Can consumers accurately identify loot boxes and loot box receipts?

Abstract

Loot boxes are randomized rewards in video games. Meta-analyses suggest relationships between loot box spending and problem gambling symptomatology, and early longitudinal evidence suggests loot box purchasers migrate into conventional gambling at higher rates than non-purchasers. Regulatory responses vary across jurisdictions, and even in jurisdictions that have banned loot boxes, evidence suggests their presence in games remains common. Consequently, consumers are often responsible for regulating their own, and their children’s, loot box purchasing. To effectively achieve this, consumers must first be able to identify loot boxes. Here, we investigated consumer accuracy in identifying critical features of loot boxes. Participants were tasked to identify basic facts about, pictures of, and receipts generated by loot boxes. Parents and non-gamers, compared with non-parents and gamers, respectively, were poorer at identifying loot boxes. Our results suggest that parents and non-gamers may be less equipped to make informed loot box purchasing decisions compared with non-parents/non-guardians and gamers, respectively. This may pose risks for parents and unaware incipient gamers. These are the first findings providing objective evidence about the relative ability of consumers to identify, and thus self-regulate purchases of, loot boxes and suggest that parents and non-gamers may require support to ensure informed purchasing decisions.