WooMi Phillips, assistant professor of apparel, design and hospitality and tourism management, will give a presentation, titled “Senior Casino Gaming Motivation,” at the 2009 International Council of Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Educators annual conference at the end of July in San Francisco. The presentation will cover the important motivations for older adults spending time in casino gaming. “Finding out the motivations is the fundamental way to determine the older adults’ future casino patronage intention,” Phillips said.
The study identifies a comprehensive inventory of senior casino gaming motivations by way of an exploratory approach. The research also generated a scale development procedure to find five distinctive senior casino gaming motivation dimensions, including winning and thrill, socialization, escape, enjoyment and curiosity. “Ultimately, the results of this study indicate that the motivation factor model captured various dimensions of senior casino gaming motivation,” Phillips said.
Phillips also will give a presentation titled “Senior Casino Gaming Intention: Testing Extended Theory of Planned Behavior,” at the 2009 Asia Pacific Tourism Association Conference in Inchon, Korea. The presentation includes test results of an extended theory of planned behavior.
“The findings of a structural equation modeling suggested that all predictable variables (attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control and motivation) of the theory of planned behavior had positive effects on seniors’ casino gaming intention,” Phillips said. “The overall study results suggested that the proposed extended model is a useful tool for studying senior casino gaming behavior. To support this suggestion, some of the theoretical and practical implications for casino operations were discussed.”
When Phillips examined seniors’ past casino visits, a metric invariance showed that they did not have a moderating role, which also was contrary to the proposed hypothesis.