On 30 January the UK Gambling Commission published an add-on piece of research to the Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB) report released in July. The survey is the first comprehensive report looking at the behaviour of gamblers in Britain, including what the key motivators are for players across multiple verticals.

This latest report, which cites findings from the Reasons for Gambling Questionnaire (RGQ), considers the relationship between different gambling activities and the players’ reason for engaging in them.

The RGQ contained a series of 15 questions on the reasons GSGB participants gave for taking part in gambling. People who had gambled in the past 12 months were asked to state how often their main reason for gambling was indeed their key motivator across all activities they had listed. They were given the option of selecting ‘always, ‘often’, ‘sometimes’, or ‘never’.

The GC said this survey should provide the sector with “a better understanding of the association between motivation and activities, [which] is critical in understanding both general gambling behaviour as well as its consequences.”

The survey is based on data from 9,742 adults aged 18 and older, collected between July 2023 to February 2024.

What motivates gamblers?

According to the GSGB findings, the vast majority of those that had gambled in the past 12 months (86%) said they had done so in an effort to win big money.

The next most popular reason for play was ‘because it is fun’, with 70% listing this as their main reason. Other reasons include to make money (58%) and ‘because it is exciting’ (55%).

‘To impress others’ drew the smaller percentage of respondents at 8%, then 9% said they gambled to compete with others.

Up to 24% of respondents said they gambled to socialise.

Notably, reasons for gambling differed between age groups. As an example, the 18 to 24 age group was the only one where playing for fun ranked above winning big. Some 83% of players in this group listed this as their main reason, ahead of winning big at 79%.

There was also some differentiation when looking at prevalence of playing. For respondents who said they had constantly gambled in the past four weeks, 39% said their reasoning was to win big, 22% to make money and 15% for fun.

Breaking down behaviours by vertical

A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was carried out to simplify the data set and provide a value to each of the reasons within a broad category of behaviours. These five categories include: gambling for social reasons, enhancement reasons, monetary reasons, recreational reasons, and coping reasons.

In terms of betting online, the model used determined that enhancement was the strongest reason for playing provided by those surveyed.

The UKGC said gambling to cope and/or escape one’s daily life was most strongly associated with betting on sports and/or racing online. For those betting on sports and/or racing in person, gambling for the challenge was the most strongly associated reason for gambling.

Gambling to cope or for escapism was also the main reason for those participating in online bingo, casino and slots.

Casino games, both online and in-person, were predominantly associated with those seeking out a challenge or escapism as motivations for their gambling participation.

Online casino had a stronger association between escapism than casino games in person (at a casino) or at a machine.

Gambling for social reasons

Those gambling in-person were most likely to have social motives. In-person bingo and casino scored highest here, though sports betting did not draw any links with social aspects.

Players who gambled for social reasons were less likely to bet on sports and/or racing online, the data said.

When broken down further, the data shows that money was not the key driver for most activities. “The exceptions tended to be activities relating to the National Lottery; tickets, scratchcards, or online instant wins; products that have potentially large winnings,” said the Commission.