Having a clear picture of your target audience is like having clues to a crossword puzzle: the more details you know, the faster you can determine how to bring players to your online casino. The experts at Slotegrator Academy have prepared a short overview to help you paint a picture of your players.
The process of identifying your target audience is as meticulous as it is crucial. General knowledge about the audience isn’t nearly enough; you need a crystal-clear, detailed picture of who your players are and what they like.
Demographics like age, gender, education, and income level are just the beginning. You also need to research your audience’s mindset, habits, game preferences, culture, and motivation for playing.
There is no single portrait of the average online gambler. Every country will have its own set of player profiles, determined by that country’s culture and attitude towards gambling. It would be a misconception to think that young men in the UK like the same games as players in Australia or Japan do.
Here, Slotegrator experts share important data about several countries.
When it comes to differences between men and women:
- According to a study by the University of Lethbridge, Canadian males are highly over-represented in online gambling; whereas 17.6% of online gamblers are female, 82.4% are male.
- A Geopoll study found that 69% of males and 44% of females in Kenya had bet on sports.
- A 2019 UKGC survey found that online gambling engagement is rising among both females and males; 25% of males and 17% of females surveyed had gambled online, both numbers a 2% increase on the previous year.
- According to the Journal of Industrial and Intelligent Information, Chinese gamblers are more likely to be male than female.
- In Australia, too, a higher percentage of gamblers are male than the population at large. According to a 2017 study, while only 49% of the country’s population is male, men account for 54% of the country’s gamblers, and 45.8% of Australian players are women, whereas 51% of the country is female.
When it comes to game preferences:
- Players in Europe enjoy slots, casino table games like blackjack, roulette, and baccarat, and betting on horseracing and sporting events like football. The same goes for Australia and Canada.
- In India, cricket is one of the most popular games to watch and to bet on.
- In Ireland, punters expect to bet on traditional games like hurling and Gaelic football.
- In African countries like Kenya, Nigeria, and others, football betting is primarily focused on European leagues.
- In Latin America, punters bet heavily on their national leagues.
One Australian study found that, comparatively, men were more likely to play strategic forms of gambling such as card games like blackjack and sports betting, while female gamblers are more likely to enjoy games of pure chance such as slots, but that won’t necessarily be true in other parts of the world.
Asian players will appreciate being able to play Dragon Tiger, Sic Bo, Mahjong, and other games with regional roots. Indian players enjoy the same casino games as European players, with the addition of some region-specific games like Indian Rummy, Indian Flush, and Andar Bahar.
It is very important to differentiate the set of games on the platform: ranking by popularity, considering the types of games, and choosing providers for the target market.
Slotegrator Academy has an in-depth article on the identification of online casino target audiences in more countries here.
Slice of the report:
Participation around the world
There are a number of reasons for differing levels of gambling participation around the world. Some countries have a widespread, longstanding cultural acceptance of gambling, reflected in the high numbers of regular gamblers. Even in countries where gambling is prohibited by law, many players will visit offshore gambling platforms.
Europe, by some measures the largest gambling market in the world, has very high rates of gambling participation. A 2019 report from the European Betting and Gaming Association showed that 16.5 million Europeans placed bets in 2018. Interestingly, of all the European countries, Sweden has the highest percentage of its gambling market taking place online, with nearly 60% of the country’s bets made over the internet. With a 34% share of the European market, the United Kingdom is perhaps one of the single biggest markets in the world. According to surveys carried out by the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC), rates of online gambling participation have been steadily increasing for years. A 2020 UKGC survey showed that 47% of respondents had gambled in the past four weeks, with 21% reporting that they had gambled online.
Gambling is also widespread in many Asian countries. There may not be official numbers or statistics, but it’s well-known that gambling is extremely popular in China. While almost all forms of gambling are banned in China, a large number of offshore operations based in the Philippines cater to Chinese players.
Overview of Asian gambling markets in 2023
A 2018 study found that 51.5% of Macau residents, 52% of Singaporeans, and 61.5% of Hong Kong citizens engaged in some form of gambling. In Thailand, where gambling is officially banned, a 2019 report found that nearly 60% of the population gambles anyway. The same phenomenon extends across multiple countries in Asia — whatever the laws may be, it’s difficult for them to compete with people’s will to bet.
Countries across Africa are experiencing a boom in sports betting, with large numbers of Nigerians and Kenyans placing regular bets on football, particularly matches in European leagues. Roughly 60 million Nigerians between the ages of 18 and 40, about a third of the population, regularly place bets, and a 2019 Geopoll survey showed that 57% of Kenyans had placed bets in the past. The rate of gambling participation jumps higher when narrowing in on the younger demographic; 76% of Kenyans aged 17-35 have tried betting.
Bet on the future: Africa’s online gambling industry
Elsewhere in Africa, 57% of youths in Uganda and 42% of youths in Ghana have at least tried betting. The continent’s biggest gambling market is South Africa, where engagement rates are estimated to be as high as 50%, but the development of the country’s online space is hampered by prohibitive laws that only allow for online branches of established land-based retail betting shops.
Many countries in Latin America are known for their love of football — and wherever there’s passion for a sport, a passion for betting is never far behind; nearly 60% of adults in Colombia have reported taking part in some form of betting. The Latin countries with the most high-frequency gamblers are Brazil and Peru, where 18% of respondents to a survey carried out by PR firm Sherlock Communications said they placed bets once a week.
According to the same survey, 16% of Peruvians and Colombians bet once a month or more and 38% of those surveyed — including citizens of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Colombia, and Peru — stated that they had previously gambled.
ABOUT THE COMPANY
Since 2012, Slotegrator has been one of the iGaming industry’s leading software and business solution providers for online casino and sportsbook operators.
The company’s main focus is software development and support for online casino platforms, as well as the integration of game content and payment systems.
The company works with licensed game developers and offers a vast portfolio of casino content: slots, live casino games, poker, virtual sports, table games, lotteries, casual games, and data feeds for betting.
Slotegrator also provides consulting services in gambling license acquisition and business incorporation.
More information: https://slotegrator.pro/
