Age Differences in Associations with Digital Gaming

This exploratory study examines how seniors and young adults differ in their associations with digital gaming, using a free association technique to surface perceptions, experiences, and domain knowledge. The authors argue that seniors remain an underrepresented group both as gamers and as a research focus, and that understanding their associations could reveal obstacles to engagement that game designers and marketers might address. The study involved 64 seniors (mean age 65.2) and 58 young adults (mean age 23.4) in the Netherlands, recruited through online senior and youth forums, a senior summer course, and personal networks. Participants had three minutes to list words associated with playing computer games, then rated their four most and least important associations.

Young adults produced nearly twice as many associations as seniors (mean 19.4 versus 10.3), and the researchers attribute part of this gap to seniors' more limited gaming experience, though even regular senior gamers produced fewer associations than young adults. Seniors' associations were more often linked to family and generational framing, such as "youth" and "grandchild," and they rarely named gaming genres or current consoles like the Wii or Xbox. Seniors also gave greater weight to negative outcomes, particularly addiction and addictive qualities, while young adults emphasized positive experiences such as relaxation, fun, challenge, and amusement. Notably, young adults rated "violence" among their least important associations.

The authors conclude that seniors' domain knowledge of digital gaming appears limited and outdated, which may hinder their ability to find games that suit their needs. They suggest practical responses such as senior-oriented game store sections with plain-language descriptions, and call for further research comparing age differences in board gaming and seniors' past gaming preferences. The study's small, non-representative sample, time-limited task, and Dutch-language data limit how broadly its findings can be generalized.