The gambling market is constantly changing, as gamblers and gambling reasons. The average casino player today is not at all the same as they were 20 years ago. To know today’s casino audience, their interests and needs, Scientific Games conducted a large-scale research into which it invested $ 1 million. The result was that the players of online casinos, lotteries and video games are not quite the same as they used to be. Let’s see what the researchers managed to find out.
Scientific Games Corporation is an American company that develops games and provides services for lottery and gambling organizations around the world. Headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. Products include video slot machines, table games, iGaming and iLottery, instant lottery games, lottery gaming systems, terminals and services, Internet applications, server-based interactive gaming terminals and gambling management systems.
Casino audience: modern classification of gamblers
To better understand what players expect from online casinos, lotteries and real casinos, researchers at Scientific Games have introduced a simple classification that covers all gamblers.
- Professionals – highly skilled gamblers who have experience of participating in tournaments and gaining large winnings.
- Specialists – highly skilled gamblers who plan to improve their skills;
- Ex-players – gamblers that have lost interest or rarely play;
- Masters – gamblers with good abilities, but low financial opportunities for participating in tournaments;
- Spare – gamblers, playing unstable;
- Amateurs – gamblers who view gambling only as entertainment, not as an opportunity for earning.
The study of the interests and opinions of all categories of gamblers was divided into 3 categories:
- casino;
- lottery;
- computer games.
The general casino audience, lotteries and online games, which participated in the survey, reached 22,000 people in the EU and the US.
This study of casinos and gambling was aimed at in-depth analysis of the industry. Jim Kennedy, executive vice president and executive director of Scientific Games, said that the company needed a fresh look at the connection between gambling and economic components. Since the company is a global expert in gambling and supplies dozens of diverse products to all continents, new knowledge is important for improving the quality of service and promoting innovation.
One of the main reasons that has become a trigger for such a costly research is the aging of the casino audience. Gamblers who were interested in games before, and continued to visit casino or play online. And the influx of new, younger players has decreased noticeably. This, in turn, caused a global decline in net profit in the industry.
It became clear that it is necessary to offer the new generation something fundamentally different.
Searching for new directions for gambling, researchers at the same time tested established beliefs and myths about gambling.
Gambling reasons of average casino players
To start dialogue with gamblers and lottery participants, as well as understand their motives, the researchers began by studying gambling reasons.
15 gambling reasons were identified for players from USA and the EU: luck, simplicity of the game process, challenge, self-improvement, achievement of results, easy money, pastime, entertainment, getting into another reality, gambling, low cost, team feeling, competitive spirit, social tastes.
As a result, gamblers surprised researchers. It turned out that a number of existing stereotypes has no basis.
So, people believed that the casino audience in the US and Europe has different gambling reasons. But also, gamblers in the States and the EU have a similar gambling reasons. Firstly, it’s fast money. Secondly, self-improvement. The last fact surprised the researchers.
Another myth was that gambler’s preferences do not overlap. This is not true. For example, online casino players are willing to play the lottery. As many as 74% of all online gamblers!
Research showed that the lottery is as interesting to young people as to the older generation. Earlier people believed that young people lost interest in this direction. In practice, 50% of Americans under the age of 30 play lotteries, and this is 10% of the total US population.
In contrast to the refuted stereotypes, one managed to confirm. Gamblers, as well as developers, believe that creating a new game product is both a science and a game.
Casino research: Gambling reasons
The research of Scientific Games revealed that the main gambling reasons for players of all types are the same: satisfaction of excitement and need of thrill. For this reason, young people fond of not only of casinos, but also of fantasy tournaments and online games.
Among the selected categories, the largest were:
- Amateurs who spend 5 minutes on fast lotteries;
- VIP-professionals who seek to win and build experience. Leaders and activists with a high thirst for activity;
- Socially active gamblers, with need of interacting with other players and seek opportunity to see their name in the standings.
The study showed that the ex-players can expect peaks of activity, the main thing is to cause the interest. But to do this, developers will have to cause a stir every second.
Online casino players have confirmed that design is very important. This leads to the fact that developers will spend more money on decoration, as well as on creating partnerships with gamblers. It is a stable connection with the player and an understanding of his interests is the best opportunity to retain his interest.
And in conclusion we will say that Scientific Games confirmed the established opinion: gambling is a popular format of leisure, in which the reward for the pleasure received is perceived rather as a pleasant bonus. You can easily get such leisure experience at Shangri La online casino.
