College students' attitudes toward the act of gambling: Influence from Consumer socialization agents

Gambling is now considered to be an increasingly mainstream recreational and leisure time activity. While the gaming industry is experiencing phenomenal growth, it is not without controversy. The prevalence of gambling has brought the issue of youth gambling to the forefront. In this study, we examined which socialization agents were most influential in the development of college students' attitudes about gambling. Consumer socialization literature defines the role of socialization agents in developing attitudes toward various behaviors. Further, we investigated the relationship between amount of influence from each socialization agent and college students' attitude toward the act of gambling. Findings suggest that parents provide more influence on college students' attitudes about gambling than did peers, media, or schools. Significant relationships were found between the amounts of parental or peer influence and college students' attitude toward the act of gambling.