The purpose of this study was to compare the gambling motives of people in Finland who gamble onshore and offshore. This study analyzed data from the Finnish Gambling 2019 population survey. The researchers only included responses from 1,422 adults (18+ years) who gambled online in the past year. Participants who gambled only on games provided by the state-owned monopoly gambling operator were labelled as ‘onshore gambling.’ Participants who also gambled on games offered by offshore gambling operators were labelled as ‘offshore gambling.’ About 85% of the participants gambled onshore. About 15% also gambled on offshore gambling sites.
Offshore gambling was more common among men and younger people. Participants who gambled offshore had higher problem gambling behaviour than people who only gambled onshore. People who gambled offshore were less likely to gamble for money or to support worthy causes. They were more likely to have multiple reasons to gamble. The top three reasons included (1) larger game supply and game features; (2) better benefits, bonuses, and usability of website; and (3) inner motivation (e.g., curiosity, time passing).
