This study explores the factors that affect the lottery purchasing intentions of university students. Self-administered questionnaires were completed by 504 students attending four universities in Kwangju South Korea. The conclusions are as follows: First, approximately 43% of respondents participated in at least one lottery purchase and the frequency of lottery purchases during the last 12 months was 4.84. Gender issues were considered since almost twice as many males reported lottery purchases. Second, males were affected by attitudes toward lotteries; females were affected by past behavior, subjective norms, and attitudes toward lotteries. It was hypothesized that the attitudinal message would change behavior for male students while the accurate information and the normative message would also be effective for female students. The fact that just about half of the respondents have previously participated in gambling vis-$grave{a}$-vis lotteries shows consumer educators that lottery purchases by youth is a social policy issue in need of systematic and scientific attention.