Australian young women's gambling behaviours: A socio-cultural investigation of gambling attitudes, beliefs, and consumption intentions

Research has shown that women’s gambling participation rates are very similar to men’s with an increase in the number of women experiencing gambling-related harm.

The aim of this study was to explore the factors that may be shaping the gambling beliefs and behaviours of older adolescent and young adult women who demonstrate low and moderate risk levels of gambling harm.

While early research suggested that women often gambled on electronic gaming machines, more recent research has identified that women are now diversifying their product use by also gambling on skill-based activities such as wagering. This is thought to be due to the range of gambling products available, their accessibility, the increasing normalisation of gambling within communities and the increase in gambling promotions.

While previous research has highlighted the role advertising may play, including female-friendly marketing strategies, this study examines how non-gambling activities within events such as racing carnivals, may specifically appeal to women. It also considers how products such as sports betting, previously assumed to appeal primarily to men, may also appeal to, and influence, women’s gambling behaviours.