Amazon Appstore Survey Provides Revealing Insights into the Behaviors that Men and Women Exhibit While Playing Mobile Games

A recent Amazon Appstore survey was conducted by Harris Poll in late February among over 2,000 U.S. adults, among whom 880 play mobile games on their smartphone or tablet. The survey was conducted to assess the behaviors that men and women exhibit while playing mobile games, and to determine how certain trends in the industry are being shaped by both sexes.

The survey found that a nearly equal percentage of women and men play mobile games, and smartphone/tablet ownership is nearly equal as well. It also pointed to trends that are being shaped by women, and how the mindset of the female audience compares to traditional behaviors associated with gaming culture.

- Men are more competitive than women in mobile gaming. Men who play mobile games are more likely to feel more competitive than their female counterparts when a friend or family member is better (e.g., getting better scores, beating the game more easily) at the game they play most often (53% to 45%, respectively).

- Women are less social about their mobile gaming experience. Women are less likely to share their top scores in mobile games than comparative men (43% to 53%), share screenshots of top scores with friends/family (6% to 10%), or complain about bugs/glitches (52% to 69%) in their favorite mobile games.

Women are leading the trend towards Free-To-Play (F2P). Female mobile gamers prefer free to play games more than their male counterparts (84% to 77%), and are less likely to pay for a game (27% to 40%).

The survey shows that women who play mobile games may not exhibit the same competitive nature as men. The traditionally-held competitive attitudes of male gamers appear to ring true in the mobile gaming landscape, and the survey data provides several scenarios that showcase these behaviors. 

The survey also indicates that women across the board are more socially reserved about their mobile gaming experience than men. The poll asked participants how they would react after earning a top score in their favorite mobile game, and men were more likely to publicly share those scores in a variety of ways (doing everything from personally telling friends/family, using social media, and even capturing a screenshot).

Women were shown to be less likely to complain about bugs/glitches they experience in their mobile games, and are also less likely to be persuaded to purchase a game by outside sources, such as consumer ratings and press reviews.

A major finding of the survey is that female mobile gamers are more likely than men to prefer free-to-play (F2P) games, and also strongly prefer F2P against other paid methods, even considering pop-up ads and micro-transactions that are part of those experiences.

Women 55-64 were more likely to play mobile games than respective men (64% vs. 49%). These findings could certainly be a contributing factor toward the expansion of the F2P model.

1. The survey shows that male mobile gamers are more likely to feel more competitive than female mobile gamers. 53% of male mobile gamers said they would feel competitive if a friend/family member had higher scores than they did, compared to 45% of female mobile gamers who would feel the same way.

Both male mobile gamers and female mobile gamers age 18-34 are most likely feel competitive compared to older age groups (61% vs. 46% of those age 35-44, 39% of those age 45-54 and 43% of those age 55-64). Male mobile gamers age 35-44 are more likely than female mobile gamers in the same age range to indicate they would feel more competitive under these circumstances (57% to 35%, respectively). 

2. The survey shows that male mobile gamers are more likely than female mobile gamers to share news that they earned a top score in a mobile game (53% to 43%, respectively). Male mobile gamers age 18-34 (71%) are most likely to share news about their top scores among all males, and are also more likely than female mobile gamers age 18-34 to do so (58%).

Mobile gamers age 18-34 are more likely than their older counterparts to share this news at all (64% would do this vs. 44% of those age 35-44, 37% of those age 45-54 and 39% of those age 55-64). The survey shows that older mobile gamers (age 35+) are much more likely to not share news of their high scores at all than younger mobile gamers 18-34 (46% vs. 25%, respectively).

Male mobile gamers are also more likely than female mobile gamers to take screenshots of their top scores and send to friends/family (10% vs. 6%, respectively), as well as post comments about their scores on online forums/websites related to the game they’re playing (4% vs. 1%, respectively).

3. The survey shows that male mobile gamers are more likely to address bugs/glitches in their favorite mobile game than female mobile gamers (69% to 52%, respectively). Male mobile gamers are more likely to write an unfavorable review and give a low-star rating where they got the game than female mobile gamers (26% to 17%, respectively).

Female mobile gamers are more likely to do nothing about bugs/glitches in their favorite game than male mobile gamers (39% to 22%, respectively).

4. The survey shows male mobile gamers are more likely than female mobile gamers to be persuaded to buy a mobile game with mixed reviews (54% to 40%, respectively). The survey also shows that male mobile gamers are more likely than female mobile gamers to be persuaded to purchase a game as long as it has positive consumer reviews, even if it has received negative press reviews (33% vs. 21%, respectively).

Female mobile gamers are more likely to say they would not to purchase any game at all compared to male mobile gamers (i.e., only play free games) (40% to 27%, respectively).

5. The survey shows female mobile gamers are more likely to most prefer to play free games than male mobile gamers, even if those games have pop-ups and optional micro-transactions (84% to 77%, respectively).

Male mobile gamers are more likely to most prefer paying a one-time payment for a game than female mobile gamers (17% vs. 11%, respectively). The survey shows female gamers are more likely to most often play mobile games at home in their spare time than male gamers (70% to 62%, respectively). Male mobile gamers are more likely to most often play mobile games during their daily commute than female mobile gamers (11% vs. 6%, respectively). Male mobile gamers age 18-34 are more likely to say they play as often as they can, whenever they can, than female mobile gamers of the same age range (11% vs. 4%, respectively).

7. Men and women are equally likely to own a smart phone and/or tablet (76% and 72%, respectively). Women age 18-34 are more likely than their older counterparts to own a smartphone/tablet (88% vs. 65% of women age 35+). Men age 18-34 (86%) and 35-44 (81%) are both more likely than men age 55+ (65%) to own a smartphone/tablet.

8. Male and female smartphone/table owners are equally likely to play games on their smartphones/tablets (64% and 66%, respectively). Older female device owners (age 55-64) are more likely to play games compared to male device owners of the same age range (64% to 49%, respectively).