It’s not just work, deadlines and meetings on American employees’ minds at their workplace. A new study reveals a large number of Americans play games at work.
According to the U.S. Digital Media Consumers study (PDF) by PayPal, U.S. employees play mobile games (30 percent), PC/laptop games (13 percent), and console games (10 percent) at work.
Major Highlights
When it comes to games, majority of Americans (78 percent) use their smartphones. But a large console base helps PS4 take the lead over PCs and laptops for males (49 percent vs. 48 percent).
The study also took a look at eBooks. It found that about 60 percent of consumers use tablets to read eBooks and access other functions on the same device.
As far as payments are concerned, 21 percent of consumers prefer Amazon Payments to buy non-gaming content. Gamers prefer PayPal because of its compatibility with most popular gaming marketplaces.
What this Means for Small Businesses
According to the study, majority of eBook readers (85 percent) prefer Amazon for its brand recognition and multi-device eBook support. This is an important insight for small businesses to understand which marketplace should be on top of their minds to attract more customers.
For small gaming companies, smartphone compatibility is not a choice but an absolute necessity. But it’s also important to remember U.S. console gamers buy new content twice as fast as on PC.
Lastly, it’s essential to provide ease of use and quick processing payments to entice more customers.
For the study, PayPal partnered with SuperData Research. It conducted a global 10-market survey with approximately 10,000 consumers to understand how people consume digital media.
Video Games Photo via Shutterstock
Aira Bongco
I think it is all because it keeps their mind off of things and refreshes them. It is not about them slacking off. They are humans after all. For all we know, it can even increase productivity and employee satisfaction.
Shubhomita
Aira: Absolutely!
I am not proud to tell that story today, I actually played computer games at work with some colleagues during the Christmas / new year holiday night shift about 5 years ago. It was completely dead, everyone was in their families celebrating except us ! Today, I would not repeat the experience !
Shubhomita
Frederick: Safe to say, you’re not the only one. Many writers, including yours truly, are hooked onto word games at work. 🙂