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Who is a typical Chinese online gambler?
Hello! It is my pleasure to respond to your query in providing you with information the demographic and psychographic profiles of the “typical Chinese online gambler”. We’ll begin with a brief overview of online gambling in China, then get into the demographics and psychographics of Chinese online gamblers. It is important to note that there is very little research or information available on this topic – the reasons for which are discussed in this response.
SHORT ANSWER: A “typical Chinese online gambler” is: A “typical Chinese online gambler” is: Male, aged 35 or younger, has an average or lower-than-average education level, earns a higher-than-average income, and comes from a household that is male-headed or non-white-collar. Psychographically, these individuals: exhibit higher levels of impulsiveness, materialism, risk-taking, sensation-seeking behaviors than others do; they are more self-centered and have a greater desire for control. They are more willing to “go against the norm” (of family / society standards), and they are more likely to feel higher levels of guilt than non-gamblers.
ONLINE GAMBLING IN CHINA: OVERVIEW
MobyAffiliates notes that in the overall Gaming Market, China’s market generates “almost one quarter of all global game revenues,” at $24.4 B annual gaming revenue. This market is expected to see CAGR of 6.6% through 2019, when it will reach $118.6 B in revenue value. China has the largest gaming revenue of any country. Of its nearly 1.4 B residents, nearly 789 M are online and gaming. The Online Gambling Market (segment of the overall Gaming Market) was estimated to reach $45.86 B in revenue at the end of 2016. It is expected to see a CAGR of 10.81% and reach nearly $97 B by the end of 2024.
GentlemenMarketingAgency notes that, “Gambling is not officially allowed in China, but for most gambling players, China is an ideal place for gambling ….” However, there are a wide variety of online gambling sites available to China’s residents – both from within the country and from around the world. If you’re interested in finding out more about the laws related to gambling – and online gambling in particular – in China, this article from OnlineBetting provides a great overview. The article states, “There is no difference in the level of crime between players betting with illegal land-based casinos or betting with foreign gambling websites. While the government is very active in blocking access to these websites, there are ways to use them and it is very rare to hear of any players arrested.”
Of note, an article from CalvinAyre discusses how Chinese government officials have cracked down on illegal online betting / gambling sites, especially in the last few years. Some of the sites that were shut down represent huge numbers in gambling revenue, though it is not clear if this revenue was counted among “official revenue”.
Now that we understand a bit about this market, let’s look at WHO is gambling online in China.
DEMOGRAPHICS OF CHINESE ONLINE GAMBLERS
In a study in the Journal of Industrial and Intelligent Information (JIII), researchers conducted an analysis of e-marketing tools in online casinos in China. They found that male and female online gamblers in China responded differently to the gambling as well as marketing elements mixed in to their gambling. They also found that “participation [in online gambling] decreased significantly as age increased,” from which we can therefore assume that a greater percentage of Chinese online gamblers are younger (rather than older).
The study in the JIII also found that more gamblers earned above-average incomes. Their study included 45.3% female and 54.7% male participants, in line with more men being online gamblers than women. It included 53.9% aged 35 or below, 37% of those aged 36 – 50, and 9% of those aged 51 – 65, also in line with their research that younger people gamble more.
According to the National Institutes of Health, there were several factors that were associated with higher gambling expenditures, including: Lower education levels, higher income levels, and male-headed or non-white-collar households.
Despite a very deep dive, it appears there is no more specific publicly-available information available on the demographic profile of Chinese online gamblers. This can be attributed to the legality issues we mentioned previously in this response. Although I could pull the overarching market’s numbers (Gaming Industry), I feel they would be too skewed by the fact that so many online gamers are in the lower age ranges – and this would not accurately reflect those who only gamble online – and not play games.
Next, let’s look at the psychographics of Chinese online gamblers.
