[Air-l] Profile of a Spanish Second Life resident

[Fernando Garrido]

Hi folks,


We've just finished a study about the Profile of spanish second life 
resident. You know... i think this can be an interesting study for some 
folks,

Best,

Fernando Garrido

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    Profile of a Spanish Second Life resident
    <http://www.kzero.co.uk/blog/?p=578>

Profile of a Spanish Second Life resident: Victor Gil from the Cocktail 
Analysis <http://www.tcanalysis.com>(a Spanish MR house) has kindly 
given me the findings from a recent market research exercise they 
carried out. The findings support the ‘Early Adopter’ profile of a 
typical user across any country.

Here are the main findings:

*48% of Second Life users in Spain access the virtual world on a daily 
basis*

The cocktail analysis has presented today the results of the first study 
ever conducted on the visibility and profile of Spanish Second Life 
users. Second Life (SL) is a virtual world platform that’s already 
surpassed 6 million residents, 3% of whom are Spanish, according to 
Linden Labs.

The profile of the Second Life user from Spain is a male (65%), avg. 33 
years old, with a college degree (54%), and employed (69%) . It’s a user 
profile markedly different -mostly because of its older age- to the 
average users of both videogames and other virtual worlds.

The study: “Knowledge, valuation and experience of Spanish users in 
Second Life. Opportunities for Spanish brands” focuses on assessing the 
current position of this virtual world in Spain through 2 surveys, one 
directed towards web users and the other towards Spanish users in the 
largest Spanish community in the virtual world: secondlifespain.com 
(http://www.secondlifespain.com)

The results of the survey manifest a consolidation in the access habits 
of a considerable number of Spanish SL residents. Almost half of the 
respondents access Second Life on a daily basis. One out of four (20%) 
remain connected for more than three hours. Once connected the majority 
of residents (68%) pays dedicated attention to the experience, which can 
be now defined as truly “immersive.”

Other results from the study:

62% Of the Spanish residents heard of Second Life through mass media.
The majority (65%) acknowledges they initially entered SL out of 
curiosity. Only 22% of respondents created accounts with the explicit 
intention of meeting other people.
Even though 76% of user-residents are satisfied with the experience so 
far, the volume of the most enthusiastic users –those for whom SL has 
exceeded their expectations- is very similar to the volume of 
disappointed users: 22% and 24% respectively.
The great majority of users (73%) spend most of their time wondering and 
exploring different locations of the virtual world. Interaction with 
other residents is the other main activity for approximately half (55%) 
of users. The personalization of the avatar -3D representation of the 
user- is the third activity to which users devote the most time.

The study confirms the importance of the social dimension in SL. 
Interaction with other users is not only one of the most extended 
practices, but also one of the most demanded when users are questioned 
about the kind of future evolution they would like to see the virtual 
world take. Furthermore the study shows that the utilization of Second 
Life as a space for social interaction becomes more and more important 
as the user’s “second life” consolidates.

Additionally the study spans consumer behavior analysis and the 
relationship of the residents with brands and advertising in the virtual 
world.

More than half of the respondents (58%) have Linden Dollars, the 
official currency of Second Life, used for commercial transaction in the 
platform. However, only 30% have purchased the currency using real 
money. The great majority have obtained the Linden Dollars through 
methods internal to the system.
Most of the users´ expenses are devoted to improving the appearance of 
their avatars (62%) through the purchase of clothes, physical 
attributes, or animations and movements.

According to Felipe Romero partner of The Cocktail Analysis and 
responsible for the study “Beyond the media noise and the expectations 
created around the Second Life phenomenon our objective was to try to 
understand what Second Life means and what it represents in the lives of 
its users. Many Spanish companies are considering entering the platform 
in order to take advantage of some of the commercial and marketing 
opportunities that this new environment theoretically offers. We’ve 
tried to assess whether this opportunities are real at the present time 
in terms of Spanish consumers and always from the perspective of second 
Life as an environment with a limited audience and whose future 
direction has yet to take concrete from.”
In order to deepen in the possibilities offered by Second Life to 
Spanish brands the study has carried out an extensive survey of user’s 
attitudes about the increasing presence of commercial brands in the 
platform, as well as the results in terms of exposure that the companies 
already present are harvesting. The data shows, on one hand, a latent 
rejection by users of any brand initiatives that don’t contribute with 
some sort of added value for the residents. On the other hand the study 
found a high receptivity among residents for brand initiatives based on 
exchange. For example 68% of respondents were willing to watch 
advertising from the brands in second Life in exchange for some sort of 
incentive payment “in kind” as a reciprocal consideration. When asked to 
explicitly state what types of incentives they would value the most the 
principal demand was for “entertainment and cultural contents” 
(theaters, concerts, shows…)

Since many of the large Spanish companies that already have a presence 
in second Life –or are considering one- are searching for data on its 
impact beyond SL residents, the study has also explored Second Life’s 
visibility among Spanish Internet Users.

At the time of the study 40% of Spanish Internet users had heard of 
Second Life, however less than half (40%) acknowledged understanding 
“very well, or well enough” what the virtual world was about.

METHODOLOGY

The study was comprised of two online surveys:

Online survey on Internet Users. Individuals of both sexes, between 18 
and 55 years old, representative of Internet Users. Sample size: 1170 
individuals. Fieldwork: February 26th and 28th, 2007.
Online survey of Second Life residents from Spain. Online survey among 
SecondLifeSpain.com, the largest Spanish community in Second Life users. 
Sample size: 651 individuals. Fieldwork: March 28th and April 2nd, 2007.

ABOUT THE COCKTAIL ANALYSIS

The Cocktail analysis is market research and strategy consulting agency 
specialized in consumer, communications and new technology trends.

For more information contact

Felipe Romero / Víctor Gil

+34 91 567 06 05
info at tcanalysis.com
http://www.tcanalysis.com
Second Life Offices: http://slurl.com/secondlife/novatierra/81/26/61/ or 
the coordinates: Novatierra 81/26/61.