Abstract
BackgroundGambling can cause significant health and social harms for individuals, their families, and communities. While many studies have explored the individual factors that may lead to and minimise harmful gambling, there is still limited knowledge about the broader range of factors that may contribute to gambling harm. There are significant regulations to prevent the marketing of some forms of gambling but comparatively limited regulations relating to the marketing of newer forms of online gambling such as sports betting. There is a need for better information about how marketing strategies may be shaping betting attitudes and behaviours and the range of policy and regulatory responses that may help to prevent the risky or harmful consumption of these products.MethodsWe conducted qualitative, semi-structured interviews with 50 Australian men (aged 20–37 years) who gambled on sports. We explored their attitudes and opinions regarding sports betting marketing, the embedding of marketing within sports and other non-gambling community environments, and the implications this had for the normalisation of betting.ResultsOur findings indicate that most of the environments in which participants reported seeing or hearing betting advertisements were not in environments specifically designed for betting. Participants described that the saturation of marketing for betting products, including through sports-based commentary and sports programming, normalised betting. Participants described that the inducements offered by the industry were effective marketing strategies in getting themselves and other young men to bet on sports. Inducements were also linked with feelings of greater control over betting outcomes and stimulated some individuals to sign up with more than one betting provider.ConclusionsThis research suggests that marketing plays a strong role in the normalisation of gambling in sports. This has the potential to increase the risks and subsequent harms associated with these products. Legislators must begin to consider the cultural lag between an evolving gambling landscape, which supports sophisticated marketing strategies, and effective policies and practices which aim to reduce and prevent gambling harm.
Highlights
Gambling can cause significant health and social harms for individuals, their families, and communities
While academic research has traditionally focused on the harms associated with problem or pathological levels of gambling, research suggests that gambling harm may occur for those with low or moderate levels of gambling, with the burdens associated with gambling harms comparable with those associated with alcohol misuse and major depression [3]
Utilising in-depth qualitative research with young male sports gamblers (20–37 years), the key target market of betting companies, we aimed to explore the role of marketing in betting behaviours, as well as the range of strategies that may be used to minimise the potential harms associated with marketing
Summary
Gambling can cause significant health and social harms for individuals, their families, and communities. There is a need for better information about how marketing strategies may be shaping betting attitudes and behaviours and the range of policy and regulatory responses that may help to prevent the risky or harmful consumption of these products. Newer research has sought to understand the broader socio-cultural, environmental, and commercial determinants of gambling harm, and the broader range of policy and regulatory strategies that may be used to prevent harm [6,7,8,9]. Despite increasing concern from academics, legislators, and community groups about the increasing proliferation of marketing for gambling products and services [10,11,12,13,14], very limited research has explored how marketing strategies may influence gambling attitudes and consumption intentions and the range of strategies that may be used to reduce the risks posed by marketing to different population subgroups
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