This study was a joint effort by Marketcast and MFour Mobile Research leveraging MFour's mobile survey platform. The topic of study was what gamers expect (and want) from digital distribution.

Compared to around 2/3 of movies watched at home that are bought digitally, less than 1 in 5 console games purchased is a digital download. The majority are still bought via traditional physical discs.

Major publishers report that while their digital revenue is growing substantially, full game downloads make up a much smaller portion of this than subscriptions and add-on downloadable content.

Most coverage in the press focuses on the industry impact, and especially on the overall growth of digital revenue, of which game sales are still a small part. Instead, we decided to talk directly to gamers and find out how they feel about the digital shift in gaming compared to other forms of entertainment, and what they want from this shift.

Using MFour's native app, Surveys On The Go, respondents were asked to use their front facing cameras to capture deeper insights. Here is what they had to say:

[video width="144" height="192" mp4="http://mfour.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Vid1Phys-1235049.mp4"][/video]

[video width="144" height="192" mp4="http://mfour.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Vid2B-1272199.mp4"][/video]

Current-generation console owners are more likely to be buying games digitally than previous-gen gamers, where only 2 in 5 gamers have bought a game digitally in the past year.

Gamers who subscribe to their console’s premium tier – Xbox Live Gold, PlayStation Plus – are also more likely to be buying games digitally than those who just belong to the free tier.

And gamers who play on both console and PC may be accustomed to downloading games on their computers via Steam, but being a regular Steam user doesn’t carry that download-know-how over to console usage; playing games on Steam has no impact on gamers’ willingness to download games on console.

Among HD console owners, men are a bit more likely to download games, but women are not too far behind. The gap between men and women downloaders is fairly similar to the gap between men and women gamers overall.

And, although teens might be hooked on digital-everything, older millennials and parents are actually more likely to be downloaders.

All of these console owners tend to have Netflix subscriptions, and they use their cable’s video on demand about equally. But downloaders – along with older millennials and parents – are big on spending their entertainment dollars at home, so not only are they buying games digitally, they’re also subscribing to more digital platforms like Amazon, Hulu, and HBO Go.

Compared to non-downloaders, gamers who buy games digitally spend 15-20% more on last-gen games for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 overall. And they spend 30-40% more on games for current gen consoles.

Even though most still prefer physical copies, gamers admit that they’re personally driving this shift toward digital forward. Almost no one says that they expect to be downloading FEWER games in the future.

A majority of both downloaders and non-downloaders all agree that digital distribution is the direction that we’re headed in for video game purchasing.

Downloaders are more likely to say they’re pleased that digital downloading is the future of gaming, but even they are not 100% ready. Non-downloaders still mostly think that downloading is the inevitable future, but they’re more likely to say they aren’t happy about that.

This is true regardless of what group you look at. Males and females, teens and adults all prefer physical copies. So do those who pay to subscribe to premium tiers like Xbox Live Gold and PlayStation Plus. Even downloaders prefer physical copies over digital when it comes down to it.

The act of having a physical disc feels more real and as a result tangible value becomes intangible value. Physicality creates a perception of more value; having something tangible is important on its own. But also, down the road, it becomes a form of currency.

Those two forms of value – the tangible use of games as currency, and the intangible feeling of ownership, make up the main reasons why gamers keep purchasing physical rather than digital. The other side of physical purchasing is mostly made up of a sense of security: people fear that they will be prevented from keeping their purchases because of hard drive space, consoles crashing, or gaming companies changing the rules.

Gamers are actually very satisfied with the functional experience of downloading. Aside from storage space, the tech is not a problem.

They personally feel that not having to interact with store employees, along with not even having to go to the store, is one of the advantages of downloading over buying physical copies.

Virtually everyone wins except for the physical retailers. Gamers are optimistic that they will benefit from a digital shift in the long run, and they expect brick-and-mortar stores to be the only ones who really suffer.

In the world of movies, the retailers played a part in encouraging the digital shift along. Big-box stores promoted DVDs and Blu-Rays as loss-leaders, with heavy markdowns and those big boxes of random DVDs to dig through. This helped make the physical product seem less valuable, and consumers placed less premium on owning the discs, which primed the market for a digital shift.

