The popularity of branded virtual goods is significantly increasing at a global scale, a recent report cited by emarketer.com has revealed.

The study conducted by social gaming platform Viximo and virtual goods platform Virtual Greats has indicated that the global revenue generated by virtual goods purchases is expected to total USD 16 million in 2010. By 2015, the number is set to rise to USD 318 million, the same report points out.

Branded virtual goods seem to score the most points in popularity among social games players. According to the report, such items have sold 2.5 times greater than the bestselling items of comparable price without branding.

Continuous exposure to mobile or online marketing campaigns seems to be the main reason contributing to brand awareness and branded digital content purchase intent, the same study highlights.