MUMBAI: In its efforts to support marketers in the interactive entertainment sector attending its inaugural MI6 Conference, Promax/BDA has commissioned Frank N. Magid & Associates to research and report on the habits, behaviours and motivators of today’s gamers.

Frank N. Magid & Associates is a media and entertainment research and consultation firm.

“The purpose of MI6 is to not only provide well-deserved recognition but also to increase the effectiveness of interactive marketers. By providing a quantitative consumer study of gamers in the target 13 to 39 age group, we can empower marketers with insight as to what motivates this group to play and buy specific games as well as how to speak to the influencers of the community, providing tangible value to our attendees. It’s the best way I know of for validating the role of this conference among interactive entertainment marketers while also ensuring for their continued success,” said Promax/BDA president and CEO Jim Chabin.

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The study and its findings are devised to help game marketers choose the most effective media for their console/PC game marketing efforts; understand consumers’ attitudes towards and use of key sources of console/PC game awareness; improve their console/PC game marketing toolbox by improving existing tools and identifying new tools.

It will also see first-hand how consumers find out about console/PC games; better understand how gamers share information about new upcoming games; how consumer buzz develops in the gaming space and how to avoid marketing traps and campaigns that consumers reject.

Spearheaded by Frank N. Magid Associates’ CEO Brent Magid, managing director Mike Vorhaus, consultant and research associate Mark Allenbach and executive director of research Martin Eichholz, the study will be conducted both online and in person, encompassing both quantitative and qualitative components.

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“The multi-method approach will guarantee that comprehensive data are available to analyze consumer behavior and attitudes,” said Magid.

Targeting American consumers between the ages of 13 and 39 who have purchased or received at least one console/PC game in the past 12 months, the gaming study will include a comprehensive online investigation of a national representative survey of 2,000 consumers, examining game awareness sources, marketing strategies, attitudes towards game information, the value of buzz and motivation for purchase as well as general gaming behaviors.

An in-depth study of consumer ethnographies will target hardcore and moderate games in the teen and young adult demographic with in-person and in-depth interviews discussing game awareness and buzz, usage of sources, impact of group and social leader opinions and more. In-person interviews will be videotaped and excerpts will be included in Magid’s presentation of study findings at the MI6 conference in June.

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The MI6 Conference and Awards Show will take place from 27 to 28 June 2006 in San Francisco. MI6 will offer its participants professional development and education through special key note addresses, custom research, seminars and workshops, all designed to impart knowledge and learn from the experiences of other professionals in the entertainment arena while also fostering industry networking, idea sharing and mentoring.