PSYCHOGRAPHICS OF CHINESE ONLINE GAMBLERS
In “Lessons From An Analysis of Online Gambling Behavior,” Dick Mizerski notes that online gambling “offers a much wider and more accurate array of gambling behaviors to analyse, like frequency of betting, maximum and minimum bet size, response latency (time taken to bet) and length of time with the venue (“duration” or “retention”). As more and more of this data is collected, and especially as the Chinese market continues to open up, we will see more analysis of online gamblers in China.
A study in the Journal of Risk Research discusses how a person’s gambling preferences depend on his/her individual personality traits. They found that “preferences for gambling … varied between three latent classes of games: chance gambling, entertainment gambling, and technical gambling.” Those who preferred chance and technical gambling often showed more aggression-hostility, while those who preferred chance gambling were more impulsive and sensation-seeking.
A LinkedIn Article by Sandra Wong discusses gambling in Asia as broken down by country. She opens by stating, “When it comes to gambling, there are 2 sides in which Asian families stand. One side holds the stance that gambling is bad, the other side fully embracing it as part of the culture”. From this, we can assume that those who participate in online gambling either came from a family like the second, who embraces gambling and sees it as suitable entertainment, or from a family like the first – which means that the gambler is going against the family/society grain (which exhibits both leadership or anti-social behaviors, each of which depends on the individual), or has a compulsive gambling disorder or addiction. Since research shows that gambling (of most sorts) is illegal in China, and the justice system includes religious and well as legal regulations, two notable traits that many Chinese online gamblers must exhibit are: (1) Willingness to go against the norm / what is expected; and (2) Excessive guilt – which may or may not contribute to compulsive gambling or even a gambling disorder.
In “Lessons From An Analysis of Online Gambling Behavior,” Dick Mizerski notes that “online gambling is largely unregulated and is argued to foster problem gambling in a significant portion of players”. He also notes that low-frequency or light gamblers tended to spend more time in decision-making processes than high-frequency or heavy gamblers. His research shows that “high-frequency gamblers are almost exclusively drive by their past gambling behavior”. Additionally, his research points out that the behavioral patterns for non-problem gamblers are different than those of problem (heavy or compulsive) gamblers. “Problem gamblers tend to play more frequently over more games and continue or increase higher bet amounts.” These are likely to be those who feel the most guilt, as well as those who exhibit the most compulsive or addictive tendencies. As noted previously, according to the National Institutes of Health, there were several factors that were associated with higher gambling expenditures, including: Lower education levels, higher income levels, and male-headed or non-white-collar households.
Very little additional data is publicly-available on this specific segment of online gamblers, though, as stated previously, as China opens up in this market, we’re sure to see greater data and analyses in the near future. So, to augment the answer in this section, I will provide you with general psychographic data on online gamblers – which can be applied – to some extent – to the Chinese counterparts.
A study in the Journal of International Gambling Studies details several characteristics of online gamblers in the US (which can be applied to some respects to those in China). These individuals showed higher levels of impulsiveness and materialism (relative to those who didn’t gamble). They showed “higher levels of risk-taking, desire for control, self-centeredness, and sensation-seeking”. Additionally, they note that it is important for researchers to consider “demographics when investigating psychographics, as some of the psychographics related to gambling are conditioned on age”. The study also notes that online gamblers are not all created equal – in that those who engage in other forms of gambling (not online) are quite distinct in personality from those who do not engage in other forms of gambling.
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SUMMARY
To summarize, a “typical Chinese online gambler” is: Male, aged 35 or younger, has an average or lower-than-average education level, earns a higher-than-average income, and comes from a household that is male-headed or non-white-collar. Psychographically, these individuals: exhibit higher levels of impulsiveness, materialism, risk-taking, sensation-seeking behaviors than others do; they are more self-centered and have a greater desire for control. They are more willing to “go against the norm” (of family / society standards), and they are more likely to feel higher levels of guilt than non-gamblers.
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Thank you again for your question, and I hope this information gives you what you need. Please contact Wonder again for any other questions you may have!