Indian and riverboat casino patrons : an analytic description of demographic characteristics, expectations, and items of importance

The rapid growth in Indian and riverboat casino development since 1989 had occurred without any basic knowledge about the patrons of these types of casinos. A study was designed to find the differences and similarities between the patrons of Indian and riverboat casinos related to the following variables: age, sex, race, income, educational level, work status, marital status, number of dependent children, annual frequency of casino play, amount of money budgeted for a casino visit, distance traveled to a casino, first time visitor's, and limit loss established. The patrons of Indian and riverboat casinos also were asked about features they expected and considered important in a casino visit.

It was found that the patrons were demographically different in variables like age, income, and money budgeted, yet very similar in what they were looking for in a casino experience, i.e. chance to win, security, and service. Ranking by the patron sample confirmed that while patrons may have a reduced expectation of winning, the chance to win was the most important reason for their participation. Items of lesser importance included entertainment and recreation facilities.

Cluster analysis separated the sample into five distinct clusters which reconfirmed the patron's importance for chance to win, security and service. It also pointed out several directions for marketing activities such as segmentation for advertising, fair share and penetration analysis. Data from the cluster analysis also could be utilized in facility development and rehabilitation.