Marketing “Gamer Foods”: Qualitative Insights into Responsible Strategy Development

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to explore the video-gaming experience as a novel consumption occasion for snack foods and to provide insights into responsible marketing strategy development. Consumers' desired food product attributes, their motivating conditions to snack while gaming, and the environment in which this takes place are explored qualitatively through 14 in-depth interviews and 10 separate points of field observation. The findings indicate certain unhealthy food products are valued during the occasion for their social hedonic appeal but also for the basic function of fuelling long marathons of concentration and competition. Results are used to inform strategic considerations which are presented using the traditional marketing mix framework of product, promotion, price, and place of distribution. Therein, management is cautioned toward the obesogenic elements of the consumption occasion and this is a critical consideration throughout. Management is strongly advised to develop and promote healthier snacks as part of facilitating an enabling environment for sustainable food choices.

Keywords:

• Gaming
• snack food
• marketing mix
• consumer
• strategy
• consumption occasion

Acknowledgments

This research was associated with the Irish Health Research Board (HRB) Centre for Health and Diet Research.

Notes

¹ “LAN parties”; where gamers physically gather to link their own computers to a top-speed Local Area Network (LAN) to play against each other in a social space (Jansz & Martens, 2005).

² The self—a sense of who and what we are. Often used in consumer psychology as an organising construct through which people's everyday activities can be understood.