Abstract

This study looks at how sports betting advertisements can be used to influence college students, the betting behavior, and what they share about this on their social media. With the accessibility and growth of online sports betting recently through apps on your phone and social media betting is becoming a more normal factor in college aged students every day. With the use of the Elaboration Likelihood Model in this study, it is used to look at how the different ad strategies that companies use like peripheral and central appeals effect people’s ideas about sports betting. It will also use ideas of self-disclosure to examine why and what people post about their betting.

The data used was gathered by using a self-administered electronic survey that was sent to The College of Wooster students. The survey looked at the amount of exposure of advertisements, how effective each ad strategy was, self-disclosure on social media, and different types of betting behavior. In the results it showed that the participants were frequently exposed to sports betting advertisements, mostly through social media. Central and peripheral strategies were both found to be effective, but peripheral was overall the higher selected appeal. This includes emotional, use of celebrities and humor. Additionally, people who were in the more frequent bettors section were more likely to post about their betting behavior.

Overall, the results say that sports betting can be heavily influenced by sports betting advertisements and social media. With the persuasive ads, frequent exposure to the ads, and social behavior it all adds to sports betting becoming a norm in college students. The findings show how important it is to understand how the media and social settings can affect online self-disclosure.

Advisor

Johnson, Michelle

Department

Communication Studies

Publication Date

2025

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

Download

Share

COinS
 

© Copyright 2025 Carter A. Warstler