Swedish developer First Planet Company (part of MindArk) – makers of the virtual world Planet Calypso recently announced that they’ve partnered with researchers at the Florida State University College of Business as well as the Stockholm School of Economics to study the far reaching implications of virtual buying preferences in MMO’s and Virtual Worlds.

Boasting the world’s largest real money economy within an MMORPG, Planet Calypso is the perfect setting for a study that will primarily focus on determining if a player’s experience with a product in a virtual world influences their intention to purchase a products and how that experience can affect the brand – either positive or negative.

Slated to commence during the upcoming ‘Miss Calypso’ contest, the study will seek to understand how the mental state of a virtual world user influences his/her attitude toward a product, and measure the effectiveness of in-game/world placement has on either real world or virtual purchase of said item. The ultimate goal of the study will help scientists better understand the mental states of players, and how these ‘moods’ affect consumer behavior, with an obvious focus on purchasing power. Results are expected in Q1 2010.

“Despite the increasing attention that virtual worlds have seen with respect to marketing by companies, little is known about the perception of products within virtual worlds. Even less is known about how a consumer’s cognitive state resulting from an experience with a product in a virtual world may influence his or her intention to purchase a product,” said Rob Hooker, a doctoral candidate who is conducting an independent study in the College of Business at The Florida State University. “This study is the first chance to determine if people will buy products in real life that they see on avatars, and what influences them to buy those products for their own avatars as well.”

Tags: consumer behavior, florida state university, MMORPG, planet calypso, Rob Hooker, stockholm school of economics, virtual worlds

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