Abstract
Current industry-developed safer gambling messages such as ‘Take time to think’ and ‘Gamble responsibly’ have been criticized as ineffective slogans. As a result, Australia has recently introduced seven independently-developed safer gambling messages. The UK Government intends to introduce independently- developed messages from 2024 onwards, and this measure could be similarly appropriate for the US states where sports betting has been legalized and gambling advertising has become pervasive. Given this context, the current study recruited race and sports bettors from the UK and USA to elicit their perceptions of the seven Australian safer gambling messages. Participants (N=1865) rated on a Likert-scale seven newly introduced messages and two existing ones (‘Take time to think’ and ‘Gamble responsibly’) using seven evaluative statements. Participants also reported their levels of problem gambling severity. For most statements in both jurisdictions, the new messages performed significantly better than the existing ones. Specifically, the new messages were deemed more attention grabbing, applicable on a personal level, helpful to gamblers, and more likely to encourage cutbacks in gambling. The message that included a specific call to action (‘What are you prepared to lose today? Set a deposit limit’) was one of the best performing messages. Interaction effects observed in relation to jurisdiction, age, gender, and problem gambling severity were generally small enough to counteract the argument that different populations might benefit from substantially different messages. These findings add to previous research on the independent design of effective safer gambling messages.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Addiction Research and Theory |
| Early online date | 21 Nov 2023 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 21 Nov 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Philip Newall is a member of the Advisory Board for Safer Gambling – an advisory group of the Gambling Commission in Great Britain, and in 2020 was a special advisor to the House of Lords Select Committee Enquiry on the Social and Economic Impact of the Gambling Industry. In the last three years, Philip Newall has contributed to research projects funded by the Academic Forum for the Study of Gambling (AFSG), Clean Up Gambling, Gambling Research Australia, NSW Responsible Gambling Fund, and the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation. Philip Newall has received travel and accommodation funding from the Alberta Gambling Research Institute and received open access fee funding from Gambling Research Exchange Ontario (GREO).
Funding Information:
In the last three years, Jamie Torrance has received; (1) PhD funding from GambleAware, (2) Open access publication funding from Gambling Research Exchange Ontario (GREO), (3) Paid consultancy fees from Channel 4, (4) Conference travel and accommodation funding from the Academic Forum for the Study of Gambling (AFSG), (5) A minor exploratory research grant from the ASFG and GREO.
Funding Information:
MR has received research funds from Gambling Research Australia, Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, Queensland Treasury, Victorian Treasury, NSW Responsible Gambling Fund, NSW Office of Liquor & Gaming, Tasmanian Department of Treasury and Finance, New Zealand Ministry of Health, Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Alberta Gambling Research Institute, and the First Nations Foundation. He declares no conflicts of interest in relation to this manuscript.
Funding Information:
MB has received research funds from Gambling Research Australia, the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, the Queensland Government Department of Health, the South Australian Government, the Australian Department of Social Services, and the New Zealand Ministry of Health. He declares no conflicts of interest in relation to this manuscript.
Funding Information:
In the last three years, Nerilee Hing has received funding from Gambling Research Australia, the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, the NSW Office of Responsible Gambling, NSW Liquor and Gaming, the New Zealand Ministry of Health, the South Australian Office for Problem Gambling, First Person Consulting, Engine Consulting, and Australia’s National Research Organization for Women’s Safety. She declares that she has no conflicts of interest in relation to this manuscript.
Funding Information:
In the last three years, AR has received funding from the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation; the New South Wales Office of Responsible Gambling; the South Australian Government; Gambling Research Australia; and the New Zealand Ministry of Health. He has had travel expenses paid to present research by the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, PsychMed and the Hawthorn Hawks Football Club Players Association. He has received an honorarium from Movember for assessing applications for funding and consulting fees from the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation. He declares no conflicts of interest in relation to this manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Research Groups and Themes
- Gambling Harms