Asian J Gambl Issues Public Health. 2017; 7(1): 6.

Published online 2017 Aug 22. doi: 10.1186/s40405-017-0025-4

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Abstract

The present research examined the mechanisms of initiating online gambling among young adults. Of particular interest was whether social casino gaming was noted as part of young adults’ experience with online gambling. This is because there is growing concern that social casino gaming may be a ‘gateway’ to online gambling. Three focus groups (N = 21) were conducted with young adult online gamblers from two large Canadian Universities. Participants noted the role of peer influence as well as incentives (e.g., sign up bonuses) as important factors that motivated them to start engaging in online gambling. Participants also noted a link between social casino games and online gambling. Specifically, several young adults reported migrating to online gambling within a relatively short period after engaging with social casino games. Potential mechanisms that may lead to the migration from social casino games to online gambling included the role of advertisements and the inflated pay out rates on these free to play gambling like games. The results suggest initiatives to prevent the development of disordered gambling should understand the potential of social casino gaming to act as a gateway to online gambling, especially amongst this vulnerable population.

Keywords: Online gambling, Adolescent gambling, Social media, Social casino games, Facebook, Focus groups, Qualitative research

Over the past decade, the use of computers and the Internet has significantly altered the gambling landscape. The gambling industry is no longer bound by brick and mortar gambling venues (e.g., casinos, racetracks). Today, access to gambling activities can be achieved with a few keystrokes on a computer. One point of access that has gained increased attention from researchers in the field of gambling studies is social media sites such as Facebook (Wohl et al. 2017). In part, this increased attention is because social media sites have become a popular platform for people to access online gambling venues via hyperlinks embedded in advertisements (Abarbanel et al. 2016). Social media sites also allow users to engage in free-to-play simulated gambling games through applications. These free-to-play simulated gambling games have become referred to as social casino games (Gainsbury et al. 2014). There is evidence to suggest, however, that social casino game play may act as a ‘gateway’ to gambling for real money (for a review see Wohl et al. 2017).

The current research took a qualitative approach to assess young adult online gamblers experiences with online gambling to determine the process and mechanisms that may lead young adults to gamble online, including the role of social casino games. In other words, the present research aimed to examine the motivations for gambling online, including transitioning from social casino games to online gambling. A focus was placed on young adults’ experience with online gambling due to their propensity to gamble online (McBride and Derevensky 2009), play social casino games (Derevensky and Gainsbury ), as well as their elevated rates of disordered gambling (Welte et al. ). Further, social casino games were the focus as there is a current need to understand the issues regarding the gaming-social media crossover.

Online gambling and social casino gambling among young adults

The Internet has changed the way people engage in many activities, including gambling. Online gambling (compared with land-based gambling) provides players with ease of access, 24/7 accessibility, and confidentiality—all within the comfort of a person’s home. This ease of access has been flagged as a potential concern among researchers, regulators, and policy makers alike (Gainsbury ; Gainsbury and Wood 2011; Räsänen et al. 2013). Specifically, online gambling is often framed as a ‘risky’ form of gambling that may heighten the risk of developing a gambling disorder (Gainsbury et al. 2015b; Griffiths et al. ; McBride and Derevensky 2009; Olason et al. 2011; Wood et al. ). In this light, it may be informative to examine factors that propel young adults to gamble online, including the link between social casino gaming and online gambling. This is because there is increasing evidence of the role played by social casino games in precipitating online gambling (Wohl et al. 2017) and young adults are increasingly exposed to social casino games (Kim et al. ).

Social casino games are an immensely popular form of entertainment, with millions of users playing in any given day (Derevensky and Gainsbury ; Martin 2014). One reason for their popularity may be their ubiquity on social network sites like Facebook, which provide ample opportunities to play social casino games via embedded apps (Gainsbury et al. 2014). Moreover, social casino games are among the most heavily advertised products on social network sites and convey the activity (i.e., gambling) as positive and glamorous (Gainsbury et al. 2015a). These advertisements appear to have a significant influence on engagement with social casino games (SuperData 2016). It should be noted that some social casino games are now owned by online gambling operators who advertise their online gambling site within the social casino game, thus easing migration from social casino gaming to online gambling (Schneider 2012).

There is now converging evidence that suggests social casino gamers migrate to online gambling (Gainsbury et al. 2016; Kim et al. ). Furthermore, amongst people who engage in both gambling and social casino gaming, social casino games directly increase future gambling behaviors (Gainsbury et al. 2016, ; Hollingshead et al. 2016). Social casino games are also popular among adolescents and young adults. In a large Canadian survey of over 10,000 students, roughly 9% reported having played social casino games (Elton-Marshall et al. ). In addition, a recent longitudinal study in a large sample of adolescents found that social casino games significantly predicted the transition to real money gambling (Dussault et al., in press). Providing further support for the popularity of social casino games, in focus groups with university students who were social media users, all participants reported being aware of the ample opportunities to play social casino games on Facebook, thus speaking to the increased exposure of these games on social networking sites (Kim et al. ).

Motivations for transitioning to online gambling from social casino gaming

Social casino games are popular among adolescents and young adults and may influence the transition to online gambling. Yet, researchers have paid little attention to potential processes or mechanisms that influences the transition to online gambling amongst this cohort, including the role played by social casino games. With that said, Hollingshead et al. (2016) argued that the motivations for playing social casino games likely mimic those of online gambling, including for excitement, to relieve boredom, and social motivations. In addition, they reported that some social casino gamers are motivated to engage in these games to hone their skills before playing for real money on online gambling sites. In line with Hollingshead et al. (2016) and King and Delfabbro (2016) proposed a framework for understanding factors that may increase or decrease the link between social casino gaming and online gambling among adolescents. Specifically, in their two pathways model, they identify both protective (e.g., early losses, awareness of risks, boredom) and risk factors (e.g., peer pressure, early big wins, greater confidence of winning) that may lead adolescents who are exposed to social casino games to either be disinterested in gambling or to increase future gambling behaviors.

The present research sought to add to the growing literature on the potential link between social casino gaming and online gambling. To do so, focus groups with young adult onl

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