A numbers game: the many kinds of Kiwis who place bets, play pokies, or buy scratch, lotto or keno tickets
3 in 5 Kiwis do at least some form of gambling within an average three months, from buying lotto or instant scratch
tickets to placing a bet at the TAB or online. New segmentation analysis by Roy Morgan Research shows that people with
little else in common may each be among the most likely to participate in a particular type of gambling.
In the year to April 2014, 60% of New Zealanders 18+ did some form of gambling, down from 65% four years ago. 53% of us
buy lottery/lotto tickets at least once in an average three month period, 23% buy instant Kiwi/scratch tickets and 8%
play the pokies.
% of Kiwis Gambling
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source (New Zealand), May 2013 – April 2014. Sample = 26,138 New Zealanders 14+.
The new Helix Personas segmentation tool shows that, as expected, these three most common forms of gambling appeal more to older, suburban or
rural, and lower income New Zealanders in the Battler, Getting By and Golden Years communities. Those betting at the TAB
or online, however, represent a broader spectrum of society—with some younger, wealthier and trendier professionals
among the most likely to gamble this way.
For instance, ‘Young and Platinum’ Kiwis in the Metrotech community are highly educated, highly paid and ambitious urban
trendsetters—and also the most likely to gamble online, at a rate 77% above the norm. Other Metrotechs such as the
hard-working and fashionable ‘Quiet Achievers’ and the cultured, socially conscious ‘Health, Wealthy and Wise’ are also
more likely than average to place bets online.
At the TAB, members of two distinct Helix communities are among the most likely to place a bet there: while four of the
top ten most likely personas are the social, hip and high-earning Metrotechs, another four are low income, often
welfare-dependent Battlers.
Pip Elliott, General Manager, Roy Morgan Research NZ, says:
“Our research clearly shows that many different types of people gamble, and different forms of gambling appeal to
diverse sets of New Zealanders.
“Lottery and scratch tickets often appeal more to older people, often pensioners, while many of those more likely to buy
scratch ticket or play poker machines are younger but still with limited incomes.
“But people at the TAB or betting online are more likely to be well-paid young professionals.”
Roy Morgan Research
Roy Morgan Research is Australia’s best known and longest established market research and public opinion survey company.
Roy Morgan Single Source is thorough, accurate, and provides comprehensive, directly applicable information about
current and future customers. It is unique in that it directs all the questions to each individual from a base survey
sample of around 55,000 interviews in Australia and 15,000 interviews in New Zealand annually - the largest Single
Source databases in the world. The questions asked relate to lifestyle and attitudes, media consumption habits
(including TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, cinema, catalogues, pay TV and the Internet), brand and product usage,
purchase intentions, retail visitations, service provider preferences, financial information and recreation and leisure
activities. This lead product is supported by a nationally networked, consultancy-orientated market research capability.