New reports published by GambleAware today highlight the necessity of normalising responsible gaming across all stages of customer communication. According to the organisation, this is of vital importance for the ongoing success in the battle against problem gambling. Commissioned by GambleAware itself, the reports were delivered by the multidisciplinary research agency Revealing Reality and the Behavioral Insights Team (BIT).
The reports contain input from five major UK-based gambling operators – Betfred, Buzz Bingo, 888, Genting Casino, and Gamesys. The Revealing Reality agency worked closely with the five operators between the fall of 2019 and the summer of 2020. It was established that with adequate tools and support, betting providers could achieve considerable progress in the successful development of safe gambling messages.
The reports call for the adoption of an integrated approach on behalf of gambling operators. Once responsible gambling becomes the norm for bettors, operators will be able to effectively prevent gambling-related harm rather than merely react to it. Gamblers require consistent support and motivation before responsible play becomes the default. Responsible gaming messages can play a major role in this preventative approach, according to the report.
Because of this, the main focus should fall on gaining a better understanding of what is effective and what is not when it comes to safe gambling messaging. Tim Miller, Executive Director at the UKGC, echoed these sentiments and stressed the industry should strive toward harm prevention in the first place.
The reports also established that most UK gambling operators already possess the necessary expertise and skills to make improvements in this area. However, they fail to put their resources to the best use. Damon De Ionno, Head of Strategy and Managing Director of the Revealing Reality agency, elaborated on the reports’ main findings.
Many Betting Firms See Responsible Gaming as an Add-On
According to Mr. De Ionno, many betting firms see safer gambling as an add-on, which is part of the problem. The reports have indicated operators must incorporate responsible gambling messages into all aspects of their operations before they can successfully communicate this message to their players.
The five operators who participated in the research shared basic examples of which approaches proved efficient and which ones did not. For instance, direct messaging via email or short-text messages failed to effectively increase the number of players, who use responsible gambling tools like deposit limits and session duration reminders.
By comparison, responsible gambling messages on social media platforms could prove to be effective in raising awareness of the above-mentioned responsible betting tools. The same goes for social media campaigns.
James Lawrence from the Behavioural Insights Team recommended gambling operators to test new approaches through randomised controlled trials, among other scientific methods. This will allow them to come up with more efficient responsible gambling campaigns and messages in the future, Mr. Lawrence concluded.
- Author
Daniel Williams
