Luck of the Lottery The Psychology behind Aotearoa’s golden ticket

People queuing at the Lotto stand at New World, Northwood. Source: Olivia Welsh.

Regardless of whether you’ve partaken in the country’s most recognised and socially acceptable gamble, you’ll be aware of the National Lottery in Aotearoa. An opportunity to walk away with more cash than you can imagine, or just enough for another ticket. 

The lottery is in no way new. In 2021, the National Lottery celebrated its 60th year, with the first draw in December of 1961.  

The top prize was £12,000 and the public scrambled to purchase a ticket for the chance to have their winning numbers published.  

But when we peel back the layers of this polarizing somewhat controversial expectation for Kiwi adults, what do we see? What can the lottery, and how we perceive winning money, tell us about the state of our world, and ourselves? 

Torin (he/they) who was employed in the past to sell lottery tickets, reflects on his time witnessing a range of individuals come and go. For the most part, it was the elderly they saw, who were quite consistent with their purchases. 

“With the people who were elderly, they were almost always either a lower income person or someone who was more upper-class,” said Torin.  

“The elderly people who came in would usually get like $40-$60 worth of tickets, while the younger people would almost always just get the $20 “pack” of tickets.”  

“I did work in East Christchurch though, which is generally a poorer area of the city, so that’s probably something to take into mind,” he says. 

C (she/her), an Ōtautahi supermarket worker, picked up on an interesting way that the lottery systems are set-up. 

“There’s probably some psychology behind how Lotto counters are always right when you walk in the door,” said C. 

This reflects how simple it can be purchasing a ticket when one is probed time and time again, and that the convenient set-up is just a continuous reminder. 

After distributing an anonymous form online, the responses I received reflected discussions with my peers and reading published articles on the matter, particularly by Max Abbott. 

The public either believe Lotto to be a money-making scam or can understand the appeal but are hesitant in supporting it financially. 

“It needs to not provide false hope to already disadvantaged communities,” says one respondent.  

“It’s disadvantaging and targeting the already vulnerable in society with its marketing. One should not be able to use marketing tactics for forms of addiction.” 

Many consider it to be a form of gambling, or even more severe. 

“I think it’s worse than gambling. In most gambling situations you have better odds,” comments one respondent.  

“It preys on the poor.” 

“It would be like investing in anything you’re told has beyond a 99.9% chance of failing and continuing to invest in it for the rest of your life.” 

However, like with many trends there is a side that is understanding of the hope and humane expectations of the public. 

“I understand the hype of getting a Lotto ticket because you have a chance of winning millions of dollars,” said one respondent. 

One response featured a well-explained, rather warm reasoning for why this individual considers the Lotto to be quite beneficial to society. 

“I think there are issues with people spending too much money on tickets. However, I sometimes think if that gives them hope then what’s the harm?” they said. 

According to Lotto New Zealand’s retail spend, Kiwi’s now fork over $1.5 billion a year on gambling devices. The prevailing trends revolve around winning odds, and the advancements being made to the existing systems.  

Of the form respondents, over 85% revealed that they knew of someone, whether a friend or member of their whānau, that partakes in the lottery.  

The Official Lotto system in Aotearoa is so complex, thus making it difficult to have simplistic conversations about it. Because the system involves two things that are at the centre of everything. Money, and a whole lot of hope.  

The Lotto tagline “How great would it feel?” further instills that hope in communities, the one where people are wanting better for themselves. 

The chance to win and change their lives.