New Study Shows Play Value of Toys has Increased over the Past Decade

The following article includes information from a press release provided by Funosophy.

February 10, 2022 | The toy industry has dramatically improved the play value of its products over the last 10 years, according to a new study fielded by Nancy Zwiers, founder of Funosophy, and the Michael Cohen Group, a leading New York-based research firm. The study highlights opportunities for overall improvement and improvement in specific toy categories and analyzes parents’ experiences with holiday supply chain issues.

Titled “U.S. Toy Industry Play Value Report Card: After the Toys Come Home,” the survey asked a statistically valid, nationally representative sample of parents of children between the ages of two and six years old to share their thoughts on the amount of time their children played with different types of toys in the two weeks following Christmas. Results were compared against the original 2011 study by the same name conducted by The Michael Cohen Group.

Notably, the survey found a 29-point increase in the number of parents who reported their children’s toys are being played with continuously (48% in 2022 versus 19% in 2011), indicating tremendous progress on the part of toy manufacturers in instilling more playability and value in their products.

Of note, there was also a 7% decrease in quality issues (“the toy broke”) over the last 10 years and a 6% decrease in age-appropriateness issues (18% in 2022 vs 24% in 2011).

Additionally, although supply chain concerns headlined the news into the holidays, this survey indicates that the toy industry’s hard work to ensure product availability paid off. Only 2% of respondents indicated that they could not find an item on their child’s wish list. Another 58% reported items were “available” and 40% reported they were “somewhat available.”

“Every day, The Toy Association and its Genius of Play initiative preach the power of play and how our members’ playthings serve as valuable tools for children and families,” said Adrienne Appell, executive vice president of marketing communications at The Toy Association. “It is great when we can point to additional studies such as this that further emphasize these ideas and back it up with hard data.”

Zwiers, who also serves as a Genius of Play Ambassador, and Cohen will provide more details from this study in an upcoming free webinar hosted by Women in Toys, Licensing & Entertainment on Tuesday, March 1 at 1 p.m. (Eastern).