Examining the trait and functional motive antecedents of four gambling activities: Slot machines, skilled card games, sports betting, and promotional games.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the functional motive and trait antecedents of four forms of gambling – slot machines, skilled card games, sports betting, and participating in marketing promotional games such as sweepstakes and contests.Design/methodology/approach – A hierarchical model of motivation and personality (3M model) was employed to investigate the trait and functional motive antecedents of four gambling activities. Five motives for gambling were identified – money, excitement, social interaction, escape from problems, and self‐esteem enhancement. In addition, the effects of demographic variables (i.e. age, gender, and education) on four gambling types were examined. A total of 1,158 responses were collected from an online consumer panel.Findings – The results suggest that the four forms of gambling have divergent motives, traits, and demographic profiles.Research limitations/implications – Future research should further explore other possible traits in predicting different gam...

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