V.Smile Canadian Launch. A COMPAS Report for VTech Electronics

Transcription

1 V.Smile Canadian Launch A COMPAS Report for VTech Electronics COMPAS Inc. Public Opinion and Customer Research August 15, 2005

2 Little Johnny should be learning how to read, not how to kill cops U.S. Senator Chuck Shumer 1 1 Ban Violent 25 to Life Video Game, Dead Mountie s Wife Urges, Canadian Press Newswire. Toronto: July 19,

3 1.0. Introduction In an era where video games may contain violence, hidden pornographic scenes, 2 and white supremacist messages, 3 some Canadian parents of young children might be expected to have concerns about video game usage. In practice, three-quarters (76%) of parents with children aged 3-8 are indeed concerned that the content of many video games is inappropriate for young children. More than four-fifths (81%) believe that children spend too much time playing video games. These are some of the key findings from a national survey of n=500 4 parents of children aged 3-8 conducted by COMPAS on behalf of VTech Electronics. While parents may be concerned about video games in general, they are highly receptive to educational video games. Strong majorities (i.e. over 85%) take the view that: video games should be both entertaining and educational, parents would buy video games that motivate children to get more involved in learning, and playing educational video games could be helpful for a child's development. More than half of parents surveyed (53%) take the position that any potential videogame product ought to provide their child with reading and writing skills. 2 Davidson, Neil. Sexual Content in GTA: San Andreas Causes Ratings Board to Take Action, Canadian Press NewsWire. Toronto: July 20, Lewis, Nick. Video Games Being Used to Advance Deadly Agendas. CanWest News. Don Mills, Ontario: July 13, 2005, p The margin of error on a sample of n=500 is 4.4 percentage points 19 times out of 20. 3

4 2.0. Concern about Video Game Usage along with Interest in Educational Video Games The majority of Canadian parents with children aged 3-8 are concerned about video game usage among children. When asked to rate their agreement with a series of statements about video games, 81% agreed that children spend too much time playing video games. Three-quarters (76%) of parents surveyed agree that the content of many video games is inappropriate for children aged 3-8 and over half (53%) agree that it would be difficult to find video games that are appropriate for children aged 3-8. In contrast to their attitudes about video games in general, parents with children aged 3-8 find very appealing the concept of an educational video game. Over nine-in-ten (93%) of parents surveyed agree that video games should be both entertaining and educational. Strong majorities also agree that they would buy video games that motivate children to get more involved in learning (86%) and that playing educational video games could be helpful for a child s development (86%). Parents of children who play video games are especially receptive to educational video games and less apt to be concerned about video games in general. Among this group of parents: 93% would buy video games that motivate children to get more involved in learning vs. 76% with this view among parents whose children do not play video games, 93% believe educational video games could be helpful for a child's development vs. 78% with this view among parents whose children do not play video games, 95% agree video games should be both entertaining and educational vs. 89% with this view among parents whose children do not play video games, and 50% agree that it would be difficult to find ageappropriate video games vs. 58% with this view among parents whose children do not play video games. Quebecers are slightly less concerned about videogames and slightly less interested in the educational aspects of videogames than Canadians as a whole, as shown in table 2A. For example, parents in Quebec are: 4

5 significantly less apt than parents in Alberta to agree that the content of many video games is inappropriate for children aged 3-8 (71% vs. 84%) and significantly less apt than parents in Ontario to agree that playing educational video games could be helpful for a child's development (Quebec 34% strongly + 47% somewhat vs. 60%+30% among parents in Ontario). Perhaps this might explain why Quebec has not yet followed B.C, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Ontario in adopting legislation requiring retailers to limit sales to certain age groups depending on ratings assigned by the Entertainment Software Rating Board. 5 Table 2A:Various Parents Opinions of Video Games] 6 ALL atl qc on MB/SK AB BC You think video games should be both entertaining and educational Strongly Agree Somewhat Agree Somewhat Disagree Strongly Disagree [UNPROMPTED] DNK/REF See Neil Davidson. Sexual Content in GTA: San Andreas Causes Ratings Board to Take Action, Canadian Press NewsWire. Toronto: July 20, 2005 and N.B. Government Wants to Keep Violent Video Games Away from Young Kids, Canadian Press NewsWire. Toronto: June 3, Thinking now of video game usage among children in general aged 3-8, do you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree with each of the following statements? [RANDOMIZE UNPROMPTED DNK. 5

6 ALL atl qc on MB/SK AB BC You would buy video games that motivate children to get more involved in learning Strongly Agree Somewhat Agree Somewhat Disagree Strongly Disagree [UNPROMPTED] DNK/REF You think children spend too much time playing video games Strongly Agree Somewhat Agree Somewhat Disagree Strongly Disagree [UNPROMPTED] DNK/REF You believe that playing educational video games could be helpful for a child s development Strongly Agree Somewhat Agree Somewhat Disagree Strongly Disagree DNK/REF You find the content of many video games inappropriate for children in this age group Strongly Agree Somewhat Agree Somewhat Disagree Strongly Disagree [UNPROMPTED] DNK/REF

