Lottery Advertising and FOMO

Lottery is a gambling game where players buy a ticket and try to match numbers that are randomly drawn. It is a popular way to raise money for a wide variety of projects, from public works like schools and roads to medical research. There are more than 100 state and national lotteries in the United States, and dozens more in other countries around the world.

Lottery advertising often aims to show how ordinary people can improve their lives by winning the lottery, tapping into aspirational desires. Its narratives of past winners and dreamers of wealth are crafted to make the lottery seem both attainable and life-changing. In addition, lotteries expertly capitalize on the fear of missing out – FOMO. “The message is that everyone else is playing, so you should too,” says Adam Ortman, a consumer psychologist and president of Kinetic319.

While many states argue that they adopt lotteries for fiscal reasons and that the proceeds go to a certain type of public good, studies show that this argument has little influence on whether or when a lottery wins popular approval. Furthermore, a lottery’s popularity is independent of a state’s actual financial condition, as evidenced by the fact that lotteries are generally more popular during economic stress than in times of economic prosperity.

Once a lottery is established, it tends to grow quickly and wildly expand its offerings. This expansion comes at a cost. Because the industry is run as a business with a focus on maximizing revenues, it operates at cross-purposes to the state’s general public welfare, particularly the interests of poor people and problem gamblers.