Public Gaming Magazine Sept/Oct 2021

46 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021 THE EVENT REVOLVED AROUND THREE KEY THEMES: ROUTINES Behavioral scientists study what people do – their revealed preferences – as opposed to what they say they will do. The field recognizes that human beings tend to be governed by routine. When it comes to consumers’ lottery-buying behav- ior, what’s happening at a cognitive level? By recreating a famous “popcorn” ex- periment with the live audience, Owain Service demonstrated that when people are in an environment they associate with a certain behavior, such as eating popcorn, this is when and where they’re likely to think about doing it – not the other way around. In other words, when it comes to routinized activities, the human behavior stems from responses to the environment. Citing new data about consumer routines from a Foresight Factory survey across 27 countries, Noelle Weaver noted that about 40% of respondents said it’s important to have the routine of lottery play in their lives. Consumer shifts driven by pandemic- related disruptions have not only resulted in an evolution of the player base but also the formation of new player routines and behaviors. These are reflected in several trends: • Cashless Society For many, the mobile phone became the payment system of choice during the pandemic. Fore- sight Factory found that 47% of global consumers have used an app or swiped their mobile phone at checkout to pay for something (an 18% growth rate from 2019) and plan to continue doing so. What’s more, the demographic data showed strong uptake among the Baby Boomer generation. “It’s a great example of a group that may not have used this sort of technology in the past, who have now established a new behavior and they’re repeating it in a consistent context,” observed Owain Service. “You would expect it to continue beyond the pandemic.” • Presence-Free Living Lockdowns taught people the convenience of doing things digitally from home and using technology for work, play, educa- tion, and entertainment. Lotteries saw a corresponding spike in online activity and engagement. Foresight Factory also found that 70% of frequent lottery play- ers across 27 countries said they are more likely than non-lottery players to shop online more now vs. pre-pandemic. • Local Allure During the pandemic, community engagement increased as people wanted to support local busi- nesses, including shops and restaurants. Foresight Factory found that one in five global consumers expect to buy more from independent businesses over the next year vs. pre-pandemic because they’re now more invested in their com- munity. Lottery players score slightly higher than the average consumer in say- ing that where they live is very important to their identity (about 42% vs. 38% glob- al average). This is a great opportunity for marketing communication messages to convey how important lottery is to the local community – both in retailer support and returns to good causes. With this in mind, lotteries can take a completely new perspec- tive on how to plan, position, and market lottery. Are your players’ routines be- coming more local? If they are, then the environments they’ll be in when deciding to play lottery may be different to what they were before. What are the new circum- stances for lottery purchases? Changes could be needed to get lottery in front of players who have adopted new routines and behaviors. Lotteries could conduct studies to understand how player journeys have changed as a result of Covid and make changes to their communications strategies accordingly. How does lottery adapt to changes in other purchasing behaviors? Lotteries can consider digital and cashless offerings to accommodate new habits or incentivize more players to embrace the shift to digital.