After explaining why people buy virtual goods, I often get follow up questions around what type of people are active virtual goods buyers. There is a common myth that virtual goods are only bought by teens or kids. But if you look at industry data you will notice that all ages, demographics, and cultures actively spend real dollars on virtual goods. Here are just a few examples in each age segment:
35 – 50 Years Old
Dogster – 67% between 35 – 50 years old. In 2007, Founder Ted Rheingold stated at the Virtual Goods Summit that over 50 million virtual gifts had been sent by 500,000 users in 2 years.
Scrapblog – 58% older than 34. In February 2009, Scrapblog moved to a virtual goods business model. Revenue figures are unknown.
Viximo Network – While I am unable to release specific data, across the Viximo network, the demographic of women between the age of 30 -45 purchase virtual goods at much higher rate than younger audiences
18 – 34 Years Old
HotorNot – 50% between 18 – 34 years old, another 35% older than 34. At its peak, HotorNot was doing around $2.5 Million a year on virtual goods.
Facebook – 46% between 18 – 34 years old. Estimated to do $75 million in virtual goods sales in 2009.
Fubar.com – 45% between 18 – 34 years old, another 37% older than 34. An “under the radar” social network, been selling virtual goods for years making at least several million per year.
12 – 17 Years Old
MyYearBook – Social Network for High School students.In May 2009, co-founder Catherine Cook stated MYB was making “over 8 figures” (that’s millions) only a few months after launching its virtual currency. (http://www.virtualgoodsnews.com/2009/05/myyearbook-making-millions-with-virtual-currency-sales.html)
Gaia Online – 60% between 12 – 17 years old.Gaia has reported that it makes over $12+ Million a year in virtual goods sales.
Stardoll – 67% between 7 – 17 years old. Stardoll is estimated to have had $30 Million in revenue in 2008 and also named one of 25 most valuable startups by Silicon Alley Insider that same year. (http://www.businessinsider.com/companies/stardoll)
12 and Younger
Club Penguin – Estimated yearly revenue of $60 – $70 Million, Bought by Disney for $700 Million in 2007. Was once the fastest growing site for kids aged 6 – 12.
Neopets – Bought by Viacom in 2005 for $160 Million
Webkinz – Most recent estimates were revenues of $700 Million. Their purchase of in store toys is just a conduit for users to redeem a code to receive virtual currency and items within the virtual world.
From the list, you can probably also see that virtual goods doesn’t gender discriminate either. In dating sites like HotorNot, males are the primary buyers of virtual goods. In environments like Scrapblog and Stardoll, women are the dominate buyers.
Each segment of audience requires different techniques to make a virtual economy successful. In future blog posts, I’ll detail the factors you need to consider when matching your virtual economy to your audience.
** All demographic statistics were pulled using Quantcast.
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