Hail,
For a marketing assignment for Uni, I need some information from gamers.
The idea of the assignment is that Dell Computers extends its assortment by entering the gamer market (next to the business market and the standard consumer market).
The new product is a PC tailored to fit gamers. Dell’s usual “built-to-order” business model will be maintained, the only difference is that the components will be more high-end, suitable to play (resource-intensive) games.
We’re currently in the planning and pre-analysis stage of the assignment, and we need to conduct some research.
This is where you come in 
I have some questions concerning the consumer/product-relationship:
1) Self-relevance
If you were to buy the Dell “gaming rig”, what would drive you to buy it (as opposed to building it yourself e.g.)?
Relevant determinants could be: attributes (price, components etc.), functional consequences (performance, durability etc.), psychosocial consequences (personal feeling, feelings of others about you etc.), and values (self-esteem, and other preferred modes of behavior and states of being).
2) Knowledge
a) Would you what to buy (which components to order)?
b) Would you know what to buy it for?
c) Would you consciously use the product for its purpose (gaming)?
I hope I can get some help here
- I would buy it because it was cheaper and easier to get than another brand, or if it came with a warranty, which a home-assembled system wouldn’t necessarily have. My usual strategy for buying a new PC is to go to Best Buy and get their bottom-of-the-barrel home PC. A year ago, this was an eMachine with 128 MB ram and a 900 mhz CPU.
2a) I would want to buy a game system if it was reasonably guaranteed to run any game scheduled for release within the next year, i.e., if the Cool Games scheduled for release next Fall are requiring 1 gb of ram, a 2 gb CPU, three oranges and a hamster, that’s what it’d have to have. I wouldn’t pay for a game machine that can only play the games that are out now, or six months from now. I have had enough planned obsolescence in my life, thankyouverymuch.
2b) umm… for playing games? I don’t think I understand this question.
2c) If I’m playing the games in my sleep, that’s probably too much time spent at the computer. I try to be conscious when I’m playing the game, although Mechwarror: Mercenaries has been intruding on my dreams a bit much lately.
#1 If I were to buy a gaming rig from Dell, I think only price would get me hooked. I might not represent the norm on this board as my friends and I have gone as far as to register a business to allow us to get better prices (direct from our distributers!)
#2 a) Depends on the level of game play and money involved. I would be looking for mid to top level in CPU and videocard performance. Nothing else really matters for a gamer (next would be sound card, RAM and HD space).
b) Would I know what to buy it for? Yeah, I would.
c) Not really. My prime computer is a “gamer’s” computer (512 megs DDR ram, 75 gig IBM deskstar HD, 1.4 gig AMD, Ge-force 2 pro GTS 256, SB Live with full 5.1 DTS decoder etc). But I use it for everything. My server is fast enough to play some games (using a Radeon 64 meg card) but it’s used as storage and my 1.2 gig laptop is just a fast (has a sweet ge-force 3 go, if I remember right) but it’s mostly used for business and road movies.
Moderator’s Notes: Hmmmm. This appears to be a survey for somebody’s homework. While those types of threads aren’t unilaterally verboten here, I think registering for this specific purpose should be. I’m also a bit unsettled by the mention of a specific company name. I’m locking this thread as inappropriate for the SDMB. Perhaps there are message boards where you’ll be permitted to conduct this type of survey; this, however, isn’t one of them.
I’m locking this thread.