Effect of Responsible Gaming Policy and Practice on Casino Gaming Behavior

Casino gaming is considered as an entertainment but it may cause financial and psychological burdens to some individuals and their families. Therefore, casino operators have established and deployed responsible gaming policy and practice to mitigate such negative effects. This study explores whether and how responsible gaming policy and practice influences people’s casino gaming intention and behavior. Data were collected from 644 Chinese adults in Macao. Results showed that responsible gaming policy and practice significantly influenced people’s attitude towards casino gaming (as a legal activity and hobby), subjective norm (for disapproval of casino gaming), and perceived behavior control (for not engaging in casino gaming). Casino gaming intention was positively affected by attitude and negatively affected by subjective norm and perceived behavior control. Casino gaming behavior was positively affected by intention and negatively affected by perceived behavior control. As a whole, responsible gaming policy and practice had a small, negative but significant indirect effect on casino gaming behavior. Implications of the study were given.