Do you read me? Including personalized behavioral feedback in pop-up messages does not enhance limit adherence among gamblers

Abstract

The current research tested the idea that monetary limit adherence is upregulated by informing players how much money and credits they lost gambling when their limit was reached. In Study 1, players (N = 124) at a local gambling venue gambled on a virtual Electronic Gaming Machine (EGM) with a pre-determined money limit. By way of a pop-up message, some players were informed when their limit had been reached, while other players received additional personalized behavioral feedback about how much money and credits they lost. Limit adherence did not vary by condition. Informatively, half of the participants could not recall the content of the pop-up message. In Study 2 (N = 109), the pop-up message was adjusted to remain on the EGM for 10 s. Additionally, players set their own money limit. Replicating Study 1, personalized behavioral feedback did not improve limit adherence. Again, approximately 50% of players in both conditions could not recall the content of the pop-up message. These results have implications for pop-up messages as a means to convey information to players of EGMs—many players do not read the content of pop-up messages, thus they may not be an effective means for conveying enhanced responsible gambling information.