TV-spel som är gratis för spelare att spela men som kan innehålla saker som spelare kan betala för i spelet kan också kallas för “free-to-play” spel. Vissa av dessa free-to-play spel tillåter spelare att köpa saker som inte påverkar hur spelet fungerar. Detta kan vara saker som förändrade utseenden eller animationer som Marder, B. med flera kallar för “icke-funktionella varor”. För att undersöka varför detta är fallet utförde Marder et al. studien “The Avatar's new clothes: Understanding why players purchase non-functional items in free-to-play games”. De kom fram till ett par motivationer som sorterades de sorterade in till tre kategorier av motivationer: hedoniska, sociala och utilitära motivationer. Då könsskillnaden mellan deltagarna var stor kunde det inte fastslås ifall kön påverkade deras resultat. För att undersöka vilken roll kön hade utifrån Marders identifierade motivationer skickades enkäter ut och intervjuer hölls om spelare motivationer. Det resultaten från studien visade var att män var mer troliga att köpa icke-funktionella varor från den hedoniska och den utilitära kategorierna; kvinnor oftare uppgav motivationer från den sociala kategorin;(alldagliga) spelare och “hardcore” (intensiva) svara mycket lika men hardcore spelare oftare köper icke-funktionella varor till andra; och att fler motivationer än de Marder hittade finns då en till utilitär motivation hittades. Avslutningsvis reflekteras studiens utförande och vad som kommer att behövas undersökas i framtiden.
Video games that are free for players to play but that may include things that players can pay for inside the game can also be called "free-to-play" games. Some of these free-to-play games allow players to purchase things that do not affect how the game functions. These can be things that i.e.changes in appearances or animations. These things are what Marder, B. and his colleagues call "non-functional goods". To investigate why this is the case, Marder et al. wrote the article “The Avatar's new clothes: Understanding why players purchase non-functional items in free-to-play games”. They came up with a couple of motivations that were sorted into three categories of motivations: hedonic, social and utilitarian motivations. Since the gender difference between the participants was very big, it could therefore not be determined whether gender affected their produced results. To investigate the role of gender based on Marder's identified motivations, questionnaires were sent out and interviews were held about different players' motivations for purchasing non-functional goods. The results of the study showed that men were more likely to buy non-functional goods from the hedonic and the utilitarian categories; women more often stated motivations from the social category as tier motivation; “casual players and “hardcore” players responded very similarly but hardcore players more often bought non-functional goods for others; and that there most likely are motivations other than the ones that Marder et al. found as another utilitarian motivation was found. Finally, the execution of the study is reflected and thoughts about what will need to be investigated in the future is presented.