WMS is constantly listening to the voice of the player as it develops new products and technologies that address the shifts in the behaviors and preferences of today’s active gambler. We are pleased to share with CEM readers an ongoing series that identifies these trends by providing a summary of the 2011 WMS Active Gambler Profile™. The third edition of this in-depth report samples more than 3,800 active adult gamblers in the U.S., Canada and Mexico and further explores issues impacting active gamblers by incorporating, for the first time, qualitative focus group research that helps inform the quantitative survey.
In last month’s column, we reviewed key insights into active gamblers’ views regarding online gambling—including their attitudes toward legalizing it in the U.S.—and their preferences when gambling online and playing casual online games. This month, we will review the influence that today’s newest technologies—and in particular, social media—have on active gamblers, their daily lives and their purchasing behaviors, including gambling.
To better discuss the advanced technologies available to players and their increased desire to embrace these technologies, it is instructive to first explore the findings of the 2011 WMS Active Gambler Profile regarding active gamblers’ comfort with technology. In the U.S., by player type, Avid gamblers (players with an annual gaming value of $2,501 or more) and Frequent gamblers (players with an annual gaming value of $500-$2,500) are more comfortable with technology than Casuals (players with an annual gaming value of less than $500).
Avids and Frequents are more likely to indicate that “the computer in my household is an essential part of my life” (72 percent and 66 percent, respectively, vs. 64 percent for Casuals), “as computer technology continues to advance, I think it will impact me personally by allowing me to gain more control over things in my life” (28 percent and 27 percent, respectively, vs. 22 percent for Casuals) and “I like to experiment with the latest technology” (36 percent and 35 percent, respectively, vs. 30 percent for Casuals). In addition, the 2011 AGP’s focus group participants believe that technology has had, and is currently having, a positive impact on society even as they acknowledge that “if the computer dies, the whole world comes to a halt” and “people wouldn’t know what to do without the computer.”
The 2011 WMS Active Gambler Profile explores in depth two key reasons for the acceleration of technology’s influence on U.S. society and, in particular, active gamblers. First, Internet access continues to significantly penetrate the U.S., resulting in more than 75 percent of U.S. households having some form of Internet access today. Access and usage of the Internet is extremely prevalent, with 98 percent of active gamblers in the U.S. spending one or more hours online each week and the typical U.S. active gambler spending an average of 19.5 hours online per week.
The second key trend driving the acceleration of technology’s influence is the mobility offered by cell phones and smartphones. According to the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, there were approximately 292.8 million wireless subscribers in the U.S. as of June 2010 (a 93 percent penetration rate) and nearly 25 percent of U.S. households are wireless only, having eliminated their landline telephone. According to focus group participants in the 2011 WMS Active Gambler Profile, the smartphone is among their favorite entertainment devices and is, in many cases, “always with me.” Others note that they would “feel lost” without their phone.
Not surprisingly, smartphone ownership was found to be higher among the younger demographic groups in the AGP. Millennials (ages 18-30) were far more likely to own an Apple iPhone® compared to Xers (ages 31-44), Boomers (ages 45-63) and Matures (ages 64-plus)—24 percent compared to 18 percent, 7 percent and 4 percent, respectively. The same holds true for other smartphones (33 percent of Millennials compared to 26 percent of Xers, 18 percent of
Boomers and 7 percent of matures). The 2011 AGP found that nearly all of the U.S. active gamblers in the Millennials group owned some form of cell phone while 2 percent of Xers, 5 percent of Boomers and 9 percent of Matures did not.
Increasingly, U.S. active gamblers use the growing availability of the Internet to visit and participate in social media sites—at home and via their mobile devices. And the 2011 WMS Active Gambler Profile extends the insights gained from previous reports, studying ongoing trends in the use and influence of social media. In doing so, the AGP also explores the reasons U.S. active gamblers choose to use or not use social media sites, how these sites influence purchasing decisions and how they view the trustworthiness of these sites.
Overall, social media adoption among U.S. active gamblers is relatively high and mirrors the general U.S. population, with 62 percent maintaining a profile on at least one outlet. Facebook is the most popular site, with 58 percent of U.S. active gamblers maintaining a personal page compared to 11 percent for MySpace, 11 percent for LinkedIn and 9 percent for Twitter. Drilling down to generational gaps, it is clear that the younger groups (Millennials and Xers) are more active users of social media sites with more than one-quarter of Millennials reported having a personal page on MySpace, Twitter and YouTube compared to less than one-quarter for Xers, Boomers and Matures for each of those three sites.
Despite the fact that social networking leans toward the younger members of the U.S. active gambling population, a larger percentage of Boomers and Matures are beginning to embrace new networking tools. For example, the number of Boomers and Matures with a Facebook page jumped to 58 percent and 46 percent, respectively, in 2010 from 49 percent and 38 percent, respectively, in 2009. To that end, a focus group participant noted, “I’ll probably use it (Facebook) more in the future. It is just a great way to keep in touch with people that otherwise you’d never know what was going on in their lives.”
By player group, Casuals are more likely than Avids or Frequents to use social media sites to stay in touch or reconnect with friends/maintain relationships (81 percent vs. 79 percent and 76 percent, respectively), to view others’ content (40 percent vs. 37 percent and 37 percent, respectively) and to upload content to share with others (25 percent vs. 23 percent and 22 percent, respectively). At the same time, Avids are more likely than Frequents and Casuals to pass time/alleviate boredom (38 percent vs. 34 percent and 32 percent, respectively), to use applications/play games/take quizzes (24 percent vs. 20 percent and 19 percent, respectively) and to discuss thoughts/opinions (21 percent vs. 15 percent and 18 percent, respectively).
When asked about reasons for not using social media sites, U.S. active gamblers are largely in agreement that they do not see the value in these sites (71 percent) and they are concerned about protecting their identity and privacy (57 percent).
Finally, social media sites have great influence on purchasing decisions—60 percent of U.S. active gamblers have read product/service/brand reviews or received recommendations from friends/family via a social media platform. Nearly that many have visited brand/product/service providers’ pages (59 percent) and 48 percent have browsed product descriptions. In contrast, however, only 17 percent of U.S. active gamblers believe that social media sites are more trustworthy than they were two years ago compared to the 32 percent who believe they are less trustworthy.
Technology and social media have combined to drastically change the way U.S. active gamblers interact with their networks and the larger world. Millennials and Xers are far more likely to be influenced by their social networks and by peer reviews and are less likely than Boomers and Matures to remain loyal consumers. As such, casino operators could more fully leverage social media in order to better service their next generation of customers by listening to them and collaborating with them.
At WMS, we are developing social media tools our casino operator customers can use to effectively target and market to their players. Our strong understanding of today’s active gamblers, including their comfort with technology and growing embrace of the newest in social media platforms, is embodied in the 2011 WMS Active Gambler Profile. We believe this understanding is crucial to our ongoing partnership with our customers as we together prepare today for the continued evolution of the casino.
Player’s Life Web Services offers casino operators a suite of applications they can leverage to give players another reason to return to the casino. Slot players can access these tools at home using widgets on the operator website to track their in-casino achievements and share big wins with friends. In addition, casual games tied into the casino experience provide players with the opportunity to unlock new features and earn additional status in order to enhance the game experience when they make a return trip.
For more insights on the 2011 WMS Active Gambler Profile, visit our dedicated website, www.wms.com/cemagp, and return next month as we continue to explore the active gambler. We’re staying in touch and listening to the voice of the player because helping you to do the same is our most critical mission. Are you prepared?
Product and service names mentioned in this article are trademarks of WMS, except for the following: iPhone® is a registered trademark of Apple Inc.
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