Embedded Play: Economic and Social Motivations for Sharing Lottery Tickets

Abstract

We ask why people play the lottery in syndicates. Sharing lottery tickets with co-workers, friends or relatives may create agency problems related to opportunism in addition to the fact that playing the lottery in general is tantamount to buying an asset with negative expected value. Although it might be argued that people share lottery tickets in order to maximize their chances of winning a prize, it is also plausible that they engage in this practice to enact, cement or reproduce social ties and interpersonal trust. Using survey data on representative samples of the adult population in Spain and the United States, we adjudicate between these two hypotheses, and show that people play the lottery in syndicates primarily for social reasons.

Why the Poor Play the Lottery: Sociological Approaches to Explaining Class-based Lottery Play

“…According to Garvía (2007), the exceptionally high demand for lottery tickets in Spain can be traced back to the widespread tradition of sharing lottery tickets by playing in syndicates among friends, relatives or colleagues. In a recent study, Guillén et al (2012) analyse the motives for playing in syndicates. The authors show that syndicate players share tickets not primarily out of economic reasons of maximizing their chances, but mostly to establish cohesive social groups and to maintain friendships.…”

The joy of lottery play: evidence from a field experiment

“…Lottery players may experience positive emotions before and after the draw. Positive emotions before the draw may result from one's hope for a happier life, from the fun and excitement of the game as well as from social bonding activities when the lottery is played together with family or friends (Forrest et al 2000;Guillén et al 2011;Kocher et al 2014). Positive emotions after the draw may originate from winning a prize, even when the prize is only very small and lower than the purchasing price of the lottery ticket.…”

From Community Cancer to Common Entertainment: The Dynamics of Lottery Legalization in Massachusetts

“…Lottery play also serves as a form of expression where patrons can select meaningful numbers that reflect individual and collective identities (Adams ; Howland ). Sharing of tickets among groups, also known as syndicated lottery play, is a mechanism to mark and invigorate social relationships (Guillen, Garvia, and Santana ). On the cost side, research links gaming with individual problems such as physical and psychological stress, depression, and alcohol and drug dependence (Welte et al.…”