Motivations for intensified lotto participation among German Lotto 6/49 and Eurojackpot players

The study examines motivational factors that have been found to influence lotto participation including social network effects, the dream of a life-changing jackpot win, irrational thoughts and behaviors and social deprivation. Previous research has often focused on such motivational factors as differentiators between non-players and lottery players. This study examines whether these motivations also explain intensive lotto participation based on a representative telephone survey of 2000 German lotto players. Employing logistic and OLS regression models, the study finds that neither lotto gameplay nor dreaming of a life-changing win explain intense weekly lotto participation or high lotto expenditures. Instead, sunk costs and ‘sunk numbers’ are the main explanations for weekly play and high lotto expenditures. Syndicate play predicts the likelihood of participating in lotto on a weekly basis but does not affect any measure of expenditure. Additionally, having a close social contact who also plays lotto has a positive impact on both measures. The idea that people are heavily involved in lotto because they feel deprived is not supported for this sample of players. The study shows that many people play lotto habitually. The potential implications for the regulation of lotto markets are briefly discussed.