NPD: 15 Percent of Holiday Consumers Plan to Buy Games

The NPD Group, Inc. has released its 2010 holiday retail outlook – and it might not be such a holly, jolly Christmas for the video game industry.

During its ninth annual survey on holiday consumer spending intentions, the market research company found that only 15 percent of shoppers plan on buying a console or video game. That number is down from 20 percent last year. According to NPD, consumers are planning on being cautious this year. 62 percent say they plan on doing their homework before making a buy, while 44 percent say they will comparison shop.

“Even though the recession is technically over, lingering concerns are keeping consumers in a cautious frame of mind,” said NPD chief industry analyst Marshal Cohen. “What this means is consumers will be looking to find what to buy, when to buy, and where to buy before even leaving the house. This eliminates the rushed decisions and can potentially eliminate some impulse purchasing from the holiday shopping equation.”

Participants in the survey listed “price” and “location” as two of the biggest influences on where they decide to spend their cash.