Abstract
Social casino games have achieved widespread popularity, and are accessed by more than 85 million people each day. Yet, why people play social casino games is largely unknown. To address this gap, an inductive approach was taken to better understand the motives for playing social casino games, as well as the motives for transitioning from social casino gaming to gambling and vice versa. To this end, 269 social casino gamers were asked to provide a ranked list of their motives for playing social casino games. Additionally, we asked participants their motivations for transitioning from gambling to social casino gaming (n = 202) or vice versa (n = 67). A total of 795, 605, and 201 unique responses describing motives for playing social casino games, transitioning from social casino gaming to gambling, and transitioning from gambling to social casino gaming, respectively, were analyzed using a thematic content analysis. The most frequently endorsed motive for playing social casino games was for enhancement (e.g., fun, challenge). Participants also noted playing to earn rewards, including money, and for social reasons. Several motives linked social casino game play to gambling. These included: to hone gambling-related ‘skills’, a desire to transition to gambling to win real money, and as a gambling harm-reduction strategy. Motives for playing social casino games did not differ significantly between those who first gambled and then transitioned to social casino gaming and vice versa, suggesting that once people begin playing social casino games, they have similar motives for continued engagement. The present study contributes to understanding the immense popularity of social casino games and their links to gambling.
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Complete data and code for analyses are available on the OpenScience Framework (https://osf.io/3vu4t/).
Change history
05 July 2022
The article title has been updated to read as “Self-Generated Motives of Social Casino Gamers”.
19 July 2022
A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-022-10141-7
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This research was funded by a large grant (#80) to the authors from the Alberta Gambling Research Institute (AGRI). AGRI had no part in the design, analyses, or dissemination of the present manuscript.
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Conceptualization: Hyoun S. Kim, Methodology: Hyoun S Kim; Formal analysis and investigation: Hyoun S. Kim, Sophie Coelho; Writing - original draft preparation: Hyoun S. Kim, Sophie Coelho; Writing - review and editing: Michael J.A. Wohl, Matthew Rockloff, Daniel S. McGrath, David C. Hodgins; Funding acquisition: Hyoun S. Kim, Michael J.A. Wohl, Matthew Rockloff, Daniel S. McGrath, David C. Hodgins; Supervision: David C. Hodgins.
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HSK has received grants and scholarships from the Alberta Gambling Research Institute (AGRI). HSK has had travel expenses covered by AGRI and the British Columbia Lottery Corporation for conferences. SC declares no conflicts of interest. MW has received research funding from Alberta Gambling Research Institute (Canada), British Columbia Lottery Corporation (Canada), Carleton University (Canada), Gambling Research Exchange Ontario (Canada), Manitoba Gambling Research Program (Canada), International Center for Responsible Gaming (US), Ontario Lottery and Gaming (Canada), and Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (Canada). MW has received speaker/travel honorarium from Alberta Liquor Gaming Commission (Canada), National Association for Gambling Studies (Australia), International Center for Responsible Gaming (US), and Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling (US). He has received fees for academic services from Atlantic Lottery and Gaming Corporation (Canada), Gambling Research Exchange (Canada), National Center for Responsible Gaming (US), New South Wales Government (Australia), Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation (Canada), Manitoba Gambling Research Program (Canada), Massachusetts Gambling Commission (US), and Ontario Lottery and Gaming (Canada). MW has also received consulting fees from Alberta Liquor Gaming Commission (Canada), Atlantic Lottery andGaming Corporation (Canada), British Columbia Lottery Corporation (Canada), GamRes (Canada), Massachusetts Gaming Commission (US), National Council on Problem Gambling (Singapore) Nova Scotia Gaming Corporation (Canada), and Ontario Lottery and Gaming (Canada). MR declares no conflicts of interest regarding this research. DM has received support from the AGRI and a speaker?s honorarium from Spectrum Therapeutics. DH receives partial salary support from the AGRI and consulting fees from the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, unrelated to this project. He has grants from Health Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
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Approval was obtained from the research ethics board of the University of Calgary. The procedures used in this study adhere to the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki.
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All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.
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The original online version of this article was revised: The co-authors last names are mixed with each other. However, now the co-author names are corrected in the article as following: Sophia Coelho, Michael J. A. Wohl, Matthew Rockloff, Daniel S. McGrath and David C. Hodgins.
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Kim, H.S., Coelho, S., Wohl, M.J. et al. Self-Generated Motives of Social Casino Gamers. J Gambl Stud 39, 299–320 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-022-10135-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-022-10135-5