IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/intgms/v20y2020i3p380-392.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Gaming-gambling convergence: evaluating evidence for the ‘gateway’ hypothesis

Author

Listed:
  • Paul Delfabbro
  • Daniel L. King

Abstract

Similarities between video-games and gambling have led to the proposition that video-gaming could act as a ‘gateway’ activity for gambling. In this paper, we review the major lines of evidence advanced to support this idea, including evidence for the co-occurrence of the two activities; the relationship between problem gambling and problem gaming; and, studies of gambling and loot boxes. Our review suggests that, at best, only a small correlation exists between overall gambling and video-game engagement and this may often be accounted for by underlying demographic and personality variables. We find even less evidence to support a direct relationship between problem gaming and problem gambling. However, problem gambling symptoms appear to be positively related to loot-box purchases. Gamblers who play video-games may be attracted to features that enable them to engage in risk-taking via familiar systems of variable reinforcement. Less evidence supports the view that loot-boxes encourage gambling or facilitate an entry point into other types of gambling, including those associated with gaming (e.g. esports betting). Overall, this review found little convincing evidence in support of the ‘gateway hypothesis’ and suggests that further longitudinal research is necessary to strengthen our understanding of the links between video-gaming and gambling.

Suggested Citation

  • Paul Delfabbro & Daniel L. King, 2020. "Gaming-gambling convergence: evaluating evidence for the ‘gateway’ hypothesis," International Gambling Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(3), pages 380-392, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:intgms:v:20:y:2020:i:3:p:380-392
    DOI: 10.1080/14459795.2020.1768430
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/14459795.2020.1768430
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/14459795.2020.1768430?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Elena Petrovskaya & David Zendle, 2022. "Predatory Monetisation? A Categorisation of Unfair, Misleading and Aggressive Monetisation Techniques in Digital Games from the Player Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 181(4), pages 1065-1081, December.
    2. D. Leahy, 2022. "Rocking the Boat: Loot Boxes in Online Digital Games, the Regulatory Challenge, and the EU’s Unfair Commercial Practices Directive," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 45(3), pages 561-592, September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:intgms:v:20:y:2020:i:3:p:380-392. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RIGS20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.