Exclusive: Survey Reveals Wii60 Effect, Console Popularity

Author: by Staff

Gamasutra has obtained data from analyst firm Frank N. Magid Associates originally compiled for the MI6 marketing conference, and detailing some fascinating survey data on Wii/Xbox 360 purchasers buying a second console, as well as overall consumer purchasing enthusiasm for next-gen consoles. The survey was taken from March 20th through March 28th, 2007 by a division of Magid, and consisted of an online survey of 1,864 people, of whom 1,632 were between the ages of 18 and 64 and 232 were between the ages of 12 and 17. One of the highlights of the comprehensive survey, which was originally presented in a lecture at the MI6 Marketing Conference in San Francisco earlier this month, is its section on next-gen console ownership. In the online evaluation, both Wii and Xbox 360 owners were surveyed on how likely they were to buy a second next-gen console. For Wii owners, 53% are neutral or more likely to buy a PlayStation 3 because they now own a Wii, but 44% are neutral or more likely to buy an Xbox 360. However, when surveying Xbox 360 owners, 52% are neutral or more likely to buy a PlayStation 3 because of their first purchase, and a much larger 66% are neutral or more likely to buy a Wii because they now own an Xbox 360. In fact, in this last case, 19% of the Xbox 360 owners say that they are somewhat or much more likely to own Nintendo's next-gen console because of their ownership of the Xbox 360, by far the highest of those surveyed. [NOTE: the exact question asked in this case was "What impact, if any, does owning the Xbox 360 have on your likelihood to acquire a Wii?" Results for PlayStation 3 owners buying other consoles were not disclosed in the survey results, presumably because the sample size was below Magid's acceptable levels.] The survey went on to offer specific statistics based on the question: "How likely is it that you or anyone in your household will purchase one of the following game console systems within the next 12 months?" For next-gen consoles, the Xbox 360 led in terms of respondents either owning the console or more concretely intending to get one, with 10% already owning an Xbox 360, 5% saying they will definitely pick one up, and 3% saying they will probably get one - for a total of 18%. However, 11% of those replying said they had a 50/50 chance of picking one up, and 54% say they definitely would not. This compares intriguingly to Nintendo's Wii, with a total of 17% in the owners/definitely/probably buying category (6%/5%/6%), but a much larger 16% of those replying saying they had a 50/50 chance of buying a Wii, and just 49% saying they definitely would not buy one - the lowest negative result from all of the next-gen consoles. The PlayStation 3 performed weakest in the owning, definitely buying, and probably buying categories, with 4%/5%/5% for a total of 14%, but 13% of those replying said they had an even chance of buying Sony's hardware, and 54% said they would definitely not - the same number as Xbox 360. Also surveyed was Sony's last-gen machine, the PlayStation 2, with some interesting results - a whopping 39% of those who replied said that they already own one of the consoles. 3% said they would definitely buy one in the next year, 1% probably would, and 4% had a 50/50 chance of doing so, with 43% saying they definitely would not. Gamasutra will be posting further statistics from the Magid research survey in due course.