1 Carleton University, Canada.
2 Department of Psychology, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, B550 Loeb Building, K1S 5B6, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
J Behav Addict. 2021 Jul 21;10(3):675-682. doi: 10.1556/2006.2021.00046.
Casino loyalty programs are marketing strategies designed to foster attitudinal (i.e., identification and satisfaction) and behavioral (i.e., spending) loyalty among gamblers by offering rewards to members. Casino loyalty programs use a tier-based structure to segment members who spend more money into higher tiers, where they receive better rewards (compared to lower tiered members). Tier-based structures may encourage increased expenditure among patrons, especially among players living with a gambling disorder. The current work aimed to examine whether tier status and disordered gambling symptomatology interact to predict attitudinal and behavioral loyalty.
Study 1 used a cross-sectional design to examine whether tier status and disordered gambling symptomatology interact to predict self-reported loyalty among a sample of American casino loyalty program members (N = 396). In Study 2, archival player account data from Canadian casino loyalty program members (N = 649) were analyzed to examine whether tier status and disordered gambling symptomatology interact to predict objective measures of behavioral loyalty.
The greatest effect of tier status on attitudinal and behavioral loyalty was observed among non-problem gamblers in the highest tiers. Tier status, however, did not influence loyalty among members high in disordered gambling symptomatology.
Results suggest that once gambling has become problematic, loyalty programs may not influence player attitudes and behaviors. Non-problem gamblers may be particularly susceptible to the tiered structure of the programs.
Non-problem gamblers may benefit from casino loyalty programs in the short-term but longitudinal research is needed to understand the long-term influence of membership.
赌场忠诚计划是一种营销策略，旨在通过向会员提供奖励来培养赌客的态度（即认同和满意）和行为（即消费）忠诚度。赌场忠诚计划使用分级结构将花费更多钱的会员划分到更高的级别，在这些级别中，他们会获得更好的奖励（与较低级别的会员相比）。分级结构可能会鼓励顾客增加支出，特别是对于患有赌博障碍的玩家。目前的工作旨在研究层级地位和赌博障碍症状是否相互作用，以预测态度和行为忠诚度。
研究 1 使用横断面设计，以检查层级地位和赌博障碍症状是否相互作用，以预测美国赌场忠诚计划会员样本（N=396）的自我报告忠诚度。在研究 2 中，分析了加拿大赌场忠诚计划会员的档案玩家账户数据（N=649），以检验层级地位和赌博障碍症状是否相互作用，以预测行为忠诚度的客观指标。
在最高层级的非问题赌客中，层级地位对态度和行为忠诚度的影响最大。然而，在具有较高赌博障碍症状的会员中，层级地位并不影响忠诚度。
结果表明，一旦赌博变得成问题，忠诚计划可能不会影响玩家的态度和行为。非问题赌客可能特别容易受到计划的分级结构的影响。
非问题赌客可能会从赌场忠诚计划中短期受益，但需要进行纵向研究以了解会员的长期影响。
