作者：Justin Siegel

为了帮助更多开发者创造更多有利可图的游戏，我们将在此分享一些关于用户消费手机游戏虚拟商品的有趣资料。

male_avatar_options(from blog.replayful.com)

1.男性玩家更愿意花钱玩游戏

尽管在手机社交游戏平台MocoSpace中男性玩家和女性玩家的比例趋于一致，但是他们在游戏中的投入却差别显著。在手机游戏的虚拟商品销售比例中，男性玩家占据90%，与女性玩家的比值是9:1。但假如女性玩家也投入与男性玩家同等的游戏时间，我们是否有办法吸引她们购买虚拟商品？虽然这是一个巨大的挑战，但开发者可以将其视为有待挖掘消费潜力的用户群体。但最重要的是记住，当前主要消费群体是男性用户。

2.不同种族消费习惯也有区别

白种人和非裔美国人都愿意花钱买虚拟商品；白种人投入游戏的时间虽然并不算最多，但却更愿意花钱购买虚拟商品。如此看来种族因素能够帮助你更好地理解消费群体。对于低投资的消费群体，你应该使用不同的收益模式，如设置游戏内置广告。而对于高投资群体，虚拟商品也许就是他们的核心游戏体验了。

3.年轻玩家游戏时间更长，但年长者更愿意花钱

玩家的年龄也会影响他们对于虚拟商品的消费意愿。移动分析公司Flurry的调查结果也曾指出：“年轻用户愿意投入更多时间，而年长用户却更舍得花钱。”25岁以下的群体多为活跃型玩家，但是25岁以上的玩家更愿意购买虚拟商品。我们发现随着年龄的增长，玩家对虚拟商品的支出比例也会相应上升。由此可见，用户越来越年长的时候，他们能够用于玩游戏的时间也变得越来越少了（但仍愿意继续玩游戏），不过却拥有更多的金钱能够投入游戏。年长的玩家能够享受游戏乐趣，但他们更希望在游戏中快速前进以节省时间。

如果你是游戏开发者，当你在游戏中添加虚拟商品时请牢记这三点内容。要先自问：男性玩家喜欢什么类型的虚拟商品？如何吸引更多女性玩家购买虚拟商品？少年歌星的发型对30岁玩家是否具有吸引力？什么样的产品更能吸引拉美玩家的注意？总之要研究你的游戏用户特点，并在创造游戏的过程中牢牢遵循这些原则。

（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

Three Lessons about Mobile Virtual Goods by Gender, Ethnicity, and Age

by Justin Siegel

Virtual goods are driving the gaming industry. But before you cash in, know your audience.

To assist developers in creating profitable games we’d like to share some interesting data on who’s buying mobile virtual goods.

1. Guys spend the money…but women like to play just as much

Although there’s an equal number of male gamers and female gamers on MocoSpace, there’s disparity in how much they spend. Men account for almost 90% of virtual goods sales in mobile games, outspending women 9 to 1. But if women are playing – and spending about the same time, at that – are there ways to reach them? There’s a challenge in reaching women with virtual goods that appeal to them, but developers could look at this as an untapped audience. Still, keep in mind the guys, who are already spending on virtual goods.

2. Game spending varies by ethnicity, enabling a new era of titles to be developed that maximize preferences

Both Caucasians and African Americans over-index on virtual goods spending, with Caucasians spending more on virtual goods, even though they don’t spend the most amount of time gaming, compared to other ethnic groups. This is an opportunity to truly understand your consumer. With groups that spend less, different revenue models should be employed, such as in-game advertising. With higher-spending segments, virtual goods should be core to the gaming experience.

3. Younger gamers spend more time, but older gamers spend more money

There’s a distinct association between a gamer’s age and their willingness to spend on virtual goods. Flurry also confirms this: “Younger consumers spend a lot more time, but older consumers spend a lot more money.” Those under 25 are the most active gamers, but those over 25 spend more on virtual goods. When gamers are segmented by their virtual goods spending, spending increases in proportion with age, in lock step. It seems that the older we get, the more obligations we have, and the less time we have to spend on gaming – but we still want to play. Older gamers enjoy the fun of games, but want to advance quickly through them to save time.

If you’re a developer, keep these findings in mind as you incorporate virtual goods into your games. Try to ask yourself: What sorts of virtual goods are interesting to men? How could you get more women to buy virtual goods? Would buying a ‘Justin Bieber haircut’ be that interesting to a 30 year-old guy? What products are most appealing to Latinos? Learn the demographics of the platform you’re building for, and keep this in mind as you create your games.（source:gamasutra）