Exploring what motivates gambling among California residents: Indian reservations casinos

Exploring what motivates gambling among California residents: Indian reservations casinos

Among the many different hospitality-related industries, casino gaming is one of the most lucrative. California Indian casinos have expanded considerably, competing with other casinos in the US. Nevertheless, the literature shows little research on why California residents gamble at these casinos. Thus, this study focused on the motives of California residents who gamble only at California Indian casinos. A total of 152 online surveys were used for data analysis. First, descriptive statistics provided demographic profiles of survey participants. Second, exploratory factor analysis was performed to find the underlying dimensions of what motivates California gamblers at casinos. Then, one-way ANOVA tests were used to find relationships between that motivation to gamble at casinos and six different demographic variables. Because California Indian casino market continues to grow, and mostly comprises California residents, we must understand what drives them to gamble at California Indian casinos. If they fail to understand gamblers’ casino motivations, it might negatively affect market growth, revenue and customer relationships at Indian reservation casinos. With this in mind, the results of this study will help California Indian casinos assess their services and effectively attract more California residents, meeting their desires as well as their perhaps unacknowledged needs.