SL consumption questions - Please answer!

[isajohan]

Hi! I'm a student who is attending a class in economics, and I have an assignment where i shall interview SL consumers and then compare SL consumption to real life consumption. I won't be using your avatar's name in my presentation. All you have to do is to answer 6 simple questions if  you want to participate in my survey.

1. What do you buy in SL?

2. Do you always buy products free of charge, have you purchased Linden Dollars (LD) or do you work and earn money in SL?

3. If you have purchased LD: How much money do you spend in SL for two months? Why do you spend money in a virtual world?

4. If you buy products free for charge: Why don't you spend LD when you're shopping?

5. What is your favourite company in SL? Why this company?

6. Do you own shares in a SL company?

 

I need at least 5 persons to answer this questions, so please answer :)

Thank you in advance,

Isabella

[Amethyst Jetaime]

We have students show up here all the time expecting us to do their work for them because they don't want to actually come in world and do the research.

The percentage of people that read and post is this forum is insignificant compared to those in SL itself and those choosing to take the time to respond here are self selecting. Last I knew these conditions don't yield statistically valid results.  Certainly five people answering these questions is not sufficient to draw any valid conclusions on your research topic, which raises questions about the legitimacy of your research.

You have also failed to give us pertinent information required for research such as the name of your school, your name,  your supervising professor, and other official disclosures and documentation required when doing research. 

 

 

[Teagan Tobias]

I agree with Amethyst about the legitimacy of your research with so few people and questions, but I was bored so here you go.

 

1. What do you buy in SL?

For the most part I go to live music events. And I shop so I will look nice out in “public”. Other than that not much.

 

2. Do you always buy products free of charge, have you purchased Linden Dollars (LD) or do you work and earn money in SL?

I always look for free items, there are a lot of them but not all are that well done.

Yes I purchase Lindens.

No, I do not work in SL.

 

3. If you have purchased LD: How much money do you spend in SL for two months? Why do you spend money in a virtual world?

I have a budget and its hard to keep to it.

I look at SL a lot like going to the movies, I don't own anything when I leave a movie, but I had fun. The same with SL, even though I spend money on things (just like going to the movie),

I own nothing, Linden Lab owns it all, but I have fun.

 

4. If you buy products free for charge: Why don't you spend LD when you're shopping?

I have very little money to spend any more, so I look far and wide for free items. I will spend money but you will never find me spending a lot, why spend a lot of money when it is not my item even after I purchase it. It should be called renting so people don't get the wrong idea.

 

5. What is your favorite company in SL? Why this company?

They come and go to fast.

 

6. Do you own shares in a SL company?

No.

[isajohan]

Because I'm new to all this I cannot guarantee that my forumpost is 100% correct. I agree that the amount of people I mentioned is not a large number, but because we're a large group who is doing this research we have decided that each person asks atleast 5 persons and then we put our results together.

Because this isn't a fully proper research our teacher said that we shouldn't leave out any information about who we are and which school we are attendint etc. but I can tell you that we live in Finland and that the answers we get will only be used in our class, no one else will ever see these answers.

 

[isajohan]

Thanks for your answer!

As I replied to Amethyst, this survey is not fully proper. We are splitting up the work between many people so that's why I just need at least 5 answers.

 

[Celestiall Nightfire]

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isajohan wrote:

Hi! I'm a student who is attending a class in economics, and I have an assignment where i shall interview SL consumers and then compare SL consumption to real life consumption. I won't be using your avatar's name in my presentation. All you have to do is to answer 6 simple questions if  you want to participate in my survey.

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Hi Isbella, I'm happy to see a student studying economics.   I'll answer.

 

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1. What do you buy in SL?

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1A) I rent server space from Linden Lab, in the form of "land" in SL  I effectually, under the TOS in SL, "own" the land.  (Although, in reality, I don't own the land or the server space)

 

 

1B)  I buy building supplies, things that I don't want to take the time to make myself.  These supplies could range from scripts, 3D modeled items, textures, sounds, and/or gadgets that help me construct an environment.