That’s not likely to happen in the gaming world. Games are sold with a comparatively higher volume out of gaming-specialty stores rather than big-box stores, and gaming-specific retailers are unlikely to turn their main product into a loss leader by cutting down the base price.

And what do respondents think about the long run for downloading games?

Or, instead of downloading full games, consumers are open to the gaming industry taking a fully different route and following directly after the footsteps of movies and music, to offer something like a streaming service membership. This is still in its infancy, but services like PlayStation Now are trying to redefine digital gaming with streaming possibilities. And gamers are definitely open to that.

In fact, a monthly subscription is more appealing than a future console with all digital downloads… with the exception of one that makes games cost less overall.

While some gamers note that the file size and the need for zero lag will be a hurdle to overcome for streaming games, they like the idea especially because it overcomes the fear of getting stuck with a dud that you can’t return or sell back.

For more information on MFour's mobile solutions, click on the solutions tab at the top, or fill out the form below.

[gravityform id="3" name="Contact Us" description="false"]

Want 20+ Minute Mobile LOI's?
 You'll Have to Do Better Than This

What you see above is something that literally drives survey respondents to distraction -- a deeply flawed mobile survey format that's guaranteed to frustrate and alienate. Not only does it look bad, but the technology that's being employed leads to even more frustration and alienation. Basically, it's forcing mobile respondents to use their smartphones in a banal, unsatisfying way: connecting to a website to take an online survey.

The poor display you see above, coupled with outdated survey technology, f is responsible for one of market research's biggest myths: that mobile surveys have to be kept very short.

Truth is, mobile respondents are perfectly willing to engage for 20 minutes or more, if you give them the kind of rewarding smartphone experience they enjoy and expect. It's all about the user experience: if it's clunky, respondents give up. If it's fluid, they finish -- even at LOIs of 20 minutes or more.

Accomplishing longer, deep-dive research projects is well within reach. The key is using the right technological platform for the Smartphone Era. It's now possible to embed surveys instantly in panelists' phones by using a native app. Respondents love apps, and in-app surveys ensure that they won't have to depend on a cell signal or wifi, which are vulnerable to interruption and slow load-ins of survey questions.

To illustrate the point, here's the data  from a comparative study that tested engagement with  a 20-minute survey launched in three separate mobile formats: Native App, Mobile Optimized and Mobile Friendly.

Source: 2,139 surveys, 713 on each platform. Each survey ranges between 200 - 1,500 responses. Surveys conducted March 2014 - December 2014.

As you can see,  native app engagement eclipses "mobile optimized," to the tune of five times fewer drop-offs. And drop-offs were 14 times higher for the "mobile friendly" approach. To learn more about advanced, in-app mobile survey technology and the research solutions it provides,  just click sales@mfour.com.

Driving this holiday season? MFour's latest market research shows that half of American car owners have experienced damage to their vehicle as a result of potholes. Poor road conditions have cost consumers and the insurance industry at least $27 billion over the last five years. Winter weather months can create conditions that lead to accidents which may impact car owners' insurance rates, as premiums are determined by past claims, accidents and driving violations.

Our research found

• 31% of car owners who reported pothole damage filed a claim with their insurance company.
• 65% of respondents who needed repairs said they (or a third party) paid out of pocket for the vehicle to be fixed
• Only 3% said local authorities stepped in to foot the bill
• 40% of respondents said that their bill was more then $500

To read more visit http://businessclarksville.com/news/holiday-travel-kicks-off-treacherous-winter-driving-season/2014/12/20/69253

What really drives a consumer to choose one company’s brand over its competitor? The number one reason people pick one product over another is due to recommendations from people they know.

A study of service industry consumers shows “one unhappy customer will tell eight to 10 people of their bad experience.” Each of those 10 people, the report shows, will tell five more customers about the original bad experience.

This means up to 60 potential customers are actively turned away when one customer receives subpar service. Along the same lines, each happy customer can steer dozens of new ones your way.

