Title: The impact of gender on the perceptions of and preferences for technology-based games

Authors: Anne M. Brumbaugh

Addresses: College of Charleston, School of Business and Economics, 5 Liberty Street ~ 331 Beatty Centre, Charleston, SC 29401, USA

Abstract: Technical fluency and visual-spatial skills, requisites for proficiency in science, mathematics and engineering, are related to the use of technology-based games among children. Girls, however, do not play with the same prevalence as do boys and, thus, may not have the same access to the benefits of such play. To explore why, we perform an inventory of the technology-based games available in the USA and evaluate them vis-a-vis a technology-as-a-male critique, girls| and boys| play styles and the differences in game preferences among young men and women. The results show that games that match the play styles and preferences of girls are underrepresented not because the technology skews towards males, but rather because the preferences of girls and young women have simply been overlooked. The implications for socialising girls into technology and developing products that are attractive to girls (thus, tapping into a potentially lucrative but overlooked market segment) are discussed.

Keywords: video games; gaming; socialisation; gender; product development; underserved markets; computer science; technology marketing; technology-based games; USA; United States; girls; boys; young males; young females; user perceptions; user preferences.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTMKT.2009.023557

International Journal of Technology Marketing, 2009 Vol.4 No.1, pp.89 - 107

Published online: 27 Feb 2009 *

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