Excitement, desperation, and boredom - these are some of the motivations for those who commit an armed robbery, says Canterbury University criminologist Greg Newbold.
Although there are a range of motivations behind a person's decision to rob a location with a weapon, Mr Newbold said there were four main types.
"Some may be to reclaim a debt, some robberies are done as just for the excitement ... some of them are to get money, and some are just acts of desperation," he said.
The venues targeted in recent Hawke's Bay robberies are now the most common type, as the "professional robber" - those who targeted banks, financial agencies, and jewellers - was a thing of the past.
Most robberies now occurred in alcohol stores and dairies, where there was a higher level of security, and lower profit.