Abstract
Gambling opportunities are facilitated by the growth of the Internet and social media platforms. Digital games also increasingly include monetary features, such as microtransactions, blurring the line between gambling and gaming. The Internet provides a variety of virtual communities for gamblers and gamers, but comprehensive research on these communities and their relevance in gambling and monetary gaming behaviors remains scarce. This paper summarizes research of online gambling and monetary gaming communities based on a systematic literature review. A systematic literature search was conducted from five databases: Scopus, Web of Science, PsycINFO, Social Science Premium Collection, and EBSCOhost. The search was limited to empirical articles that focused on gambling or gaming involving money and examined online interaction between gamblers or gamers. Preliminary search resulted in 1056 articles, from which 55 were selected for the analyses based on pre-determined criteria. According to results, online communities serve different functions in gambling and gaming behaviors. Gambling communities are typically forums for discussing and sharing gambling experiences, strategies, and tips as well as gambling problems, while gaming communities are inherently embedded inside a game being an essential part of the gaming experience. Identification with virtual communities influences gambling behavior and monetary gaming behavior through mechanisms of perceived norms, social influence, and community feedback. Whereas some gambling communities may provide protection from excessive gambling habits, gaming communities seem to solely motivate gaming behavior and purchase intentions. The role of online communities should be acknowledged in prevention and treatment of gambling and gaming problems.
Highlights
The Internet and social media have facilitated and extended gambling opportunities via exponential growth of online gambling platforms
Despite a relatively limited number of studies on this area, the results show that identification with virtual communities has an influential role in gambling and monetary gaming behaviors, but there were some notable differences in community types and possible outcomes of the community use between gambling and gaming communities
Online gambling and gaming are isolated activities in the sense that the player is often physically alone, related virtual communities are an essential part of both activities
Summary
The Internet and social media have facilitated and extended gambling opportunities via exponential growth of online gambling platforms. Social media users are increasingly exposed to gambling content and gambling-like activities in social media (King and Delfabbro 2016). At the same time, gambling problems are growing globally (Calado and Griffiths 2016). Online games and video games increasingly include gambling-like and monetary features, such as microtransactions S. Kim et al 2017; King et al 2015), blurring the line between gambling and gaming. Gambling and gambling-like behaviors can be detrimental when excessive, and lead to severe and long-lasting problems, such as economic difficulties (Oksanen et al 2018)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
