Migration from social casino to gambling: Motivations, characteristics and motivations of gamblers

 Migration from social gambling to gambling: The motivations and characteristics for gamblers


Abstract

It is becoming more common for the gambling and gaming industry to merge. This has led to questions about whether social casino game play can influence gambling. The online survey of 521 adults that played social casino in the last 12 months was used to investigate the relationship between social gaming and gambling. Social casino game users, 71.2%) said that the games did not have an impact on their gambling behavior. 9.6% said their gambling had increased overall, and 19.4% claimed that they had gambled to make money from these games. Gambling was more common in males, younger gamblers, and people who have experienced more severe gambling problems. Playing social casino games led to the most common reason people gambled. This was to win money. Simulated gambling has been reported to increase gambling in social casino games, particularly for people who have gambling problems or are already at risk. Introduction

Social network gaming refers to the play of games that can be connected to social networking sites (SNS), or through mobile apps (apps), and is very popular online. SNG are generally free to play, do not offer monetary prizes, but you can make ingame purchases to customize the game and give gifts to your friends. You also have access to other exclusive features and benefits, which is why these games are called 'freemium. SNG are linked to a SNS so users can interact with one another, but most SNG can be played offline. SNG has grown in popularity quickly. According to Transparency Market Research (2015), the global SNG market will grow at 16% per year from 2013 to 2019. This will bring it to a total value of US$17.4billion. In November 2012, a survey of Australian Facebook users revealed that over 3.5 Million social gamers use SNG daily. (Spiral Media 2013, 2013). It is likely that SNG usage has increased significantly since then.


The most lucrative and well-known SNG genres are those that simulate gambling (or betting), or casino games. These games are known as social casino (Gainsbury Hing, Delfabbro and King, 2014). These games are similar to gambling activities in that they mimic basic structures (e.g., betting mechanics and chance-determined outcomes), however, they can be played for free and prizes given are virtual currency which has no other value. Although they may look like gambling activities, they do not fall under the legal classification or regulation of this type (Owens 2010).


1.1. Convergence of the gambling and gaming markets

SNG users are only 2.3% of those who have become paying customers. Swave (2015) suggests that this is a small proportion. Despite the relatively small number of paid users, the global social casino market generated US$2.8 million in revenue in 2014. This represents a 37% increase over 2013 and is expected to reach US$3.4billion in 2015. (Eilers Research (2015), Superdata (2015)). It is not surprising that the high profitability of the global social casino market has attracted international attention, most notably from the gambling operators who, through partnerships and mergers, have now become the dominant players within the social casino marketplace. Caesars Interactive Entertainment owns Playtika. This subsidiary of Caesars Entertainment Corporation is the largest global gambling company. DoubleDown Casino was owned by IGT and accounted for 11% of the total social casino game market (Grove 2015). A growing number land-based gambling venues now offer social casino games. Many of these games are often linked to player loyalty programs for marketing and customer involvement (Abarbanel, Rahman, 2015, Gainsbury, et al. (2014)a). However, many online gambling companies that offered online gambling through social casino games or via SNS have shut down their operations despite convergence between the gambling and gaming markets. This may suggest that online gambling is not as successful as it used to be. casinos offer the fun of gambling to the precise type

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