The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) released a new report which is aimed at revealing more information about the levels of gambling participation, attitudes and behaviour of the local residents.
The research, which was initiated by the Gambling Commission provides extensive information about the overall gambling participation and engagement of British people. The report also revealed most gambling perceptions in the country in 2016, including information about the preferred ways used by people to gamble online, the preferred devices as well as the influence that social media had on people’s gambling habits.
Attitudes towards gambling management tools, as well as the consumer awareness of gambling risks, self-exclusion, terms and conditions, etc. were also part of the report.
Report Highlights
The UK Gambling Commission revealed that 48% of the participants in the research have placed bets over the past four week at the time of the research. This marked a 3% increase in the number of people who gambled in 2015. A total of 15% of these people were National Lottery players. What is more, 67% of the respondents in the survey said they think people should be given the right to gamble whenever they want.
According to the data presented in the report, men were more engaged in gambling activities over 2016. There was an increase in the number of people, both men and women, who gambled, in comparison to their number a year earlier. Of the ones surveyed, 53% of men and 44% of women have gambled in 2016, while their number amounted to 50% and 44%, respectively, in 2015.
The survey conducted by the UK Gambling Commission proved that 17% of gamblers put their wagers online. Most of them – the solid 97% – gambled at home, with their number remaining unchanged from 2015. When it comes to the use of portable devices in the gambling process, there was a large, 10% increase in the usage of mobile phones and tablet devices in comparison to 2015 to 43% in 2016.
It seems that relatively a small number of players have been fully aware about the terms and conditions. Only 23% of the surveyed people said they have thoroughly read them. On the other hand, it also seems that social media posts and advertisements have prompted many young people to gamble. A total of 68% of the people between 18 and 24 years old have been encouraged to place bets by social media advertising.
Problem gambling behaviour was also one of the key milestones in the survey. Very small number of players – only 0.7% of the ones who have gambled over the past 12 months – identified themselves as problem gamblers, and still, their number increased in comparison to the 0.5% who have said suffered from a gambling addiction in 2015. Over 2016, 5.5% of the British citizens who took part in the survey were identified as at-risk gamblers.
The Programme Director James Green commented on the report, saying that the latter was important, due to the fact it provided a lot of information about the British people gambling habits, identifying the newest trends and the eventual risks for the customers. According to Mr. Green, this year’s report provided far more information in comparison to the last year’s one, especially in terms of the behaviour of people who preferred to gamble online.
Mr. Green also commented that effective measures to protect people from eventual negative effects and risks associated with gambling could be taken only in case there was strong evidence. According to him, this was exactly why the UKGC research put the Commission in a powerful position to understand the gambling customers’ needs better.
- Author
Daniel Williams
