The Stochastic Nature of Purchasing a State'S Lottery Products

Abstract

Legal State Lotteries have significant effects on those state's revenues, their residents’ behaviours and their ultimate welfare. Reported Lottery product purchase appears to reflect patterns that suggest high levels of habitual behaviour. Analysis of a US State's Lottery data found that this pattern was exhibited early in a game's introduction, and was evident in three apparently different product offerings: six-number and three-number Lotto, and Instant (scratch-off) games. These findings have important implications for understanding gambling behaviour, lottery marketing and gambling regulation.