1C)  I buy things to outfit my avatar, such as footwear, hair, clothes, and accessories.  In SL are many different social environments just like in the physical world, we need different types of clothing for these places.

 

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2. Do you always buy products free of charge, have you purchased Linden Dollars (LD) or do you work and earn money in SL?

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2A)  I sometimes "buy" free of charge, but more often, I pay for the goods with LD.   Yes, I purchase Linden Dollars.   Yes, I also do work in SL and earn money.

 

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3. If you have purchased OLD: How much money do you spend in SL for two months? Why do you spend money in a virtual world?

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3A)  Yes, I purchase LD.  As to how much I "spend" in SL, that varies, and is also offset by the LDs earned in SL.  If the LD earned are included, then I spend hundreds of USD each month.  (part of which is tier, the "rent" for server space)    I spend money in SL to have a place to create, to interact, to run a community, to run a business, and because I enjoy the time I spend interacting with people from all over the world.

 

 

 

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4. If you buy products free for charge: Why don't you spend LD when you're shopping?

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I sometimes buy products for free, as the SL content creators often put out good items for free.  So, in those instances, it makes no sense to not acquire the free item.  (I also buy goods with LD)

 

 

 

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5. What is your favorite company in SL? Why this company?

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5A)  I have many favorites among the SL content creators, so I'm loathe to pick just one.  A few that spring to mind are HOC and La Galleria.   

 

 

5B)   Because, they make superior goods!  Also, they makes things I like, and use a lot.

 

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6. Do you own shares in a SL company?

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6A)  We don't own "shares" of companies in SL.  SL is full of small business owners, not "companies".  Even the largest business in SL, is a small business.  There aren't (as far as I know) any business in SL that are publicly owned, or have the option to buy shares of the company.

6B)  I do have a venture partner in SL, and he and I, co-own a SL venture.  (We co-own an estate and run a SL community)   That's as close to the "shares" concept as I get.

 

 

[isajohan]

Thank you very much!

 

[Celestiall Nightfire]

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Amethyst Jetaime wrote:

We have students show up here all the time.....

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Amethyst, normally, I'd agree with your comment, as usually the students are working on actual "research" and an advanced degree.  But, this time the OP just wrote: " I'm a student who is attending a class in economics.."

Which to me looks like a student who has one economics class, and this assignment is a one-off type of project.  I think in this instance it's good to explain to the OP how things work, as time-wise, they may not be able to spend hours in SL to find out all this information.   Even if going inworld, they would still need to find people to do their survey, and there's no way it can't be 'self selecting" as a random SL resident doesn't have access to poll an entire grid of people.

[Syo Emerald]

Some of your questions are useless and show that you aren't even familiar with SL. How helpfull will your results be, if they don't even relate or apply to SL? Is nobody active in SL from your group? Why do you then chose it as a researchfield?

Also some of your questions aren't just one question but two or more at once. For example number 2. You and your group will run into a huge amount of problems of transfering the answers given into suitable data, because they are all free text answers, which are even hard for professionals to analyze.

But lets just go into detail:

You have absolutly the wrong idea of companies in terms of SL. You CAN'T apply your real life standarts on people who do business in SL. Also nobody refers to them als companies here. Its often just one single person opening a store and sell stuff that they created. Only a small number of those creators even make enough money that it has an impact on their RL (for example pays for their bills or food). A lot of them only do it to finance their virtual life or just because its fun.

Also I don't get how you assume you could even have "shares" of any of those stores...I mean...even in RL only quite big companies offer shares on the capital market and in terms of SL we are still talking about one-man-businesses. You can't own shares of them.

[Perrie Juran]

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isajohan wrote:

 I agree that the amount of people I mentioned is not a large number, but because we're a large group who is doing this research we have decided that each person asks atleast 5 persons and then we put our results together.

