A Better In App Purchase Model

A couple years ago I gave my girlfriend one of the best christmas gifts she’d ever gotten. It was a pair of tickets for a full day at the spa. The catch was that she had to gift the other ticket to one of her girlfriends.. the second spa pass wasn’t for me. I gave her the gift of being able to give something to her friends. She felt good that she could give her friend a great day at the spa, and her friend felt special that she got to go for free.

My purchase was a win, win, win for all three people. I looked like a stud to both her and her girlfriends, my girlfriend got a great day at the spa and gratitude from her friend for the free pass, and her friend got a free day at the spa and the special feeling of being chosen as the one to go.

I think there’s a nugget of an idea here for the evolution of a better IAP model in games. The idea that the status of the person buying an IAP purchase can affect their social standing in the game community though gifting to other players is huge for two very profound reasons:

1. The gifting is public and therefore provides social proof that someone is spending money in the game. Proof that other players are spending money is a huge motivator
2. The social status gained by being the one who is gifting to other players is real. Even in a virtual community complex social interactions happen, friendships develop and status within the community is important.

If a game can provide these sorts of social benefits to their IAPs in addition to the in game benefits then the stage is set to motivate a huge number of buyers.

I have not yet seen this in practice in a game which makes me curious if there’s a way I could quickly test this idea out in a game I could develop. If only I had time.