Online gambling has become a fast growing but controversial industry. This article summarizes two studies that investigate characteristics of Internet gambling environments that lead to problems with self-control. In-depth interviews with both online and casino gamblers reveal that their experiences are categorized differently in an online context, causing some informants to undertake less monitoring of spending. They also use their physical environment to impose boundaries. Next, an experiment investigates two characteristics of online gambling environments: the use of intangible currency and rapid sequential choice. Both traits negatively affect people's ability to maintain an accurate, in-the-moment account balance across a sequence of gambles. These studies suggest several policy and consumer welfare implications.
An experiment investigates a real-money 'buy now, pay later' transaction, whereby subjects experienced a varied time-delay between transaction benefits and costs. Individuals were more satisfied when transaction benefits and costs occurred temporally together. When a time-delay was imposed, respondents preferred a short delay to a long delay. Transaction satisfaction was found to mediate the effect of time-delay on behavioral intentions to complete the transaction again and perceived transaction fairness. Results suggest that a previously-incurred transaction benefit becomes disassociated with its' transaction cost over time, causing the later transaction cost to be perceived as a greater loss at time of payment. The findings provide preliminary indication of the length of delay necessary for benefits to begin psychologically decaying. Implications for 'buy now, pay later' transactions and consumer satisfaction are discussed.
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