Effects of Casino Design on gambling Tendencies

Introduction :

The way how peanut butter are shelved next to bread, how the more expensive ones are

within the eyesight of a five year old while the house brands are down near the floor shelves,

and how frozen food is always the last item you encounter in a grocery store are no mere

coincidences. The flow of the grocery store is designed specifically to encourage shoppers to

pick more than what is on their list and it often works in this manner. Unsurprisingly, a

casino also goes through great lengths, from the strategic placement of slot machines to the

blocking out of natural light, in hopes of emptying the pockets of their patrons.

Be it shopping mall or the supermarket, it is repeatedly demonstrated in our everyday lives

that the way that an environment is designed can influence and facilitate human behaviour. It

is therefore, not far-fetched to say that a casino’s success can possibly be attributed to its

design. Casinos today employ clever layouts and design in their attempt to manipulate

players’ behaviour, in order to serve to their advantage. This article briefly overviews the

empirical research that has examined the design psychology of casinos including (i) casino

environment, (ii) cleanliness in casinos, (iii) aural stimulation in casinos, and (iv) olfactory

stimulation in casinos. While many researchers were unanimous in their views that these are

the key design features that have a bearing on casino success, they were largely divided on

their degree of importance.

Environmental Stimulation in casinos:

Based on the review of the environmental psychology of gambling by Griffiths and Parke

(2003), it is reported that a stimulating gambling environment may affect the gambling

intention of the gambler. It is speculated that while players are gambling in a new or unusual

environment, there is an element of uncertainty which slows down high levels of gambling

and risk-taking.

In addition, according to the arousal theories of gambling, it can be assumed that the primary

stimuli for gambling are excitement and stimulation. Several studies have suggested that

gambling itself generates an increase in the arousal level of the gambler. This means that if a

gambler is placed in an environment where he receives stimulation from the surroundings, the

chances of him gambling or taking risks will be lowered.

However, based on the test results conducted in the casinos in Canada (from Harvey H.C

Marmurek, Jane Londerville, Karen Finlay and Vinay Kanetkar / Journal of Environmental

Psychology 27 (2007)), the at-risk gambling intention was higher for the playground design

than for the gaming design. This is to say that a higher stimulated environment actually

results in a higher at-risk gambling intention. This is not consistent with the speculations

suggested by the other studies.

The reason for this inconsistency could be because the theory assumes that individuals are

motivated to gamble by the need to become aroused only. This is a claim that is empirically

unproven. Furthermore, the increase in arousal level may actually result in an increase in the

desire to gamble. More research is required to evaluate the effect of environmental

stimulation on gambling behaviour.

Cleanliness in casinos:

As casinos have a constant influx of gamblers who stay for relatively long periods, ongoing

cleanup operations are essential in maintenance of the servicescape and customer satisfaction.

Cleanliness is especially important for both consumers’ cognitive and affective satisfaction in

industries since according to Bitner (1992), customers respond to a service with either

approach or avoidance behavior, depending on their level of satisfaction with the service

provider. In short, people approach when they are satisfied and avoid when they are

dissatisfied. Approach behavior includes attraction, staying longer, exploration, and spending

money. In terms of cognitive satisfaction, a clean and tidy environment conceptually creates

an image of professional and superior service (Gary and Sansolo, 1993). Cleanliness may

thus serve to improve the poor social image of gambling, as a clean environment signifies

that socially acceptable services are being provided. This implicit image will in turn affect

customers’ cognitive satisfaction when consuming the services in that servicescape.

A cross-culture reference is made between the casinos in Canada and Macau by Karen

Finlay, Harvey H.C. Marmurek, Vinay Kanetkar, Jane Londerville (2007) and Hei-Lim Lio,

Raymond Rody (2008) respectively. Both casinos state that people generally feel more

comfortable staying in a clean environment, and thus cleanliness clearly affects how long

they will stay in a service area and their affective satisfaction.

Aural Stimulation in casinos :

Is aural stimulation happening in casinos? A number of authors have made the point that the

sound effects are gambling-inducers (e.g., Parke & Griffiths, 2003; Finlay & Marmurek,

2003). Constant noise and sound gives the impression (i) of a noisy, fun and exciting

environment, and (ii) that winning is more common than losing since sounds are linked to

“hitting the jackpot”. Sounds are thought to make wins more salient and more memorable so

as to enhance the atmosphere of the gameplay (Griffiths, 1993). Over the last decade, music

appears to play an increasingly important part of gambling venues either as background

music or the use of music incorporated into particular games such as slot machines.

Pilot research conducted by Griffiths and Parke (2005) indicated that the music played in

gambling venues varied during different periods of the day and depending on weekdays or

weekends. Griffiths and Parke (2003) also stated that the presence of music and sound effects

appears to heighten emotional states although the complexities of the relationship between

the two are still unclear.

