Are sports bettors looking at responsible gambling messages? An eye-tracking study on wagering advertisements

Abstract

Background and aims The broadcast of wagering advertisements during televised sports matches has been associated with various adverse outcomes. In order to counter these effects, legislative bodies require wagering operators to include responsible gambling messages in their advertisements; however, the effectiveness of these messages is unclear. This study sought to examine the extent to which responsible gambling messages are looked at, in the wider context of gambling advertisements. Methods Forty-nine regular sports bettors and 10 non-gamblers viewed a series of sports betting advertisements, while an eye-tracker recorded the number of fixations placed on responsible gambling messages, as well as other text-based wagering content. Results Responsible gambling messages were, generally, presented in a non-conspicuous manner. Eye-tracking data revealed that significantly fewer fixations were placed on responsible gambling messages, compared to wagering information (p < .001); however, this effect did not differ according to level of gambling risk (p = .169). The number of fixations placed on the different types of responsible gambling messages was found to vary, based on gambling risk (p = .006), as well as, what appears to be, the physical characteristics of these messages. Discussion Very few fixations were placed on, or near, responsible gambling messages, compared to other wagering information, meaning that, in their current form, they are unlikely to be effective in protecting against gambling harm. Preliminary evidence shows that presenting messages on a high-contrast/block-color background increases the number of fixations on these. Conclusion Further research is needed to identify ways of increasing the effectiveness of responsible gambling initiatives in the sports betting context.

Emergent gambling advertising; a rapid review of marketing content, delivery and structural features

“…In their current form, such messages have been highlighted for their likely inadequacy in reducing gambling-related harm. For example, a recent eye-tracking study of bettors and non-bettors demonstrated that very few visual fixations are placed on these messages in comparison to other wagering information displayed within sports betting advertisements [ 60 ]. Moreover, when specific RG messages are in fact actively perceived by bettors, the messages may fail in terms of their supposed purpose.…”

A Thematic Analysis of Sports Bettors’ Perceptions of Sports Betting Marketing Strategies in the UK

“…In the United Kingdom (UK), Ipsos MORI (2019) reported that the amount of money spent on gambling advertising had increased from £264,657,325 in 2015 to £328,945,916 in 2018 (a 24% increase) across various media platforms, particularly for lotteries and bookmakers. Given the popularity of sports betting, as well as the large audiences attracted to live sporting events, the broadcast of wagering advertisements appears to have become widespread, especially during televised sporting events (Columb et al 2020;Hing et al 2015;Lole et al 2019;Lopez-Gonzalez et al 2017;Purves et al 2020). For example, during the 2018 FIFA (soccer) World Cup, betting advertisements were the most prevalent type of advertisements shown, totaling almost 90 min of screen time during the tournament (Duncan et al 2018).…”

“…Research into the type of wagering inducement promotion has found some inducement types to be more popular than others, for example, for sports bettors often favor the "risk-free" or reduced risk inducement (Hing et al, 2014a(Hing et al, , 2017(Hing et al, , 2019Lole et al 2019). Other research has reported that both treatment-seeking sports bettors and general population sports bettors were encouraged to spend more due to advertising, particularly in response to free bet and deposit offers (Hing et al 2015).…”

Statistical risk warnings in gambling

“…Some warning labels are extremely generic (e.g., in Australia, 'Gamble responsibly'; in the UK, 'When the fun stops, stop'; or in Ontario, 'Play smart'). These labels provide little information to meaningfully guide consumers (Newall et al, 2019c) and might be ignored due to sheer repetition of content (Lole et al, 2019). Other gambling warning labels warn gamblers only about the product they are currently using, an approach that has been most consistently applied to electronic gambling machines (Wohl et al, 2014;Ginley et al, 2017;McGivern et al, 2019).…”