Stereotypes about Slot Machines
Any activity that is popular has stereotypes. Stereotypes should be taken with a grain of salt. However, even though they should many people still believe them. Usually stereotypes are formed by little observations and not objective investigations.
Thanks to recent research that has been taken place, there has been new insight about the stereotypes that exists. The studies that have taken place shows that the stereotypes are simply not true. These studies show that slot machine players do not belong to a specific category. Stereotypes state that only senior citizens play the machines, do not have much economic support, and use their pension on entertainment.
Senior Citizens Are Looking For The Big Win- This is a very huge popular stereotype. Many strongly believe that senior citizens who play the machines are either trying to partake on their last huge holiday or trying to pay for a retirement home. Recently Oregon State University-Cascades performed a study on this and the results came back to be totally false. Sandy Chen who was the lead investigator for this research said that the most common player on the machines are female homeowners. This alone proves that the stereotype is false. Their results also showed that the most common players are between the ages of 55 and 60 years old. They also tend to have a maximum of college education. On average, their income surpasses $55,000.
Surprising Facts About Slot Machines- Many who do not like to play slot machines tend to believe that there are not a lot of reasons as to why others are attracted to slot machines. This type of thought is kind of surprising because a lot of a casino’s revenue comes from the slot machines. Studies have shown that 70% of the revenue comes from the machines. This is a huge increase from the 70s. In the 1970s, slot machines only represented 40% of the revenue. There are many different reasons as to why a lot of people like to play the slot machines. Maybe casinos make a mistake when they have a one size fits all type of marketing or have a certain type of atmosphere inside of their facility. According to Sandy Chen, casinos might be actually better off with having a segmentation type of approach.
Why Do Slot Machine Stereotypes Exist?- There are a few different reasons as to why stereotypes exist. One is because many people tend to believe that only their perspective of the machines are true. It is kind of like how some make judgements about an entire group of people just because of an experience they have had with someone that belongs to that group. Another reason why stereotypes about the machines exist is because of the media. Media plays a huge role in how a lot of people view things. This includes movies and television shows. In a lot of movies, elderly people are seen playing the machines wanting a large amount of money. Also, this
Are There Ways To Make People Stop Believing The Stereotypes About The Machines?- It is very hard to avoid stereotypes because of how the media is. We are constantly surrounded by media through a lot of different ways. Movies, television shows, advertisements, and radio shows are constantly going on throughout the day and night. Even on the internet, there are a lot of slot machine advertisements being shown. As of now, it is a huge challenge to make a lot of people stop believing the stereotypes. Many have the tendency to want to believe everything they see or hear in the media.
Are Slot Machine Stereotypes Bad?- Even though not all stereotypes are bad, they do have a lot of control over a lot of people’s minds. To the point in which a lot of people do not want to leave the mindset they already have about something that is stereotypical. There are people who do not like it when others make assumptions about them just because of what they have seen on television, movies, or commercials. It is always best to not make assumptions about someone just because of the media. One must remember that one, not every single senior citizen likes to play the machines. It is also important to remember that there are young people who do enjoy the machines. Another important lesson here to learn is that not everyone plays the machines to pay for something. Many like to play the machines just for pure entertainment and that is it. That is why slot machines were made.
Stereotypes can be very dangerous, especially if they are seen a lot in the media. Once they are seen in the media lot, many people start to think that it is true. That is how it is for some when they think of slot machines and those who like to play them.