Based on the research from the casinos in Europe, the chance of winning is a gambler’s

perception of the number of chances to win. According to Mayer et al. (1998), chance of

winning plays a key role in determining the level of gaming customer satisfaction. Obviously,

the greater the chances of winning, the greater the customer satisfaction will be. Although the

chance of winning is an objective estimate of probability, a gambler’s perception of control

varies. Gamblers tend to overestimate their own influence over games and attribute losses to

external factors (Gadboury and Ladouceur, 1989; Wagenaar, 1988). When gamblers believe

that they have a greater chance of winning due to greater perceived control in the casino (e.g.

sounds and noises), they will be more satisfied. This shows that the aural stimulation has an

impact on a customer’s perceived control.

Based on the research from the casinos in Macau (Davis Fong, Freda Lo, Ka Wai Chan, Long

W. Lam/ International Journal of Hospitality Management 2010), it is shown that background

music does have an impact on the mood of consumers (Lin, 2004). Studies on slot machines

suggest that auditory features can stimulate the excitement in gamblers (Lucas, 2003).

According to Bitner (1992), soft music may present a feeling of superior service which

changes their quality perception and hence change their gambling intentions. All these in

accordance with the speculations as mentioned in the earlier paragraphs.

Olfactory Stimulation in Casinos:

Olfaction refers to the smell of the gambling environment. According to Hirsch (1995),

ambient aromas have an effect on the gambling behaviour in a casino in Las Vegas. Two slot

machine areas were used in the experiment to determine the effect of olfaction on gambling

behaviour. One slot machine area emits pleasant but distinct aromas while the other

unodourised slot-machine area is being used as a control. The amounts of money gambled in

these two areas are then compared from the weekends before and after the aromas are added.

Based on the results, the amount of money gambled in the slot machine with the aroma is

significantly higher than in the same area before the smell is added. There seems to be an

increase in the amount gambled is on Saturday when the concentration of the odorant was

higher. As for the control, the amount of money gambled does not show significant changes

compared to the weekends before and after the odourisation. This shows that smell does have

an impact on the gambling behaviour of the gamblers.

According to Teeters et al. (1995), the quality of the air influences the consumers’ comfort in

the casino. Poor indoor-air quality results in a reduction in the worker productivity and

negative health issues for the employees. Second-hand smoke has been found to have a

negative impact on the air quality of casinos (Wan, 2010). Both studies from the two different

cultural research papers seem to suggest that smell does play a part in increasing or

decreasing the gambling intentions of the consumer.

Conclusion :

According to the findings, the design of casino servicescape is shown to significantly affect

the human behaviour in gambling. The research papers strongly demonstrate the reasons why

people continue to revisit the casinos and engage in high-risk gambling. The facilitating

factors include the environmental, aural, olfactory and visual stimulation. The dependent

variable in question is the gambling intention of the gamblers. Casinos make use of these

factors to enhance gambling excitement and to control gamblers’ emotions during gambling.

The level of crowd is controlled through proper planning of the floor layout and the

adjustment of the segment space.

Research on the effects of casino servicescape on player behaviour in the Asian context has

been far and few, despite the fact that there is no shortage of casino resorts in the continent.

There is clearly a need to delve deeper into that aspect of the field.

Most of the cross-cultural references that has been done in this paper were those of researches

conducted in Macau. This does not come as a surprise as Macau is often labelled as the Las

Vegas of the East, attributed to their vibrant gambling industry. It was noted that in these

papers, factors such as seating comfort and cleanliness were often taken into consideration

when attempting to quantify customer’s satisfaction. The same factors were, however,

commonly disregarded in similar researches of a western context. Given that Macau has been

highly successful in its casino operations, to the point that it has surpassed “The Strip” in

gambling revenues, perhaps there is something to be learned from their disparity.

Furthermore, cleanliness and basic hygiene are commonly observed by everyone, hence is it

not far-fetched to think that it would cast a significant effect on the comfort level and

consequently the duration of stay of gamblers in casino. It is therefore, recommended that

future research conducted in western context look into the effects of casino cleanliness on

customer satisfaction as well.

Research that focus on riverboat casinos and cruise ship casinos are also found to be lacking.

As Nevada is still the only state where casino-style gambling is legal state-wide, riverboat

casinos and cruise ship casinos continue to be relevant. Recently, Carnival, Norwegian Cruise

Lines (NCL), and Royal Caribbean International, conventionally operating with low

minimum bets, are reaching out to “High Rollers”, proving their competitiveness and

growing popularity. As such, they should not be ignored by future researchers.

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