Advertisements and gambling: A correlational study among Italian students

Yura Loscalzo, Marco Giannini, Filippo Vallini, Alessio Gori

This research project aimed to investigate the relationships between exposure to gambling advertisements, attitudes towards both gambling and gambling ads, and the intention to gamble. We investigated, within a sample of Italian university students (n = 254), three kinds of gambling: poker, national lotteries and sports betting. The analyses showed that a more positive attitude towards both advertising and gambling correlates with a greater intention to gamble. Other hypotheses were not confirmed however. The findings suggest that future studies should consider the role of the media in promoting the intention to gamble and analysis of subjective norms related to gambling for prevention and rehabilitation purposes.