Pink and Blue Pixel$: Gender and Economic Disparity in Two Massive Online Games

Information and communication technologies are blurring the boundaries between work and play. We present the first empirical investigation of gender gaps in virtual game economies. Analyzing big data sets from two major game economies, we find that player gender and character gender influence virtua...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Information society 2014-08, Vol.30 (4), p.243-255
Main Authors: Lehdonvirta, Vili, Ratan, Rabindra A., Kennedy, Tracy L. M., Williams, Dmitri
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
avatars
Boundaries
Computer & video games
digital divide
Economics
Electronic & video games
Empirical analysis
Exact sciences and technology
Games
Gender
Gender differences
gender gap
Information and communication sciences
Information science. Documentation
Information Technology
Internet
Library and information science. General aspects
MMO
Occupation
occupational segregation
Occupations
online community
Online entertainment
online games
Pixels
playbor
prosumer work
Sciences and techniques of general use
Sex
Studies
Telecommunications
Virtual communities
virtual economy
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Summary:Information and communication technologies are blurring the boundaries between work and play. We present the first empirical investigation of gender gaps in virtual game economies. Analyzing big data sets from two major game economies, we find that player gender and character gender influence virtual wealth in different ways in different games. We conclude that this can be explained by different returns on female- and male-dominated play activities, that is, virtual pink- and blue-collar occupations. As the line between work and play increasingly blurs, researchers should track which occupations get to keep their conventional economic rewards, and which end up being remunerated in play money.
ISSN:0197-2243
1087-6537
DOI:10.1080/01972243.2014.915277