Award Date

5-15-2026

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

William F. Harrah College of Hospitality

First Committee Member

Tony Henthorne

Second Committee Member

Seyhmus Baloglu

Third Committee Member

Joseph Lema

Fourth Committee Member

John Schibrowsky

Number of Pages

180

Abstract

Casino customer relationship management is largely driven by loyalty programs, which capture detailed behavioral data as customers engage in gambling activities, including game type selection, wagering behavior, and time spent gambling. Although such proprietary datasets are rarely accessible for academic research, this study utilizes a large-scale dataset (n = 321,642) provided by a Las Vegas casino to examine customer gambling behavioral patterns and assess their predictive value for customer return visitation. Using a two-stage analytical framework, customers were segmented using latent profile analysis, identifying five substantively distinct behavioral segments. Predictive models were then constructed to evaluate the utility of session-level gambling behaviors and outcomes in predicting customer return visits. The modeling process employed a nested design, beginning with behavioral and outcome predictors independently, followed by the inclusion of behavioral segments as an explanatory variable, and concluding with segment membership as a moderating factor. The results provide evidence of meaningful behavioral heterogeneity among casino customers, demonstrate session-level behaviors and outcomes are significant predictors of return visitation, and that model performance improves with the inclusion of behavioral segments.

Keywords

Casino Operations; Customer Behavior; Customer Segmentation; Gambling; Marketing; Predictive Modeling

Disciplines

Hospitality Administration and Management | Leisure Studies | Marketing | Statistics and Probability | Tourism and Travel

File Format

PDF

File Size

2700 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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Available for download on Thursday, May 15, 2031


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