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‘Chances are you’re about to lose’: new independent Australian safer gambling messages tested in UK and USA bettor samples
Newall, Philip Torrance, Jamie Russell, Alex M. T. Rockloff, Matthew Hing, Nerilee Browne, Matthew
Newall, Philip
Torrance, Jamie
Russell, Alex M. T.
Rockloff, Matthew
Hing, Nerilee
Browne, Matthew
Advisors
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Other Contributors
EPub Date
Publication Date
2023-11-21
Submitted Date
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Article - VoR
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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.
Citation
Newall, P., Torrance, J., Russell, A. M. T., Rockloff, M., Hing, N., & Browne, M. (2024). ‘Chances are you’re about to lose’: New independent Australian safer gambling messages tested in UK and USA bettor samples. Addiction Research & Theory, 32(6), 400-408. https://doi.org/10.1080/16066359.2023.2282545
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Journal
Addiction Research & Theory
Research Unit
DOI
10.1080/16066359.2023.2282545
PubMed ID
PubMed Central ID
Type
Article
Language
Description
Series/Report no.
ISSN
1606-6359
EISSN
1476-7392