Efficacy of film and computer game classification categories and consumer advice a comparative analysis of public opinion

Europe

The Interactive Software Federation of Europe (ISFE) represents the video game industry. It aims to protect the industry against the threat of piracy and promotes the Pan European Game Information (PEGI) ratings system for consumers.

PEGI has the following classification categories:

Rating	Symbol	Guidelines
3		Suitable for ages 3 and older. May contain mild violence in an appropriate context for younger children, but no explicit language is allowed.
7		Suitable for ages 7 and older. May contain mild, cartoon violence, sports, or elements that can be frightening to younger children.
12		Suitable for ages 12 and older. May contain violence in a fantasy setting, coarse language, mild sexual references or innuendo, or gambling.
16		Suitable for ages 16 and older. May contain explicit violence, strong language, sexual references or content, gambling, or drug use (encouragement).
18		Suitable for ages 18 and older. May contain graphic violence, including "violence towards defenseless people" and "multiple, motiveless killing", strong language, strong sexual content, gambling, drug use (glamorisation), or discrimination.

Ireland

The Irish Film Classification Office (IFCO) is a statutory body responsible for examining and certifying all cinema films and videos/DVDs distributed in Ireland. Computer games classifications rely on the PEGI system.

The aim of the classification system is to:

• 
  protect children and young persons;
  
• 
  have regard for freedom of expression; and
  
• 
  have respect for the values of Irish society.
  

Cinema

The ratings system for cinema is as follows:



General: suitable for children of a school going age.



PG: Parental Guidance: Suitable for children aged eight and over. Parents are advised to accompany younger children.


12A: Suitable for children aged 12 and over. Younger children can be admitted if accompanied by an adult.


15A: Suitable for persons aged 15 fifteen and over. Younger children can be admitted if accompanied by an adult.



16: Suitable for persons aged 16 and over. Persons under 16 not admitted.



18: Suitable for persons of eighteen and over. Persons under 18 not admitted

DVDs/Videos

The ratings system for DVDs/Videos is as follows:



General: Fit for viewing by persons generally.



PG: Parental Guidance ­– Parents are advised to watch with children under 12 years old.



12: Suitable for people aged 12 and over, and not to be supplied to someone below that age.



15: Suitable for people aged 15 and over, and not to be supplied to someone below that age.

18: Suitable for people aged 18 and over, and not to be supplied to someone below that age.

1 Full interlocking age/ gender/ region quotas were utilised. The data was not weighted.

2A national consumer survey was conducted using AC Nielsen’s face-to-face omnibus study. A total of 1075 individuals aged 14 years and over were interviewed. Quotas were placed on residential area, sex and age of respondents. Data was post-weighted to reflect the Australian population distribution on age, sex, and area

3 1002 interviews were undertaken with opt-in online panel members aged 14 years and older. Quotas were placed on residential area, sex and age of respondents. Data was post-weighted to reflect the Australian population distribution on age, sex, and area.

4 Digital Australia 2014 (DA14) is a study of 1220 Australian households and 3398 individuals of all ages living in those households. These participants were from an online national random sample using the Nielsen Your Voice Panel in June 2012. The research was designed and conducted by Bond University. The margin of error is ±2.8%.

5 1,239 interviews were undertaken with members of the British public aged 18+. Quotas were placed on the sex, age, class, and working status of respondents. Respondents were recruited at 24 locations: two in Wales, three in Scotland, one in Northern Ireland, and the remained spread throughout England.. People who had been recruited ten attended a local hall, which was used as an interview centre, where they were given the BBFC Classification Guidelines and a self-completion questionnaire.

The data was not weighted.

6 Interviews were undertaken with 5,685 European video gamers aged 16-49 in the Spring of 2010 – data was weighted by age, sex, hours of play, and gaming spend. A further 2,931 interviews were undertaken with European non-gaming parents aged 16+ in the Spring of 2010 – this data was not weighted a population data for the group was unavailable. No further details of the methodology were included in the final report of this study.

7 For this survey, the strata were constructed such that the resulting sample would provide a nationally representative statistical sample of U.S. households in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Telephone interviews were undertaken with 1,342 parents of children aged between 8 and 16 years. Of the 1,342 parents interviewed, 543 gave permission to interview their child and 354 children were interviewed.

8An online survey of 2000 New Zealanders aged 18 years and over was carried out between 7 and 23 February 2011. The final data was weighted to align it with Statistics New Zealand population counts for region by age and by gender.

9 The correct definition for M is as follows: Anyone can watch the film but it is more suitable for people aged 16 years and over.

10 An online survey was distributed to Irish parents nationally via the National Parents Council – there were a total of 267 respondents. No further details of the methodology were included in the final report of this study.

11 A national consumer survey was conducted using Newspoll’s telephone omnibus with adults aged 18 years and over. In addition, a sample of N=398 teenagers aged 13 – 17 in Sydney and Melbourne was interviewed by telephone on Newspoll’s Youth Omnibus. Adult (aged over 18) and youth (13-17 years) samples were weighted to reflect the Australian population distribution (national for adults; Sydney/ Melbourne for youth) on age, age left school, sex, and area.

12 See Footnote 3, above, for overview of methodology.

13 3,102 interviews were conducted by GfK with the general public aged 16+ as part of the GfK weekly national face-to-face omnibus. The survey adopted random location recruitment, with nationally representative quotas placed on age, gender, working status, and region. The data was not weighted. 1,104 interviews were conducted with adults aged 16+ who had watched at least one of a list of recently released films and DVDs in the past four weeks. Nationally representative quotas set by region (124 sampling points), with guideline quotas on age, gender, social class, and ethnicity.

