Loyalty Typologies and Consumer Choice Factors in the Online Sports-Betting Industry: An Explorative Study into the Italian Regulated Market

Abstract

The paper analyses the loyalty typologies and consumer choice factors in the regulated online sports-betting industry. From the methodological viewpoint an empirical investigation has been carried out through the administration of a questionnaire towards customers who make sports bets on online gambling sites in the Italian regulated market. We have found that, in keeping with consumers' behaviour "regularities" which normally characterize frequently purchased consumer goods markets, the number of customers who are exclusively loyal to one gambling website is rather limited and that, therefore, online bettors mostly adopt a "multi-brand" buying behaviour. In the markets in which this behaviour pattern emerges, customer loyalty programs appear less efficacious in increasing market penetration of the companies with respect to the firms' decisions on marketing mix-inputs that influence consumer choice of purchasing. The empirical investigation has therefore permitted us to single out the factors that influence the decision to bet at one online gambling site over another, and to show how the importance of these factors varies in relation to the different degree of the gamblers loyalty. The results are then applied to marketing strategies of the online gambling operators.

The Impact of Corporate Social Investment on Customer Loyalty in the Gaming Industry

“…Customers' views about company reputation and behaviours are significantly altered positively by a firm's CSR/CSI initiatives (Nanda, 2015). The concept of "polygamous loyalty" as a scenario in which customers switch between a limited number of providers within the betting space is presented by Calvosa (2016) in his study on loyalty in the online gambling industry. The survey also discovered that 27.8% of the gamblers examined came under the category of "polygamous loyalty"; 18.6% were found to be faithful to one operator; 10.3% were found to be completely unloyal; and 43.4% were classed as enrolled on numerous sites, spreading their wagers over all of them.…”

The Influence of E-Commerce in Changing Competition in Regulated Industries: An Analysis in the Italian Sports Betting Market

“…For example, some studies have focused their attention on the examination of regulatory frameworks in the various countries, to help public institutions in the implementation of gambling policies and companies to formulate appropriate on-line gambling responses (Kairouz, Monson, & Arsenault, 2018;Ansalone & Cestari, 2013;Mataluni, 2013;Pandimiglio & Spallone, 2012;Gainsbury & Wood, 2011;Coryn, Fijnaut, & Littler, 2008;Rose, 2006;Eadington, 2004;Sbordoni, 2010). A series of research works in the economic-managerial field that were carried out, on the other hand, has deepened, under different aspects, the impact of Internet gambling on consumer behavior and on marketing strategies (Calvosa, 2016;Gainsbury et al, 2015;Ozuem & Prasad, 2015;Wiebe, 2008;Wood, Williams, & Lawton, 2007;Jolley, Mizerski, & Olaru, 2006;Woolley, 2003;Brindley, 1999). An extensive literature, moreover, has focused on the study of the social impact and the risks associated with the diffusion of Internet gambling (amongs others: Chóliz, 2016;Gainsbury, Parke, & Suhonen, 2013;Yani-de-Soriano, Javed, & Yousafzai, 2012;Griffiths, Wood, & Parke, 2009;Griffiths & Parke, 2002;Griffiths, 1999).…”