Investigating impact of perceived help-seeking benefits on behavioural intentions in compulsive consumption context: The moderating role of self-efficacy

This study investigates direct impact of perceived help-seeking benefits (PB) on help-seeking behavioural intentions (BI) in at-risk gamblers. Guided by the intrinsic-extrinsic model of motivation and social-cognitive theory, this research confirmed that intrinsic (well-being/health concerns and self-control) and extrinsic PB (social influence) significantly influence intentions to seek professional service assistance in Australian at-risk gamblers. The authors applied latent multigroup structural equation modelling in Mplus using SE as a grouping variable to test direct impact on PB on BI across respondents high and low in SE, revealing that this relationship remains significantly positive for respondents high in SE and non-significant for respondents low in SE. This study represents an important step towards enhancing help-seeking in at-risk gamblers by emphasizing PB in marketing communications and addressing SE, an important moderator in problem gambling context that determines the significance and strengths of the PB and BI relationship.