 

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I do hope that this does not mean that we should be expecting every student in your class to be starting their own thread here with at least 5 question?

Oh, and by the way, I counted at least ten questions in your post, not six.

[isajohan]

I agree with that some questions are somewhat useless. But to answer this simply I'm attending a virtual course where we use google+ and SL, we don't know that much about SL but our teacher thought it would be a interesting idea to try to have a course there.

I didn't chose the researchfield myself, my teacher told me to do a survey about this and gave me questions that she wanted the class to ask people. I don't understand either how I can possibly apply my real life standards on people who do business in SL but this is the assignment I was given and I'm just trying to complete the task.

Thanks for taking your time to write some critique and thanks for your opinion. It will sure help me further on when I'm doing similar surveys.

[isajohan]

Well we can always hope for the best.

 

[Perrie Juran]

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isajohan wrote:

I agree with that some questions are somewhat useless. But to answer this simply I'm attending a virtual course where we use google+ and SL, we don't know that much about SL but our teacher thought it would be a interesting idea to try to have a course there.

I didn't chose the researchfield myself, my teacher told me to do a survey about this and gave me questions that she wanted the class to ask people. I don't understand either how I can possibly apply my real life standards on people who do business in SL but this is the assignment I was given and I'm just trying to complete the task.

Thanks for taking your time to write some critique and thanks for your opinion. It will sure help me further on when I'm doing similar surveys.

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I wouldn't want you to get in trouble with your Teacher but you should point them to this Forum.  It sounds like they need an Education.  Unless they are also wanting you to learn about how people respond to poorly done Surveys.

Here are my answers:

 

1. What do you buy in SL?

    Primarily clothes.  I also purchase "virtual" vehicles (planes, boats, etc) to ride on, home and garden goods.

2. Do you always buy products free of charge,

    No

have you purchased Linden Dollars (LD) or

   Yes

do you work and earn money in SL?

   Not at the present but I have in the past.

3. If you have purchased LD: How much money do you spend in SL for two months?

    Prefer not to answer.

Why do you spend money in a virtual world?

   I enjoy the added enjoyment my purchases bring me.

4. If you buy products free for charge: Why don't you spend LD when you're shopping?

   I always look for the best 'bang for my buck.' 

5. What is your favourite company in SL?

   I don't really have a favorite.  There are several I prefer/will check first when looking for something.

Why this company?

    Perceived best value for my dollar.

6. Do you own shares in a SL company?

   NO.

 

 

 

 

[Knutz Scorpio]

A better approach to this would be to ask people in world, not many people in SL actually use these forums and there are a number of people in the forums that rarely go in world anymore.  You could put the survey in your profile as a Pick then refer to in your Biography, then as you visit the more crowded active spots the profile pervs will notice it and some may give you a response.

[Dresden Ceriano]

I was going to write that I've never known nor have I ever heard of anyone in SL that has died of consumption.  Then I realized it was just another silly survey, so yeah... never mind.

...Dres

[Janelle Darkstone]

1. What do you buy in SL?  Clothes, shoes, and hair and to a lesser extent dance animations, vehicles, toys, devices, doodads and other shiny, blinky things.

2. Do you always buy products free of charge, have you purchased Linden Dollars (LD) or do you work and earn money in SL?  When I first started I used a lot of freebies (some truly awful and cringeworthy).  I occasionally do purchase L$.  I'd never hold an SL job as a primary means for income as it wouldn't pay anywhere near as much as I consider my time to be worth.

3. If you have purchased LD: How much money do you spend in SL for two months? Why do you spend money in a virtual world?  I would estimate $10-20 a month would be reasonable, perhaps more if also paying rent somewhere.  And spending money anywhere would be for the entertainment value.

4. If you buy products free for charge: Why don't you spend LD when you're shopping?  Those I see who can't or won't spend real life $ in SL are either newbies (perfectly okay) or don't wish their SL activities to show up on their bank statement (:smileywink:).

