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Online gambling has become a fast growing but controversial industry. This article summarizes two studies that investigate characteristics of Internet gambling environments that lead to problems with self-control. In-depth interviews with both online and casino gamblers reveal that their experiences are categorized differently in an online context, causing some informants to undertake less monitoring of spending. They also use their physical environment to impose boundaries. Next, an experiment investigates two characteristics of online gambling environments: the use of intangible currency and rapid sequential choice. Both traits negatively affect people's ability to maintain an accurate, in-the-moment account balance across a sequence of gambles. These studies suggest several policy and consumer welfare implications.

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An experiment investigates a real-money 'buy now, pay later' transaction, whereby subjects experienced a varied time-delay between transaction benefits and costs. Individuals were more satisfied when transaction benefits and costs occurred temporally together. When a time-delay was imposed, respondents preferred a short delay to a long delay. Transaction satisfaction was found to mediate the effect of time-delay on behavioral intentions to complete the transaction again and perceived transaction fairness. Results suggest that a previously-incurred transaction benefit becomes disassociated with its' transaction cost over time, causing the later transaction cost to be perceived as a greater loss at time of payment. The findings provide preliminary indication of the length of delay necessary for benefits to begin psychologically decaying. Implications for 'buy now, pay later' transactions and consumer satisfaction are discussed.

With the popularity of video games and the resulting gamification of everyday activities comes an increase in in-game advertising (IGA). As a result, video game players’ engagement and motivation to level-up or master a video game are becoming increasingly important for marketers hoping to increase exposure to their brands. Across two experimental studies, we provide evidence that games played publically (versus privately) are more motivating to players, and also demonstrate the important influence of feedback via building a character or completing a status bar. In study 1, we find that, for public gaming contexts, players experience more enjoyment, effort, and flow when progress is shown via building a character. Furthermore, in study 2 we extend study 1's findings and discover a moderated mediation model for brand attitudes. Specifically, the relationship between public gaming context and brand attitude is mediated by enjoyment and flow. Further, the mediation of enjoyment and flow is moderated by feedback type, where progress affects brand attitude when a character is used for game feedback, but not for status bar feedback. We examine our research questions within the context of intrinsic motivation, specifically self-determination theory.