ArticleJournal of clinical medicine2021
"It's the Attraction of Winning That Draws You in"-A Qualitative Investigation of Reasons and Facilitators for Videogame Loot Box Engagement in UK Gamers.
Article in Journal of clinical medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
What it found
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed.
- Classification-Behavior Discordance and Problem Gambling: Differential Patterns for Fantasy Sports and Loot Boxes Among College Students.Journal of gambling studies · 2026Article
- Psychological mechanisms in video game monetization: A typology of contemporary strategies beyond loot boxes.Journal of behavioral addictions · 2026Review
- Sex differences, perceived stress, gaming motives, and gambling-like attitudes toward loot-boxes predict risky loot box use among Polish gamers.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Better than industry self-regulation: Compliance of mobile games with newly adopted and actively enforced loot box probability disclosure law in South Korea.Acta psychologica · 2025Article
- The Role of Videogame Micro-Transactions in the Relationship Between Motivations, Problem Gaming, and Problem Gambling.Journal of gambling studies · 2025Article
- Exploring the relationships between psychological variables and loot box engagement, part 1: pre-registered hypotheses.Royal Society open science · 2023Article
- Loot box purchasing and indebtedness: The role of psychosocial factors and problem gambling.Addictive behaviors reports · 2023Article
- A scoping review of the association between loot boxes, esports, skin betting, and token wagering with gambling and video gaming behaviors.Journal of behavioral addictions · 2023Article
- What are the odds? Poor compliance with UK loot box probability disclosure industry self-regulation.PloS one · 2023Article
- Loot box engagement: relationships with educational attainment, employment status and earnings in a cohort of 16 000 United Kingdom gamers.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2022Article
- What's in the box? Exploring UK players' experiences of loot boxes in games; the conceptualisation and parallels with gambling.PloS one · 2022Article
- Development and Validation of the RAFFLE: A Measure of Reasons and Facilitators for Loot Box Engagement.Journal of clinical medicine · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Excessive engagement with (increasingly prevalent) loot boxes within games has consistently been linked with disordered gambling and/or gaming. The importance of recognising and managing potential risks associated with loot box involvement means understanding contributing factors is a pressing research priority. Given that motivations for gaming and gambling have been informative in understanding risky engagement with those behaviours, this qualitative study investigated motivations for buying loot boxes, through in-depth interviews with 28 gamers from across the UK. A reflexive thematic analysis categorised reasons for buying into seven "themes"; opening experience; value of box contents; game-related elements; social influences; emotive/impulsive influences; fear of missing out; triggers/facilitators. These themes are described in detail and discussed in relation to the existing literature and motivation theories. This study contributes to understanding ways in which digital items within loot boxes can be highly valued by purchasers, informing the debate around parallels with gambling. Findings that certain motivations were disproportionately endorsed by participants with symptoms of problematic gambling has potential implications for policy and warrants further study.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.