The Age Rating Impact on Consumer Video Game Choices
23 Conaway and Lee, International Journal of Applied Economics, 15(2), September 2018, 23-41 The Age Rating Impact on Consumer Video Game Choices L. Brooke Conaway and Kelly M. Lee* Georgia College and Colorado State University Abstract: This growing video game industry has a self-regulating board that provides age- appropriateness ratings for all games released. We look at the effects of these age ratings on game success. In particular, are consumers using these ratings when making purchase decisions, and if so, do consumers tend to prefer more family-friendly games or games that include mature content? In addition to age ratings, we explored various game attributes over the period of 2005-2013 to see what makes some games more appealing to consumers. We find that attributes such as game genre, quality, ESRB (Entertainment Software Ratings Board) age rating, console type, and whether the distributor is a member of the Entertainment Software Association all influence purchase decisions of consumers in the video game market. We also find that consumers tend to prefer games with an ESRB age rating of M (mature content) when purchasing games for XBOX and PlayStation consoles; however, consumers tend to prefer games with an E (appropriate for everyone) rating on the more family-friendly Nintendo console. Keywords: video games, age rating, games, entertainment, Electronic Software Association, Electronic Software Ratings Board JEL Classification: D00, L82, L25 1. Introduction Movie box office and music industry revenues regularly make big headlines and have been the focus of research across various disciplines, yet the revenues generated by these two industries are often dwarfed by another entertainment industry – the video game industry.
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