The NPD Group today shared with GameDaily BIZ some of its latest research from its Games Purchase Drivers Report. NPD surveyed 12,100 NPD Consumer Panel members ages 13 and older that typically purchase and personally play video games and/or PC games.

Interestingly, the biggest takeaway from the study was that although price can play an important role in a consumer's game purchasing decisions, being able to "test drive" a game was found to be particularly important. The type of game and word of mouth also factored into consumers' game purchasing decisions.

According to the NPD, other sources of information such as company websites and gaming sites are important for keeping the consumer informed, as are TV, magazine and online advertising, but "they are less important when the consumer gets closer to making the actual purchase decision, when other factors such as being able to take the game for a 'test drive' at an in-store location, online, or at a friend or relative's house, matter much more."

"While various means of allowing consumers to test drive games have long been an important part of most publishers' marketing mixes, the findings of our study now show that it is of particular importance for attracting the broader gaming audience," said NPD's industry analyst Anita Frazier. "Ads, reviews, and other vehicles are relatively more influential to the heavy gamer, but to attract more casual players, getting games into their hands so they can experience the fun first-hand is essential."

This kind of finding could be particularly important to publishers trying to determine the best way to divide up their marketing spend. Perhaps publishers would be better off putting more resources into providing gamers with a high-quality demo instead of investing heavily in a huge ad campaign. With in-store kiosks, Xbox Live Marketplace and the online features of the soon-to-be-launched PlayStation 3 and Wii, it's becoming easier than ever for publishers to distribute their game demos directly to the audience they're after.

Another interesting finding from the report was that when consumers are looking to buy games for others as gifts, instead of buying games for themselves, suddenly price becomes much more important. In fact, NPD said it was "the top consideration when buying games for others, whether this person is a child or an adult." Yes, apparently people are selfish, although they are still thinking of the gamer's interests, as the recipient's request for the game, the game's genre and the gift-giver thinking the recipient would like the game were cited as additional factors that gift-givers take into consideration when purchasing a game.

"As we head into the critical holiday season, it's important for retailers to note that the most important influence on a gift purchase is price," remarked Frazier. "Retailers should consider providing shoppers with a recommended game list at gift-friendly price ranges to make the purchase decision easier."

The complete NPD report, apparently the first of its kind from NPD, provides further insight into what drives consumers to purchase PC and video games and the sources of information used and weighed when making purchase decisions. It also looks at these factors through the lens of NPD's recently announced six gamer segments: Heavy Gamers, Avid Console Gamers, Mass Market Gamers, Prefer Portable Gamers, Secondary Gamers and Infrequent Gamers.