Consumer behaviour in the scratch card market: a double-hurdle approach

Abstract

This paper investigates how various socio-demographic as well as psychological factors are related to the purchasing frequency of Le Millionaire scratch card in Mauritius. In order to obtain a refined description and understanding of consumer behaviour, special attempts have been made to control for the personality traits of an individual. The OCEAN model of personality is thereby considered. We employ crosssectional micro-data acquired from a household drop-off survey with a sample size of 1135 observations. Within a double-hurdle framework, gender, residential location, educational level, household income, alcohol consumption, other forms of gambling activities, and personality traits are found to be determining factors affecting an individual's decision to gamble in the scratch card market. Our findings help us to draw attention to the consequences of risk-taking behaviours and how personality-specific policies can be designed to influence gambling behaviour.

Gender and gambling preference

“…et al, 2020). Welte et al (2007) find that lottery gambling is much more of a factor in gambling problems for respondents 30 years or older, whereas Jaunky and Ramchurn (2014) do not find evidence of an age related effect. Rutledge et al (2016) focus on age and gambling preferences in a study involving more than 25,000 participants across the age spectrum using a smartphone experiment.…”

“…Similar models have been used previously in gambling research. For example, Jaunky and Ramchurn (2014) apply a double-hurdle model to scratch card purchases, and find interestingly that while males are less likely to participate than females, participating males tend to spend more than participating females.…”

Happiness and Consumption in Mauritius: An Exploratory Study of Socio-Economic Dimensions, Basic Needs, Luxuries and Personality Traits

“…It is therefore expected to collect information relevant to the characteristics of human behaviour. The statements are based on a study done in Mauritius by Jaunky and Ramchurn (2014).…”

Personality, Luck Beliefs, and (Non-?) Problem Lottery Gambling

“…Hence, for instance, although Balabanis (2002) has investigated how problem lottery gambling relates to the five-factor model of basic personality, Miller et al (2013) emphasize that the results of such studies have been inconsistent, and the sparse extant research on more general state-sponsored lottery gambling has still not yet directly considered the model (Cook et al 1998;Griffiths and Wood 2001). Jaunky and Ramchurn's (2014) research specifically on buying scratch-card, another form of general gambling sometimes state-sponsored and often considered harmless like national lotteries, have found the five-factor personality model predicts participation. However, Abarbanel (2014) finds evidence that lottery gambling is not predicted by precisely the same determinants as other forms of gambling, emphasizing the need for bespoke research specifically on the relationship between state-sponsored lottery gambling and the five-factor personality model.…”