April 25th, 2022, Rishad Dsouza
As marketers continue to tap into the large audience pool that is the gaming community, it may be helpful to gain a nuanced understanding of this group. One way to do that is to examine the priority they place on various social issues.
In this piece gamers are defined as Brits who play video games on any platform for at least one hour a week. This segment makes up a third of the overall British population (33%), data from YouGov Profiles tell us.
Two in five gamers rate matters relating to the European Union as a top issue (39%). An identical proportion of non-gamers also rate this as a top issue – perhaps no surprise given the scar left by Brexit divisions.
But there is a significant divergence between the two groups when it comes to matters relating to the topic of NHS Privatisation (28% vs 22%). Separate from top issues, there are other noteworthy attitudinal differences between gamers and non-gamers on matters of health. For instance, seven in ten gamers (71%) say they don’t look after their health as much as they should (vs 61% of non-gamers). They are also twice as likely as non-gamers to admit that they don’t really care about their teeth (19% vs 9%).
About a quarter of respondents from each group rate immigration as a top issue (26% of gamers, 27% of non-gamers).
A similar portion of gamers view climate change as a top issue (24%), but the share drops to just 17% of non-gamers on that matter. Just under a quarter of gamers see green energy priority as a top issue (vs 18% of non-gamers).
YouGov Profiles also gives us a peek into which side of the fence they sit on with regards to each of the above topics.
For instance, when it comes to the European Union, half of all gamers (50%) said they were in favour of Britain remaining in the EU, significantly above the rate of non-gamers who felt the same way (42%).
With respect to NHS privatisation, half of all gamers (49%) say the NHS would be improved by less private sector involvement. A similar portion of non-gamers agree with them on that point (46%).
While both gamers and non-gamers are far likelier to call for tighter immigration restrictions than for looser ones, the degrees vary. Almost three-quarters of non-gamers (72%) would opt for tighter immigration regulations. The share drops to less than two-thirds of gamers (63%).
Nearly three-quarters of gamers (73%) are confident that there is significant climate change caused by human activity, compared to 64% of non-gamers.
In an age when brand purpose is becoming increasingly prevalent in marketing communications, it is important for brands to recognise how their audiences might react to the nature of those messages. YouGov Profiles equips marketers with the necessary data to make more informed decisions in that regard.
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Methodology: YouGov Profiles is based on continuously collected data and rolling surveys, rather than from a single limited questionnaire. Profiles data is nationally representative and weighted by age, gender, education, region, and race. Learn more about Profiles.