Online gambling is readily available to many people, but not everyone uses it. What factors affect whether someone chooses to gamble online? This study tested whether certain psychological and social factors affected people’s intent to gamble online in two countries (the UK and the US).
The researchers found that people’s online gambling intentions were positively related to their gambling attitudes. Their intentions were also related to their views that online gambling was widely accepted in society and on social media. However, online gambling intentions were not affected by the social norms from their family and friends, or their perceived behavioural control. This was unlike the offline gambling context where perceived behavioural control affected gambling intentions. Social norms from close others also affected the offline gambling intentions of people living in the US, although not those living in the UK. People’s online gambling intentions were positively related to online gambling behaviour. This study showed that there were differences in online and offline gambling.