5. What is your favourite company in SL? Why this company?  This constantly changes; one designer might fulfill my sense of style for a month before I feel like going in a different direction, but that's also what makes it fun, the variety and the possibilities.

6. Do you own shares in a SL company?  No, and I'd never spend a cent in SL that I wasn't fully prepared to lose in an instant tomorrow.  I'd like to think this is a commonly held attitude and indicative toward our confidence in LL.

[isajohan]

Thank you!

[isajohan]

Thanks for the tip!

[isajohan]

Thank you for answering!

[Perrie Juran]

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isajohan wrote:

Thank you!

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Your welcome.

And as a P.S., I really meant it when I said I hope we are not going to see the rest of your class posting questions here.

This is the Second Life Forum. It is not your teacher's laboratory and  none  few of us here take kindly to being treated like someone's pet lab rats.

 

eta to fix an assumption with a less egregious assumption.

[Xen Akula]

1. What do you buy in SL?

Bandit & Mesh Shop Boats

2. Do you always buy products free of charge, have you purchased Linden Dollars (LD) or do you work and earn money in SL?

That's actually three separate questions. 1. No, not always. However, if/when I spot any decent ones I will sometimes buy some. 2. Yes, far more than I'd like to admit. 3. No, I'm a virtual bum.

3. If you have purchased LD: How much money do you spend in SL for two months? Why do you spend money in a virtual world?

That's two separate questions. 1. None of your GD business. 2. Because I think talented developers deserve to be paid for their great work. They're the resaon why it's still fun for me to log into this place.

4. If you buy products free for charge: Why don't you spend LD when you're shopping?

As already stated, I will sometimes buy a freebie now and then, but not that often.

5. What is your favourite company in SL? Why this company?

Currently it's two, both located in the same region, Tschotcke. Bandit & Mesh Shop Boats. IMO, they've created the most realistic watercraft currently available to enjoy. Plus, they're not ripped models stolen from some video game, or purchased from an online model shop. All of their creations are made by them, painted by them and scripted by them.

6. Do you own shares in a SL company?

No, but I'd certainly invest in Bandit & Mesh Shop Boats if I could.

[Kelli May]

1. What do you buy in SL?

Clothes, avatar components, buildings, vehicles, landscaping

 

2. Do you always buy products free of charge, have you purchased Linden Dollars (LD) or do you work and earn money in SL?

a) I always 'buy' good free items which are available.

b) I have purchased L$ in the past.

c) I have a small income as a DJ from tips

 

3. If you have purchased LD: How much money do you spend in SL for two months? Why do you spend money in a virtual world?

a) Approximately L$2000 over 2 months

b) For the entertainment I gain

 

4. If you buy products free for charge: Why don't you spend LD when you're shopping?

Like many other people, I do both. My budget in SL is limited, so when I can get quality free items, I take them.

 

5. What is your favourite company in SL? Why this company?

a) I probably spend most money at Bare Rose. 

b) Their clothes and costumes are good value and they release new items often.

 

6. Do you own shares in a SL company?

No

 

[Aethelwine]

1. What do you buy in SL?

Most of my money goes on tier and rent, but I also buy clothes, skins, attachments, building materials, textures, scripts, vehicles, houses, animations... pretty much everything. And this last couple of months quite a lot has gone to the relay for life charity.

2. Do you always buy products free of charge, have you purchased Linden Dollars (LD) or do you work and earn money in SL?

I mostly buy linden dollars, but make some pocket money off djing, rentals, bike sales and sim donations.

There are some good freebies around.I have some plausible body outfits in my shopping cart at the moment (although they are technically open price not freebies) and some freebie language translation huds to look at.

 3. If you have purchased LD: How much money do you spend in SL for two months? Why do you spend money in a virtual world?

In the last 2 months I will have spent over 1000 USD on linden dollars. I spend money to create an environments for others to enjoy and because I enjoy it as a past time.

