The expansion of legalized commercial gaming in Macau has motivated stakeholders to explore opportunities in other Asian countries. However, there is a lack of research focusing on casino customers in these markets. Thus, the purpose of this study is to explore gambling superstitious beliefs and motivations of those visiting a casino in South Korea, and how these factors are different across four ethnic groups. The researchers surveyed 323 casino customers in the lounge area on the casino floor, including Americans, Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans living abroad. This study found American gamblers could be characterized as more superstitious than Japanese gamblers, while the Chinese and American gamblers exhibited many similarities regarding the pattern of superstitious beliefs that they were most likely to endorse. The findings also suggest the culture and the area around the casino might be more important to Chinese, while novelty to Japanese and winning money to Korean gamblers are seen as most important. This study contributes to gambling literature by examining gamblers' beliefs and motives in a different setting with more diverse populations than those in previous studies. The findings of this study will help casino operators properly develop and adjust strategies to thrive in the Asian marketplace.

The purpose of this study was to address the mediational role of depression in the association between superstitions and problem gambling and to test whether this mediating process is significantly different between Chinese and Caucasian Americans. Eight items assessing superstitious beliefs, the 21-item Beck Depression Inventory-II, and the 20-item South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) were completed by 115 Chinese gamblers and 187 Caucasian gamblers residing in the United States, and the responses between tests and between groups compared. Path analysis results showed that superstitious beliefs had a significant effect on both Chinese and Caucasian gamblers' SOGS scores (i.e., problem gambling symptoms). In both groups, depression played a significant mediating role between the superstitious beliefs variable and the problem gambling variable. Future clinical research might use the findings of this study to develop specific prevention and treatment approaches focusing on a gambler's cognitive bias and negative mood.

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