Parents of young children expect to spend more on video game gifts this holiday season
Children are incredibly digitally savvy these days, especially when it comes to video games. Kids who play video games tend to have parents who are also up to date on video game news such as console releases and a majority of these parents plan to gift their children a console or video game this holiday season.
A YouGov study from November 2019 reveals that parents of younger gamers, particularly those of kids aged 5- to 7-years-old, not only tend to be more video game-savvy than other parents, but are also more likely to spend money on gaming gifts this season. The study surveyed parents of children aged 18 and younger who play video games on console ownership, gaming behavior in the household, and purchase intent for the 2019 holiday season.
Forecast for the 2019 holiday season
The video game industry should see a lift in sales this season, especially since 40 percent of parents with children who play video games say they expect to spend more on gaming gifts in 2019 than they did in 2018 . The Nintendo Switch ranks as one of the most sought-after consoles this season and Switch-exclusive titles are the hottest games, according to parents.
Notably, this figure increases by 18 percentage points (58%) among parents of children aged 5- to 7-years-old. The data indicates that the largest increase in spending is among parents of children in this age group and that the rate decreases among households with older children.
A similar trend appears when examining the percentage of parents who will purchase a new console as a gift this year. The overall purchase intent for any console tends to be highest among parents of children aged 5- to 7-years-old (62% vs. 47% of parents with children who play video games) and tapers off as parents of older children are surveyed. Nintendo products are expected to fare best among this key age group during the holiday season.
Children in this youngest age group are also more likely to receive an additional game title as a gift this season. Across all devices (PC, console, and mobile), most parents surveyed say they intend to gift their kids three games in total. Parents of children aged 5- to 7-years-old say they will give their kids four games in total.
Kids may get the gaming bug from their parents
There are now more than 2.5 billion people who play video games across the world, according to a Forbes report. Over half (58%) of parents with children who play video games think of themselves as gamers too. And again, this self-perception is at its highest among parents of children 5- to 7-years-old (63%) and 8- to 10-years-old (65%).
Parents of gamers keep their nose to their ground when it comes to video game news. Close to half (48%) of these parents look at ESRB ratings, or age guidelines and information about game content, either following their child asking for a game or when these parents do their own research on which games to buy. YouGov data reveals that of those parents that look at ESRB ratings, a quarter (25%) follow the age recommendations exactly, and this is especially true for parents with kids aged 5- to 7-years-old (32%).
Their attentiveness to video games extends to news of upcoming console releases too. Most (56%) of these parents say they have heard of either Microsoft's Xbox Project Scarlett or Sony's PlayStation 5 release next year. Again, awareness of the new consoles is highest at 64 percent among parents of children aged 5- to 7-years-old.
Read the full results from the survey here
Methodology: Total sample size was 1,522 parents of gamers aged 5-18 who play videogames at least 1 hour per week and plan to purchase new video games for or give gift cards/cash to be used for in-game purchases this November and December. Field work was undertaken between November 4-8, 2019. All interviews were conducted online and the figures have been weighted.
Image: Getty
