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The Impacts of a Smoking Ban on Gaming Volume and Customers' Satisfaction in the Casino Industry in South Korea UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones 5-1-2015 The Impacts of a Smoking Ban on Gaming Volume and Customers' Satisfaction in the Casino Industry in South Korea Sojeong Lee University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/thesesdissertations Part of the Gaming and Casino Operations Management Commons, Public Health Commons, and the Social Psychology Commons Repository Citation Lee, Sojeong, "The Impacts of a Smoking Ban on Gaming Volume and Customers' Satisfaction in the Casino Industry in South Korea" (2015). UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. 2374. http://dx.doi.org/10.34917/7645940 This Thesis is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Thesis in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Thesis has been accepted for inclusion in UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE IMPACTS OF A SMOKING BAN ON GAMING VOLUME AND CUSTOMERS’ SATISFACTION IN THE CASINO INDUSTRY IN SOUTH KOREA By Sojeong Lee Bachelor of Tourism in College of Social Sciences Hanyang University Seoul, Korea 1999 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Science - Hotel Administration William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration The Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas May 2015 We recommend the thesis prepared under our supervision by Sojeong Lee entitled “The Impacts of a Smoking Ban on Gaming Volume and Customers’ Satisfaction in the Casino Industry in South Korea” is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science - Hotel Administration William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration Toni Repetti, Ph.D., Committee Chair Bo Bernhard, Ph.D., Committee Member Ashok K. Singh, Ph.D., Committee Member Bradley S. Wimmer, Ph.D., Graduate College Representative Kathryn Hausbeck Korgan, Ph.D., Interim Dean of the Graduate College May 2015 ii ABSTRACT The Impacts of a Smoking Ban on Gaming Volume and Customers’ Satisfaction in the Casino Industry in South Korea by Sojeong Lee Dr. Toni Repetti, Examination Committee Chair Assistant Professor of Hotel Administration University of Nevada, Las Vegas This thesis examined a smoking ban impacts on gaming volume and customers’ satisfaction in the casino industry in South Korea. Aggregate monthly data is obtained from Kangwonland casino from April 2003 to May 2013. This thesis employed multiple regression models with the autoregressive integrated moving average [ARIMA] models. Two models are run to account for the economic impact; table games drop and slot machine coin-in. In addition, to examine the customers’ satisfaction toward the smoking ban, another secondary data set is adopted from Kangwonland. Hypotheses associated with gaming volume and customers’ satisfaction were tested by using R programming at a .05 alpha level. The findings show that a smoking ban does not significantly impact on both table games drop and slot coin-in and that both smokers and non-smokers are satisfied with the smoke-free gaming environment. This thesis uses long-term time period frame unlike previous literature, providing new insights in understanding gamblers satisfaction toward smoke-free gaming environment. Additionally, this thesis adds valuable empirical results to the limited literature base associated with the impact of a smoking ban in Asian casino. The findings of this study suggest that future research continue to investigate on casino properties under competitive environments using diverse research approaches. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS For the last two years, the journey of my studies in UNLV was unforgettable moment in my life. I would like to truly acknowledge my committee members, my company, friends, and family. Without their persistent support and encouragement I would never have been able to complete this thesis. The deepest appreciation goes to my committee chair, Dr. Toni Repetti, for her sincere advice and invaluable guidance throughout the thesis process. I thank Dr. Ashok K. Singh for his statistical guidance on the data analyses and to Dr. Bradley Wimmer for insightful comments for research. I gratefully acknowledge colleagues from Table Game team and HRD team in Kangwonland Inc. for consideration that enabled me to conduct my thesis. A special word of gratitude is to my company, Kangwonland Inc., for giving me once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study and financial support. Finally, my heartfelt thanks go to my family. With gratitude, I acknowledge the love and support that I have received from my family. My parents, Sanghyun Lee and Kyungja Yong, always have a faith in me. My brothers and sister-in-law, Kwonhyung Lee, Daehyung Lee, and Miju Song, supported me by taking good card of my parents. My precious niece and nephew, Minseo Lee and Junyeong Lee, always make me smile. I expand my thanks to my best friends, Soyoung Yun and Bokhee Woo, who never stopped challenging and helping me develop my ideas. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... iv TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................... v LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ vii LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................... 1 Purpose of the Study ....................................................................................................... 3 Statement of the Problem ................................................................................................ 4 Justification ..................................................................................................................... 5 Definitions of Terms ....................................................................................................... 6 CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE ....................................... 8 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 8 Current Trends of a Smoking Ban Policy ....................................................................... 8 Health Effects of Second-hand Smoke ..................................................................... 10 Economic Costs of Tobacco Smoke ......................................................................... 12 The Impact of a Smoking Ban Policy ........................................................................... 15 Effectiveness of a Smoking Ban Policy .................................................................... 19 The Impact of a Smoking Ban Policy in the Hospitality Industry ............................ 20 The Impact of a Smoking Ban Policy in the Casino Industry ................................... 23 Customers’ Attitude to a Smoking Ban Policy ............................................................. 27 Response to a Smoking Ban Policy .......................................................................... 27 Psychological Reactance Theory .............................................................................. 29 Changes of Attitudes and Patronage Behaviors ........................................................ 30 Current Trends of Smoking Ban in South Korea .......................................................... 32 A Smoking Ban in Kangwonland Casino ................................................................. 34 Theoretical Model and Hypotheses .............................................................................. 35 CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ........................................................... 39 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 39 Data Collection ............................................................................................................. 39 Data Analysis ................................................................................................................ 40 Time Series Regression Model ................................................................................. 42 v Non-parametric Test ................................................................................................. 45 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 46 CHAPTER 4 RESULTS ............................................................................................... 47 Introduction ..................................................................................................................
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