7 ALL atl qc on MB/SK AB BC You believe it would be difficult to find video games that are appropriate for children in this age group Strongly Agree Somewhat Agree Somewhat Disagree Strongly Disagree [UNPROMPTED] DNK/REF When parents think about videogames, they make a sharp distinction between educational video games and video games in general. This parental distinction emerges from an in depth statistical analysis. The COMPAS research team applied the multivariate statistical technique known as factor analysis to the agreement ratings (shown in table 2A) in order to identify underlying patterns of parental perception. As shown in table 2B, two factors or categories of video games emerge: The educational games factor suggests that parents who are apt to believe that playing educational video games could be helpful would also be apt to buy video games that motivate children to get more involved in learning and to think that video games should be both entertaining and educational. The video games in general factor suggests that those who are apt to find the content of many video games inappropriate also feel it is difficult to find age-appropriate games and that children spend too much time playing video games. Parents enthusiasm for educational video games (factor mean 3.4) 7 is stronger than their concerns about video games in general (factor mean 3.1). 7 COMPAS computed a mean score for each factor by taking a mathematical average of respondent scores for all the variables contained within a given factor. Under this procedure, 7

8 Table 2B: Educational Video Games vs. Video Games in General (Factor Analysis) Q2C - You believe that playing educational video games could be helpful for a child's development Q2F - You would buy video games that motivate children to get more involved in learning Q2D - You think video games should be both entertaining and educational Q2B - You find the content of many video games inappropriate for children in this age group Q2E - You believe it would be difficult to find video games that are appropriate for children in this age group Q2A - You think children spend too much time playing video games Educational video games Video games in general Earlier we reported that parents with children who play video games tend to view video games more positively than do parents whose children do not play video games. The factor analysis corroborates this finding insofar as: parents with children who play video games are especially receptive to educational video games (factor mean 3.6 vs. 3.2 among parents with non-players) parents with children who play video games are less apt to be concerned about video games in general (factor mean 3.0 vs. 3.2 among parents with non-players). The factor analysis also corroborates the finding that Quebecers (factor mean 2.9) are slightly less concerned about videogames in general, particularly each factor mean is on the same 4-point scale as the individual questions where 1 means strongly disagree and 4 means strongly agree. 8

9 when compared to parents in Alberta (factor mean 3.3) or Ontario (factor mean 3.2) Educational Video Games Should Provide Reading and Writing Skills Above All An educational video game should teach above all reading and writing skills. Parents were asked to consider the skills that a potential new educational video game might teach their children. Over half (53%) of parents surveyed volunteered that the potential new game should provide reading and writing skills. Problem solving (30%), math (28%), and language (27%) skills each drew mentions from over one-quarter of parents surveyed. Only 3% of parents volunteered that an educational video game should teach social skills, an application of video games advocated by a recent study conducted in Great Britain. 8 The full distribution of responses is shown in table 3. In general, Quebecers are less receptive to educational video games than are Canadians as a whole, as reported earlier. Quebecers also have different views about the specific benefits of educational video games. Parents in Quebec are: less apt than parents as a whole to volunteer that an educational game should teach reading skills (38% vs. 53%), while they are more likely to say an educational game should provide comprehension (30% vs. 17%), memory (30% vs. 13%), or other skills (28% vs. 9%) such as creativity or subject specific-skills, e.g. geography, history, or science. 8 Nottingham Trent University. Video Games Can be Good for your Health, cited in Managed Care Business Week, August 2, 2005, p

10 Table 3: Suppose that a company were developing an educational video game. What skills do you think an educational video game should provide your child? [DO NOT READ LIST RECORD OPEN-END AND BACK-CODE USING PRE-CODES BELOW] All atl qc on MAN/ SASK ALB BC Reading/writing/ spelling skills Problem solving skills Math skills Language skills Logical thinking skills Hand-eye coordination Comprehension Motor skills Memory Social skills Other None/DNK/Refused Note: This is a multiple response question i.e. respondents are allowed to name several answers. For this reason, the percentage when added will be greater than 100% Most Parents Say Their Oldest Child Aged 3-8 Plays Video Games; Most Play for Less than an Hour Most parents (60%) say their oldest child aged 3-8 plays video games. Incidence of video game usage is homogeneous across the regions, as shown in table 4A. Fathers are more apt than mothers to say their child plays video games (64% vs. 56%). Three-quarters of parents whose oldest child aged 3-8 does play video games says their child plays less than one hour per day, as shown in table 4B. 10

11 Parents in Manitoba/Saskatchewan (90%) and BC (82%) appear especially likely to say their oldest child plays less than one hour per day. Table 4A: Thinking of your oldest child aged 3-8, does your child play video games at all? [PROMPT ONLY IF NECESSARY] All atl qc on MAN/ SASK ALB BC Yes No [UNPROMPTED] Not sure/dnk/ref * Table 4B: [IF YES IN Q4A] And how many hours per day does your oldest child aged 3-8 spend playing video games? All atl qc on MAN/ SASK ALB BC Less than 1 hour hours hours hours [UNPROMPTED] DNK/REF Conclusion Most Canadian parents of children aged 3-8 are concerned about video games--their content and the amount of time that children spend playing with them. Parents are nonetheless highly receptive to educational video games, which they perceive to be different from video games in general. In practice, parents enthusiasm for educational video games is stronger than their 11

12 concerns about video games in general. This is a favourable market condition for developers of educational video games. Receptivity to educational video games appears to be highest among current video game owners and parents outside of Quebec. Games that teach reading and writing skills would be most valued. 12