Case Study
Assessing Video Gamer Beliefs, Preferences, & the Impact of COVID-19
Role: Director, Human Intelligence – sparks & honey
Skills: Qual & Quant Research (Design, Implementation, Analysis)
Industry: Technology, Computer Hardware
Client: President, Consumer Research
Background
I was hired by a consumer trends consulting firm to lead a mixed-methods study in collaboration with a large gaming hardware organization. The objective was to identify actionable insights about how five cultural shifts were impacting gaming behaviors and preferences across six major markets (U.S., China, Thailand, Indonesia, South Korea, and India) and five existing consumer segments. The research was designed to illuminate insights to guide the client's marketing and product strategies in light of changing consumer dynamics.
Fig. 1: Overview of cultural trends
Methods
1) Define Audience and Objectives
I worked closely with the gaming hardware company to understand their customer demographics, psychographics, and marketing objectives. They expressed a desire to collect data from six countries to ensure the study's global relevance. They provided a consumer segmentation analysis and a set of key questions for the research. Based on these inputs, I proposed a mixed-methods approach combining survey research and in-depth interviews, designed to accommodate a global audience.
Key Objectives:
Explore consumer attitudes and behaviors aligned with the five cultural trends.
Identify variations across geographic regions and consumer segments.
Assess the impact of COVID-19 on gaming habits and spending.
Fig. 2: Study demographics
Fig. 3: Research objectives
Fig. 4: Survey brainstorm
3) Interview Guide Design & Administration
Using initial survey findings as a guide, I developed a discussion guide to probe deeper into participant experiences.
The guide included:
General Questions (e.g., "What is your current gaming setup?")
Trend-Specific Questions (e.g., "What gaming activities do you find most appealing for socializing?")
COVID-19 Questions (e.g., "How has the pandemic influenced your gaming habits?")
I personally conducted interviews with U.S. participants and collaborated with an international research firm to conduct interviews in other markets. The discussion guide and a sample interview recording were shared with the international team to ensure consistency. All interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed alongside survey data.
Fig. 5: Sample survey questions (excerpt)
2) Survey Design & Administration
The survey was structured to balance clarity and depth, especially given the multilingual nature of the participant pool. Key question types included:
Demographic and Task-Based Screener Questions (e.g., "How many hours per week do you spend gaming?")
Consumer Behavioral Questions tied to cultural trends (e.g., "How important is it that games allow you to communicate with friends?")
COVID-19 Impact Questions (e.g., "How has your gaming time changed since the start of the pandemic?")
Open-Ended Questions to capture nuanced attitudes (e.g., "How do you express your individuality in the games you play?")
To ensure cross-cultural validity, an external global research firm was hired to recruit participants and administer the survey. Special attention was given to simplifying question wording and ensuring consistent translations across languages.
Fig. 6: Interview guide (excerpt)
Analysis
1) Consumer Segment & Geographic Analysis
Following data cleaning, I analyzed behavioral patterns and purchasing preferences by segmenting data based on the five identified consumer profiles and comparing responses across geographic regions to uncover cultural nuances.
2) Trend-Specific Insights
For each trend, I synthesized survey data and interview quotes to illustrate:
Behavioral patterns (e.g., Social gaming was especially important for gamers living in India, China, and Indonesia.)
Attitudinal shifts (e.g., Interest in retro gaming was highest among “Enthusiast” consumer segment.)
3) Commercial Viability Assessment
I identified opportunities for the client to align their product and marketing strategies with consumer behaviors:
Self-Expression: Highlighting customization features in marketing campaigns.
Social Gaming: Developing targeted campaigns for regions with high demand for cooperative play.
Fig. 7: Example segment analysis of COVID impact
Fig. 8: Example segment analysis of commercial interest
4) Qualitative Analysis of Interview Transcripts
To complement the survey findings, I conducted a qualitative analysis of in-depth interview transcripts. This involved coding participant responses to identify recurring themes and nuanced perspectives. Thematic analysis was used to uncover insights related to gaming habits, preferences, and emotional connections to gaming.
Representative quotes were extracted to illustrate these themes, providing rich, qualitative context to the quantitative data.
Reporting
1) Final Deliverables
The client received a comprehensive report featuring:
Segment Analysis: A comparison of behaviors and preferences across consumer segments and regions.
Trend Summaries: Key insights for each cultural trend, supported by quantitative data and illustrative quotes from interviews.
Actionable Recommendations: Suggestions for product and marketing strategies, such as emphasizing social features in products targeting Gen Z.
Insights were developed from synthesis of interview transcripts and survey data. I focused on observations that were both true to the data and compelling as a potential action that could be taken by the client.
Fig. 9: Final presentation, summary slides of between groups analysis
Fig. 10-11: Final presentation, summary slides of between groups analysis
The client was particularly interested in understanding differences between geographies and consumer segments so I split the data and compared answers to questions, calculating the segment’s responses to questions relative to the mean answer (fig. 6-7).
Fig. 12-13: Final presentation, trend-specific analysis
Then, for each trend (plus COVID), I developed a high level overview that outlined key insights from the survey data, supplemented with quotes from interviews to illustrate how behaviors and attitudes manifested in individuals.