Study Suggests Virtual Goods Purchasing Differs By Ethnicity

A new study published Friday by mobile game community Mocospace suggests that virtual goods purchasing behavior may be affected by ethnicity. According to the company, a survey of anonymous data from 40,000 mobile social gamers on its platform revealed that both Caucasians and African Americans over-indexed on virtual goods spending. Caucasians in particular were responsible for 26 percent of virtual goods purchases made during the study period, despite representing only 18 percent of those studied. African Americans, meanwhile, made up 36 percent of the respondents and made 38 percent of the purchases. Those respondents calling themselves Hispanic under-indexed: despite comprising 31 percent of the sample pool, they made only 21 percent of the purchases. Those identifying as Asian Americans, Native Americans and Pacific Islanders meanwhile accounted for 4 percent each in terms of both spend and representation. According to MocoSpace CEO Justin Siegel, the rapid growth of the virtual goods industry means that it "makes sense to really start segmenting it." "We’ve started to sort our data by a number of criteria, including ethnicity and gender. Over time, this sort of information will change how mobile game developers and publishers create content and market their titles, something that is already happening in console and online gaming industry," he said in a statement accompanying the announcement. The numbers clash with a similar 2009 study by research firm Magid and Associates, which showed that those who over-indexed were actually Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. As with MocoSpace's study, both groups represented 4 percent of respondents. However, the 2009 study saw both groups representing the largest segment of virtual goods buyers, at 16 percent each. Caucasians and African Americans contributed only 12 and 10 percent of purchases during that study, respectively.