MediaPost reports on a study of game consumers commissioned by ad agency Blitz and conducted by researcher Mintel that zeroes in on game marketing shortfalls. The study reached out to 1,000 gamers between 13-35 years old and comprising 60-to-40 percent male-to-female ratio. Its key finding was that core gamers say they shun information they deem as commercialized, including messaging from game publishers, content and reviews from ad-supported editorial sites such as IGN and GameSpot, and even official video trailers, which they perceive to be doctored. Instead they tend to seek what Blitz CEO Ivan Todorov classified as the purest sources they could find, with YouTube and Wikipedia cited as examples. The study also showed TV still makes an impact as the biggest driver of interest. But Blitz said what respondents saw as the most effective TV advertising, showing actual game play, was often overlooked. Overall the study found the top sources game consumers seek for purchase decisions all constituted word-of-mouth, first talking to friends then looking to online user reviews. It also found that only a small percentage go to social networks for information, leading researchers to conclude that game marketers are underutilizing the platforms. Todorov told MediaPost that represents an opportunity for game marketers, where they need to better utilize popular social platforms to establish influencers for their campaigns. MediaPost links to Blitz’s research report, which requires registration to download. Read more at MediaPost.