How are shifting consumer expectations influencing the lives and habits of lottery players? For the second year in a row, IGT joined forces with the global consumer analytics and trends agency Foresight Factory to identify consumer trends that are likely to have particular relevance for lotteries today and in the near future.
IGT’s Special Report, “5 Trends Shaping Consumer Behavior in 2019,” quantifies each trend with data and insights drawn from 50,000 consumers in 24 countries (10 in Europe) and a network of some 500 trend-spotters in nearly 80 countries.
“We can already see how some industries are beginning to respond to these trends with innovations,” said Ailsa McKnight, Senior Director, Customer Understanding and Player Insight at IGT. The report shares relevant examples and practical ideas for lotteries looking to address players’ changing expectations.
Which consumer trends are likely to influence lottery players in 2019?
Trend 1: Beyond the Smartphone
“Mobile commerce” doesn’t just mean smartphones anymore. What we think of today as on-the go-interaction is being transformed by wearable devices and emerging technologies such as voice activation. The goal is to better serve a consumer’s specific context—location, time, occasion, and services needed—rather than serve a specific device.
The report suggests how lotteries can look beyond the mobile-phone screen and prepare to engage with new and existing players through other platforms.
Trend 2: The AI Leap
Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven smart home assistants—such as Amazon’s Alexa —are assuming a larger role in consumers’ lives as our interactions with them become more intuitive and natural. In the near future, AI capabilities will enable the move away from mobile-tap interfaces.
The report shares examples of how lotteries and consumer packaged goods companies are adapting to a world where the common interaction with consumers will be through voice and conversation.
Trend 3: The Polarization of Retail
E-commerce hasn’t replaced in-person commerce, but it has changed people’s expectations of brick-and-mortar shopping. Consumers shopping in-store want an experience along with the ultimate buying convenience provided by e-commerce, and brands must choose how to respond.
Foresight Factory research found that across global markets, lottery players are more interested than average consumers in a physical store displaying products that can only be bought online and delivered to their homes. The interest gap is particularly high in the U.S., where 75% of weekly lottery players are interested compared to 57% of the total population.
The report explores opportunities for lotteries to engage players in-store and encourage participation through their channel of choice.
Trend 4: Everyday Influencers
Brands may sponsor posts by social-media influencers to drive sales, but everyday consumers sharing through their personal networks still do much of a brand’s promotional work. Globally, an average of 39% of consumers use social networking sites to pass along recommendations of products and services to friends and family, and this rises to 55% for weekly lottery players.
Lotteries have long used the stories of winners in marketing communications. The report considers how to refocus both message and scale to encourage the participation of more “everyday influencers.”
Trend 5: Local Allure
As a counter-trend to globalization, the appreciation for all things “local” is growing in significance, and consumers are actively seeking to support their communities. IGT’s recent global study, Attracting New Players, found that lottery games with a tie to the consumer’s local area would be a motivator to play, with 35% of Millennial non-players saying that this factor would make them more likely to play lottery in the future.
The report explores how lotteries can deepen their connection with current players and potentially acquire new players by appealing to their sense of place and belonging.
For more detail on these trends and their influence on the lottery industry in the year ahead, download your copy of “5 Trends Shaping Consumer Behavior in 2019” at IGT.com/LotteryBlog.