Kids' spend on digital games increases by 17% in two years
Music downloads act as a gateway to games and other entertainment, says NPD
Children aged between 2 and 14 have increased their spending on digital games content by 17 per cent in the past two years, according to data from the NPD Group.
For every dollar spent on entertainment, 79 cents goes to physical formats while 21 cents goes to digital formats - growth on a 2009 survey which put the split at 85 cents and 15 cents, respectively.
"Kids are not skittish to use technology that is available to them, and the convenience and instant gratification afforded by downloading content is alluring to them," commented NPD's Anita Frazier.
"The ease and short downloading times associated with music downloads means that this is often the gateway activity to downloading for kids, but the large increase in digital games acquisition over the last two years points to how this is becoming a more mainstream way of acquisition across all types of entertainment content."
Music makes up the majority of content for kids, according to the survey, at 72 per cent, followed by movies, video games, TV and books and apps. Approximately 50 per cent of the 3343 children surveyed said they had paid for their first form of digital content by the age of seven.