14 See Footnote 10, above, for over view of methodology.

15 See Footnote 7, above, for over view of methodology.

16 See Footnote 10, above, for over view of methodology.

17 See Footnote 5, above, for over view of methodology.

18 See Footnote 11, above, for overview of methodology.

19 See Footnote 3, above, for overview of methodology.

20 See Footnote 1, above, for overview of methodology.

21 See Footnote 17, above, for overview of methodology.

22 See Footnote 5, above, for overview of methodology.

23 See Footnote 7, above, for over view of methodology.

24 See Footnote 8, above, for over view of methodology.

25 See Footnote 10, above, for over view of methodology.

26 See Footnote 11, above, for overview of methodology.

27 The sample size for this study was 2,143 British adults (1,329 parents). Fieldwork was undertaken 9 – 11 February 2009. The survey was carried out online. The data was weighted to be representative of all British adults aged 18+. No further details of the methodology were included in the final report of this study.

28 See Footnote 7, above, for overview of methodology.

29 For this survey, the strata were constructed such that the resulting sample would provide a nationally representative statistical sample of U.S. households in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Telephone interviews were undertaken with 1,000 parents of children aged between 7 and 16 years. Post-stratification weighting was conducted after the survey fielding period.

30 A national consumer survey was conducted using Newspoll’s telephone omnibus with adults aged 18 years and over. In addition, a sample of N=398 teenagers aged 13 – 17 in Sydney and Melbourne was interviewed by telephone on Newspoll’s Youth Omnibus. Adult (aged over 18) and youth (13-17 years) samples were weighted to reflect the Australian population distribution (national for adults; Sydney/ Melbourne for youth) on age, age left school, sex, and area.

31 A random sample of 12 secondary schools was selected from a listing of secondary schools provided by the Department of Education. This selection process was designed to provide a representative sample of schools (in terms of geographic area, socio-economic grouping, gender, and religious composition). A total of 1,045 adolescents were surveyed during the early summer of 2004.

32 Parents of 16 to 18 year-olds (ie, panellists aged 35 to 65) were randomly selected from Colmar Brunton's

online panel, and a young person in their home was invited to take part in the survey. Where there was more

than one 16 to 18 year-old in the home, we asked for the person with the next birthday. Quotas were applied at the sampling and selection stage, and cell weighting was used so the final results are representative of young people by gender (male and female) and by age (16, 17, or 18).

33 A survey was conducted among a representative group of parents with children at post-primary schools. No further details of the methodology were included in the final report of this study.

34 See Footnote 27, above, for overview of methodology.

35 See Footnote 3, above, for overview of methodology.

36 See Footnote 27, above, for overview of methodology.

37 See Footnote 6, above, for overview of methodology.

38 See Footnote 3, above, for overview of methodology.

39 See Footnote 5, above, for overview of methodology.

40 See Footnote 11, above, for overview of methodology.

41 See Footnote 8, above, for overview of methodology.

42 See Footnote 7, above, for overview of methodology.

43 See Footnote 29, above, for overview of methodology.

44 See Footnote 5, above, for overview of methodology.

45 See Footnote 6, above, for overview of methodology.

46 See Footnote 10, above, for overview of methodology.

47 See Footnote 33, above, for overview of methodology.

48 See Footnote 31, above, for overview of methodology.

49 See Footnote 7, above, for overview of methodology.

50 Panel members were recruited using professional recruitment firms. Recruiters were instructed to select people with a range of characteristics, across such criteria as age, gender, family status, and Aboriginality, resulting in broadly representative samples.

51 The sample size for this study was 2,143 British adults (1,329 parents). Fieldwork was undertaken 9 – 11 February 2009. The survey was carried out online. The data was weighted to be representative of all British adults aged 18+. No further details of the methodology were included in the final report of this study.

52 See Footnote 7, above, for overview of methodology.

53 See Footnote 5, above, for overview of methodology.

54 See Footnote 11, above, for overview of methodology.

55 See Footnote 31, above, for overview of methodology.

56 1,016 adults over 16 years were interviewed across Australia. The resulting data set was weighted by sex, age, presence of dependent children, socioeconomic status, and location to be representative of the Australian population.

57 See Footnote 2, above, for overview of methodology.

58 See Footnote 50, above, for overview of methodology.

59 See Footnote 5, above, for overview of methodology.

60 See Footnote 5, above, for overview of methodology.

61 See Footnote 1, above, for overview of methodology.

62 See Footnote 50, above, for overview of methodology.

63 See Footnote 5, above, for overview of methodology.

64 See Footnote 56, above, for overview of methodology.

65 See Footnote 1, above, for overview of methodology.

66 See Footnote 50, above, for overview of methodology.

67 See Footnote 50, above, for overview of methodology.

68 See Footnote 33, above, for overview of methodology.

69 See Footnote 5, above, for overview of methodology.

70 See Footnote 50, above, for overview of methodology.

71 See Footnote 5, above, for overview of methodology.

72 The Social Climate Survey of Tobacco Control was administered to samples of 1,500-3,000 US adults who were interviewed by telephone between July and September 2004 (3,011 respondents), 2005 (1,510 respondents), and 2006 (1,812 respondents). Samples from all years represent the civilian, non- institutionalised adults population over age 18 in the United States. The resulting data set was weighted by race and gender within each census region, based on the most recent US Census estimates.

73 See Footnote 1, above, for overview of methodology.

74 See Footnote 5, above, for overview of methodology.

75 See Footnote 31, above, for overview of methodology.