So how do you know if you’re turning customers into advocates for your brand?
The key is ensuring your customers receive a consistent, outstanding experience every time they come in contact with your company. The ideal method to determine whether your customers are receiving this experience is to collect data through mobile secret shoppers – delivering real visibility into the inner workings of your organization at the moment consumers experience your brand.

Whether you want to measure employee’s suggestive selling and adherence to company policy or the overall focus on guest/customer satisfaction – secret shopping through Surveys on the Go will deliver timely and unbiased data from any location nationwide. This can ultimately give you the ability to measure execution against intent and pinpoint areas of improvement.

Furthermore, with the introduction of mobile research, not only can you get data from secret shoppers, you’ll be able to track thousands of your customers’ natural shopping behavior as they shop your brand…and your competitors’. A recent MFour study utilizing the Surveys on the Go platform found consumers from the ages of 18 to 49 visit, on average, three retail locations per day. By combining mystery-shopping methodologies with mobile GPS capabilities on the phone, Surveys on the Go can track your customer’s behavior and opinions with unprecedented accuracy.

For more about MFour Mobile Research and an in-depth look at the app solution, visit us at mfour.com.

Mobile research has reached its culmination due to the introduction of touch screen technology, which has revolutionized the way people use and perceive their mobile devices.  Market researchers are now capable of monitoring mobile browsing trends and behaviors, allowing analysts to conduct questionnaires and surveys using these same devices.  The increased benefits for consumers include a greater extension of the customer’s reach to improve the experience of the respondents.

With faster response times, this means that the opinions of more people can be analyzed and applied to market data and consumer demands.  This information is much more useful if customer insights are gathered during the experience, because it provides indications into what people are thinking while they are considering a specific purchase.

Point of Decision

One thing we have learned from Behavioral Economics is that humans are much less rational than we believe ourselves to be.  Mobile research allows market researchers to get closer to the exact moment we make decisions, or the point of decision.  This provides better information into the decision-making process and explains why people behave in a particular way.  If companies have a better understanding of why people make their decisions, they can tailor their product and services to better meet customer demands. 

On a more fundamental level, it is important to provide surveys during their experience because people forget.  If you ask a consumer to provide feedback from an experience days or even weeks prior, the data collected is hazy and prone to post-purchase rationalizations.  If respondents provide data during the experience, it holds much more truth since it is an instinctual response.

Links Emotions to an Event

Emotions are an excellent predictor of human behavior.  If information is gathered during a consumer experience, the company will receive better clues about the context in which they are received.  The message conveyed when a consumer is under stress is much different than when they have had time to process their thoughts and perceptions.  Knowing what events or interactions precipitate these emotions will allow companies to better design their products and services.  Responses which are conducted after the experience may not be as strong as those received “in the moment”.

When companies have true emotional responses to their product or services, it facilitates more immediate changes and innovations.  When the corporate decision-makers can empathize with the customer and feel their pain or frustration, it will result in immediate reaction.  It will better inform “the people in charge” of what needs to be changed and cause a stronger emotional response from the company so they will do something about it.  Mobile research provides customer proof to help drive a customer-centric change rather than relying on the speculation of analysts.

Speed

The strongest argument for mobile research is the speed at which it can be conducted.  If trends continue along their current path, mobile devices will soon become the primary means to browse the internet.  While it is true that certain demographics are more heavily represented among mobile users, this is quickly changing to include a vast majority of the American population.  Mobile research allows a greater number of people to be reached in a much shorter time span since nearly every consumer will have some type of mobile device.  Marketers and researchers are now able to access consumers via their preferred mode of communication.  This provides a convenient and personalized means to collect data, which greatly increases the response rate.

With increased response rates, companies have a broader perspective of what their customers want.  Having tangible insights into the consumer psyche facilitates a faster corporate response and a more agile market approach.  To put it simply, if companies understand what the customers want when they want it, they are going to get a faster response due to mobile research.  It has streamlined the process of gathering qualitative and quantitative data and eliminated the need for the middle man.