Personality and psychographics of three types of gamblers in the United States

Abstract

Using the results of the Experian Marketing Services' Simmons^® National Consumer Study (NCS) (N₀ = 24,581), this paper studies the characteristics of three types of US. gamblers: regular lottery players (N₁ = 1100), heavy casino gamblers (N₂ = 636) and online gamblers (N₃ = 291). We explore each type of gambler using measures of several personality and psychographic variables: impulsiveness, desire for control, materialism, risk taking, self-centredness, introversion, sensation seeking and financial prudence. We find that while all three groups have elevated levels of impulsiveness and materialism relative to non-gamblers (p < 0.01), most noteworthy are the online gamblers, who have higher levels of risk taking, desire for control, self-centredness and sensation seeking compared to casino gamblers, lottery players and non-gamblers (p < 0.01). This study additionally emphasizes the importance of considering demographics when investigating psychographics, as some of the psychographics related to gambling are conditioned on age. In addition, we find that online gamblers who also engage in other forms of gambling may be distinct from those who do not, suggesting they are not a homogeneous group.

Keywords:

• gambling
• personality traits
• lotteries
• casino games
• internet gambling

Notes

^1. It is likely that many of those who ‘approve’ of gambling as a way for a state to raise revenue may see it as a lesser of evils; they may prefer state-sponsored gambling to an increase in taxes.

^2. According to the authors, several gambling opportunities are available in French cafés, including scratch cards and off-track betting.

^3. Weighting used in survey research allows the sample to reflect population characteristics, rather than the characteristics of the sample itself, in which some demographic groups may have been over-or under-represented. So, for example, if the sample contains fewer 18–24 year olds than the Census Bureau data would suggest, each of those 18–24 year olds in the sample would be weighted more heavily to allow this age range to be proportionally represented in the general population. Weighting is a complex process in that each person in the sample will be weighted on several demographic factors (e.g. gender, age, race) at once.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Andrew B. Carver

Andrew Carver is an Associate Professor of finance at the College of New Jersey's School of Business. He previously worked at Morningstar and Bank of America and held internships at AXA Rosenberg Investment Management and Eli Lilly's decision science group. He graduated from Duke University with a BS in mechanical engineering and economics, and earned his PhD and MS from the Department of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University.

John A. McCarty

John McCarty is an Associate Professor of marketing at the College of New Jersey's School of Business. Professor McCarty was formerly a Research Associate in the Marketing Services Department of the advertising agency DDB Needham Chicago. He holds a BA from Vanderbilt University, MA degrees from the University of Illinois and the University of Chicago, and his PhD degree is from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Prior to taking a position at the College of New Jersey, he taught at the University of Illinois, American University, and George Mason University.