Lottery Marketing and FOMO

Lottery, where people pay a small sum of money for the chance to win a large prize, has a long record in human history. Making decisions and determining fates by the casting of lots has been used for centuries, and a lottery was the first modern public form of gambling. In the United States, the first state lottery was established in 1967. Its initial intent was to provide funds for education without raising taxes, but it became a national phenomenon and has raised more than $34 billion. Lottery games are now played in all 45 states, as well as the District of Columbia, and all Canadian provinces.

Despite the slim odds, people keep buying tickets. Some say they play because it’s fun. Others believe that someone, somehow, must win. And if you’re playing with friends, there’s always the possibility of a group win. These reasons all have one thing in common: they’re rationalizations for the purchase of a ticket, which costs about as much as a cup of coffee.

But lottery marketers are also counting on a more insidious motivation – fear of missing out (FOMO). These campaigns expertly reduce the perceived risk while magnifying the potential reward, which helps trigger FOMO. And they’re leveraging the FOMO of social media to make players feel like everyone else is doing it, which can fuel the desire for instant riches. In this way, lottery marketing works at cross-purposes with the social responsibilities of the government, which is supposed to promote fairness and limit inequality.