Market research company Lightspeed Research recently conducted a survey aimed at social gamers. The study claims that more than half of all social network users play games on their service of choice. 58 percent of those users have played a social game, with 68 percent of those doing so within the last year. Out of those respondents, 17 percent of users who have played a social game believe themselves to be “addicted.”
The survey did not investigate whether this meant that they were simply compelled to play often or did indeed suffer a psychological dependency on social games such as FarmVille.
"Social games are becoming a key aspect in people's lives, with almost one in five people feeling they are addicted,” said Lightspeed Europe MD Ralph Risk.
"At the same time they are opening up the gaming market to new groups of people, making it a great opportunity for brands to communicate with players through providing an engaging experience and useful and relevant rewards.
The study also asked about frequency of play and how much money had been paid to play games. 53 percent of social gamers played daily. Surprisingly, the 55-65 age bracket played games more often than those aged 18-34.
34 percent of social gamers had responded to marketing-promoted in-game rewards. 18 percent had followed an advertisement to do so.
[Thanks GI.biz]