4. If you buy products free for charge: Why don't you spend LD when you're shopping?

Some freebies are better than bought items. And well I do already spend far too much on shopping.

5. What is your favourite company in SL? Why this company?

Currently I am amazed by the quality and low prim counts of Dorian Meredith's houses and I got some great customer service off her. But really there are so many good companies\places to spend money... a few to mention...Novatech, Tama, Karyn's scripts, Meli Imako, Dutchie, Epia, Route 66, Neurolab, Graves, Cold logic, Ray Silent, Simbaz, TIS.. I could go on and on... They all have great products and those I have needed to talk with directly (Tama, Karyn, Dutchie, Neurolab, Ray Silent, Simbaz, TIS) have all given prompt good support and customer service.

I nearly forgot Jessica Chung...she never seems to sleep and is always around promptly to help with sim problems.. If that avi is one person then the customer service she provides is extraordinary,

6. Do you own shares in a SL company?

No. Although in the recent past the cost of the sim was met by me and one other, but their circumstances have changed so it is no longer the joint venture it once was (admittedly this is pushing the definition of a business beyond the normal sense, but I am thinking this might the sort of answer desired from the question).

[Marigold Devin]

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isajohan wrote:

Hi! I'm a student who is attending a class in economics, and I have an assignment where i shall interview SL consumers and then compare SL consumption to real life consumption. I won't be using your avatar's name in my presentation. All you have to do is to answer 6 simple questions if  you want to participate in my survey.

 

1. What do you buy in SL?

Pyjamas mainly. As I feel like I am sleepwalking whenever I log into Second Life. If I am taking photos and need a prop or two, I might purchase extra items from Marketplace. Or occasionally I buy frocks. And hair. Just like in real life I like a change of hair style (or colour) now and then.

2. Do you always buy products free of charge, have you purchased Linden Dollars (LD) or do you work and earn money in SL?

I used to earn money in SL. Within a few weeks of becoming a resident I "fell into" a job as a columnist for a now-out-of-print SL newspaper, and got paid enough money with which to pay rent on a smashing bit of land with a large house on it, and some furniture for it. I bred chickens for a while, packaged up the eggs and sold those (but the food that I had to buy for the chickens ate into my profits so a massive cull became necessary sadly). For a year or so I bought ugly chunks of land, tidied them up, re-portioned them and sold them, and made a nice profit doing that. Rarely have I had to actually purchase Linden dollars.

3. If you have purchased LD: How much money do you spend in SL for two months? Why do you spend money in a virtual world?

My Second Life has wound down since the beginning of this year, so I reckon now I probably only spend L$500 at the most in two months. Maybe L$1000. Why do I spend money in a virtual world? Why do people spend money on booze and cigarettes?  Its a nice little buzz, a quick fix, pocket of joy.  It may seem virtual, but its only the same as buying a vase of flowers in real life, which are temporary. These virtual things can be re-used and never actually wear out, so they're possibly better value - certainly providing entertainment and happiness in many cases.

4. If you buy products free for charge: Why don't you spend LD when you're shopping?

Some of the places where I regularly shop give out free gifts and outfits each week. Some weeks I just don't feel the need to buy anything.

5. What is your favourite company in SL? Why this company?

Not allowed really to name names/promote individuals, but I will. plowwie Voom is my favourite pyjama maker. I have been a customer of *plowwies* since they had a tiny shop unit on a sim I randomly teleported to one day in late-2007.  Her jammies are funky and full of fun. She always seems to have exactly what I am looking for, even when I'm not looking for it. Prices are reasonable, and plowwie has moved with the times, embracing mesh, and her sizes are perfect for my avatar.

6. Do you own shares in a SL company?

no

 

I need at least 5 persons to answer this questions, so please answer

Thank you in advance,

Isabella

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[Syo Emerald]

You should tell your teacher how she should do her homework better before sending out her poor students :catvery-happy: