Predicting and Understanding Mobile Sports Gambling with the Reasoned Action Approach.

Abstract

Mobile sports betting is an increasingly popular way to wager in the United States, but few studies have examined the social cognitive predictors of engaging in this specific form of gambling. The present studies were designed to do so with the application of the Reasoned Action Approach (RAA; Fishbein & Ajzen, 2010). Study 1 was a belief elicitation study that identified the most common behavioral, normative, and control beliefs regarding mobile sports betting. Study 1 also reported an initial test of the degree to which attitude, perceived normative pressure, and perceived behavioral control predict intentions to place mobile sports bets. Study 2 examined the predictive validity of the identified beliefs and tested whether future betting behavior can be predicted from the model. The RAA significantly predicted mobile sports gambling intentions and future behavior. The most important beliefs contributing to the prediction of mobile sports gambling were the degree that participants endorsed gambling is fun and easy, leads to addiction, and results in winning money. Implications for future research and interventions are discussed.