Exploring Attitudes and Cognitions Towards Game-Related Gambling: Results from a Survey Study

Session Title

Session 2-4-E: Esports and Lootboxes

Presenters

Topias Mattinen, Tampere UniversityFollow
Joseph Macey, University of TurkuFollow
Juho Hamari, Tampere UniversityFollow

Presentation Type

Paper Presentation

Location

Park MGM, Las Vegas, NV

Start Date

24-5-2023 3:30 PM

End Date

24-5-2023 5:00 PM

Disciplines

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Abstract

Abstract

In the early 2010s, game companies shifted to in-game transactions as a monetization model, known as the "freemium" model, which has been widely in use since. During this time, these “microtransactions” quickly took a form resembling traditional gambling. These mechanics, often known today as loot boxes, would allow the players to purchase randomized content, either with real money or in-game currencies bought with it. This also gave birth to the ‘skins gambling’ phenomenon, where players could exchange their in-game items gained from loot boxes to real world currencies via third-party sites. This research will use the ATGS, and the GamCog scales as independent variables, adjusted to further understand how attitudes and cognitive assertions predict engagement with game-related gambling. The main research question for this study will be: "How do gambling-related cognitions and attitudes predict engagement with game-related gambling?"

Implications

This research will be one of the first studies to employ the "Attitudes towards gambling screen" (ATGS) scale adjusted to focus on engagement with different forms of digital game-related gambling. Second, this study will further validate an already established scale, the 'Gambling Cognitions' (GamCog) that has been used to study players who also partake in gambling. Together, these two scales will yield fascinating results regarding how attitudes and cognitions related to gambling can predict engagement with game-related gambling, such as loot boxes, skins gambling, and esports betting.

Keywords

gambling, digital games, attitudes towards gambling, in-game gambling content, loot boxes

Author Bios

Topias Mattinen

Current research focuses on investigating esports and digital game related gambling and gambling-like activities, and the overall gamblification of digital games.

Joseph Macey

Research interests include problematic and potentially problematic media consumption, cognitive biases in media users, emergent forms of gambling associated with games, digital economies and virtual items.

Juho Hamari

Professor Hamari’s and his research group’s (GG) research covers several forms of information technologies such as games, motivational information systems (e.g. gamification, game-based learning, persuasive technologies), new media (social networking services, online video streaming, eSports), peer-to-peer economies (sharing economy, collaborative consumption, crowdsourcing), and virtual economies.

Funding Sources

This work will be supported by the Academy of Finland (Grant 312396), the Academy of Finland Flagship (Grant 337653), and a personal grant from the Finnish Foundation of Alcohol Studies (Alkoholitutkimussäätiö).