneity of video gamers," says Adam Wright, Director of Research for Ipsos Media CT.
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On a side note, cute picture.
It also could just be that gamers have more free time, and so have more free time to date or watch TV or play sports.
Similarly, maybe it's just that the houses with more income can afford game consoles more than those that can't.
I'd rather see a study where each of these variables are isolated in relation to gaming. It could be that being social, tv, and everything on the report has only to do with free time, and those with more free time also play more games, but-
Freetime correlating to socializing, money and games, is not the same as: Games correlating to socializing and money. And since it's not separated, gaming might actually hurt one of the categories but you can't tell without a spreadsheet of isolation and control.
Shouldn't be much of a surprise. Games would most attract people with a craving for stimuli.