Women and mobile games: part 3 of 3

This final part found a small number of people buying in-game stuff, but even there most just used pocket money. I’ve never paid real money, but my wife borrows all the money I collect from Google Rewards and recently Google Pay cash back to spend on clothes for some dress-up game.

Talking about paying for dress-up games, here’s a screen shot from the grand-daddy of them all, Second Life, featuring two cats sitting in a Japanese style toilet:

Research results

Q13: Have you ever spent money to buy in-game items, loot boxes, etc? (Sample size=524)

Yes (to SQ)	23.5%
No	76.5%

Q13SQ: In the last 6 months, about how much have you spend on in-game items? (Sample size=123, multiple answer)

Less than 100 yen	19.5%
Less than 500 yen	28.5%
Less than 1,500 yen	23.6%
Less than 3,000 yen	8.9%
Less than 5,000 yen	9.8%
Less than 10,000 yen	4.9%
Less than 20,000 yen	2.4%
20,000 yen or more	2.4%

Perhaps not surprisingly, the biggest spenders were those in full-time employment and those in their forties.

Q14: Who do you play smartphone, tablet games with? (Sample size=524, multiple answer)

By myself	88.4%
With husband	10.9%
With children	10.9%
With friends, colleagues	7.3%
With parents	2.9%
With in-game friends	2.7%
With boyfriend	0.8%
Other	1.5%

Q15: Why do you play smartphone, tablet games? (Sample size=524, multiple answer)

To fill spare time	72.9%
To cheer myself up	54.8%
To relieve stress	30.9%
To relax with cute characters	21.9%
To escape the real world	19.3%
To feel I’m achieving, completing something	18.7%
To exercise my brain	17.6%
To have fun with friends, family	10.5%
To imagine I’m in love with the handsome characters	4.0%
To play with people that I don’t know	2.7%
To get some exercise	1.3%
To know what’s in vogue	0.8%
Other	1.9%

Q16: Have you ever watched a musical based on game characters from a smartphone, tablet game you’ve played, or bought character goods from a game? (Sample size=524)

Yes	13.0%
No	87.0%

Q17: Do you want to keep playing mobile games in the future? (Sample size=524)

Yes	54.0%
Probably	36.8%
Probably not	8.2%
Not at all	1.0%

Demographics

Between the 1st and 5th of August 2018 524 women who played smartphone or tablet games completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The average age of the sample was 38.8 years old.