blog.msurveys.com

GMI (disclosure: my employer) has started releasing some summary results of a GMIPoll on Second Life. The only one I have right now is the U.S. release, but the rest are due to be published in due course.

A few snippets, based on the U.S. data (GMI interviewed 9,529 consumers, representing a broad sample of the U.S. population aged 18 and above. The interviews were conducted online among GMI’s permission-based consumer panel using GMI’s data collection software):


"The latest GMI Poll, powered by global market intelligence solutions provider GMI (Global Market Insite, Inc.), found the virtual world of Second Life is a burgeoning market for real-life brands and product promotion. Fifty-six percent of users believe Second Life is a good promotional vehicle. Only 16 percent say they would not be more likely to buy or use a brand that is represented in the Internet-based virtual world.

“Second Life is still in its infancy, and nobody knows if this virtual world has true staying power or is just a fad,” explained Michael Cai, director, broadband and gaming at Park Associates, a Dallas-based market research and consulting firm specializing in digital and connectivity products and services for the home. “What is clear from the GMI poll is that Second Life is a potential, untapped source for marketing and branding. The people at Linden Lab have the opportunity to build out a new platform for promotion, much like Yahoo and Google did for the internet.”

The poll also revealed that many Second Life users go to the virtual world to avoid reality. Twenty-four percent of respondents claim they go to Second Life to escape real life, which they are not satisfied with, while 64 percent present themselves differently. Additional findings include:

* 45 percent give themselves a more attractive body
* 37 percent make themselves younger
* 23 percent give themselves a different nationality
* 55 percent watch less television since becoming active in Second Life
* 22 percent have more Second Life friends than real-life friends
* 29 percent feel Second Life interferes with their real-world social life

The Second Life GMIPoll surveyed a total of 9,529 U.S. consumers between March 27th and April 9th, 2007 on the GMI platform. Additional Second Life polls were conducted in Australia, China, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK. For more information about GMIPoll, please contact GMI (Global Market Insite, Inc.) at info@gmi-mr.com."

This via Forbes.com (brought to my attention through this tweet by twitter contact Gerrit Visser):

"By the end of 2011, 80 percent of active Internet users (and Fortune 500 enterprises) will have a "second life," but not necessarily in Second Life, according to Gartner, Inc.

Gartner analysts are examining the hype and reality around virtual worlds during Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2007: Emerging Trends, being held here through April 26. Gartner's advice to enterprise clients is that this is a trend that they should investigate and experiment with, but limit substantial financial investments until the environments stabilize and mature."

Gartner has apparently identified five laws for companies participating in the virtual world. Bullet points (abbreviated) are:

First Law: Virtual worlds are not games, but neither are they a parallel universe (yet). The initial reaction of many business leaders when faced with virtual worlds is to dismiss them as a mere "game" of no benefit to the enterprise and something to be banned for wasting compute resources and time. Many of those that see beyond the gaming elements immediately veer toward questions such as "How do we exploit this as a sales channel?" This reaction is equally incorrect and potentially even more damaging to the enterprise.

Second Law: Behind every avatar is a real person. Gartner said people can't be fooled by the fantasy elements in the virtual world.

Third Law: Be relevant and add value. Many commercial companies have established a virtual world presence, but none have converted it into an effective, profitable sales channel.

Fourth Law: Understand and contain the downside. Enterprises face serious questions, such as "Could activities in the virtual world undermine or influence my organization/brand in the real world?"

Fifth Law: This is a long haul. Today's multiplicity of virtual environments has developed through the convergence of social networking, simulation and online gaming. There are many new entrants, whose stability and scalability are not yet established. There is significant probability that, over time, market pressures will lead to a merging of current virtual worlds into a smaller number of open-sourced environments that support the free transfer of assets and avatars from one to another with the use of a single, universal client."

The article closes with ...

Gartner recommends that enterprises should experiment with virtual worlds, but not plan massive projects, and look for community benefits rather than commerce. "Find enthusiasts within your enterprise and support them. Understand the implications for access to open virtual platforms from within the enterprise and the risks involved," Mr. Prentice said. "Despite the concerns within companies, don't ignore this trend. They will have a significant impact on your enterprise during the next five years."

Via New World Notes: advertising billboards that listen to the chat around them, and display targeted adverts based on keywords they hear, sort of Ad-sense like (and just as hit and miss).

Video demo:


Interesting, although as one comment points out, you may need to make it clearer that chat is being monitored for these purposes.