University student gambling consumption

Mestrado em Marketing

The present research analysed gambling activity of college students from a consumer behaviour perspective in order assess their gambling behaviour. A questionnaire was administered to 216 college students from several courses in different universities in the city of Lisbon (Portugal). No significant differences were found between men and women in gambling activity , both for players and non-players in all the types of games analysed (lottery, bingo and casino). Even tough most students were infrequent gamblers, lottery playing was found to the most played form of gambling (79.6%). Lottery playing was found to be related to parental gambling. This research also examined peer influence and addictive behaviours as gambling influential factors. No significant relationship between peer influence, addictive activities (alcohol drinking and smoking) and university student gambling was found.