“Gamblers were far more reluctant to risk their money online than at a land-based casino.”
Online gambling is becoming increasingly popular, but according to a recent survey many people are still reluctant to place a bet at an Internet casino.
Research company Greenfield Online has just released the results of a survey in which nearly half of respondents said they would feel more comfortable gambling online if they were able to play at sites run by brick-and-mortar casinos rather than offshore companies.
The survey, which polled nearly 1000 people on a wide range of Internet topics, also looked at online gambling.
It found that almost one-third of the people surveyed had been to an online gambling site, but only 13 percent of that group had actually opened an account and wagered money.
More than 50 percent of respondents said they were reluctant to make a real-money wager because of concerns about their money. The same group was also uncertain whether they would any receive potential winnings.
The survey showed that gamblers were far more reluctant to risk their money online than at a land-based casino. Only four percent were willing to wager $100 or more online, but 24 percent would spend that much at a traditional casino.
Although the survey didn’t rate public awareness of every casino site, respondents did single out GoldenPalace.com, LuckyNugget.com, CasinoOnNet.com, and 7Sultans.com as more recognizable names on a list of 20 casino sites.
The survey produced several interesting Togel Hongkong statistics, but the following are perhaps the most significant (percentage of people who strongly agree with the statement):
I would rather gamble in person than on the Internet 42%
Online gambling is not as safe as offline gambling 20%
Online gambling is more confusing compared to offline gambling 9%
The biggest issue to come out of the survey, as these figures indicate, is trust. People are reluctant to spend their money at an online casino because they don’t trust the process and they don’t trust the casinos.
It seems that a little bit of bad publicity and a few unfortunate incidents have left many people with a negative impression of online gambling. But what does that mean? And is there any way to change the public perception of the industry?
Well, for one thing, it means that online casinos have to work a lot harder to improve their image. They need to ensure that payments to winners are timely and are actually made, that customer service is excellent, and that they are accountable to their customers.
It also means that sites run by, or in conjunction with, brick-and-mortar casinos (Aspinalls.com or CrockfordsCasinos.com, for example) have to do a better job of making their presence known among potential online gamblers.
Finally, it means that major land-based casinos in the U.S. should be working hard to get online. And the best way to do that is to ensure the federal government doesn’t ban online gambling – or prohibit the use of credit cards for online gambling.
The survey seems to send two messages to the gambling industry: online casinos need to improve their reputation, and brick-and-mortar casinos need to get online. But only time will tell if either of these things actually happens.
