The effect of gambling marketing and advertising on children, young people and vulnerable adults
News on 27 Mar 2020
News on 27 Mar 2020
GambleAware has today published the findings of the research commissioned to examine the impact of gambling advertising and marketing on children, young people and vulnerable adults.
The programme of research was conducted by two separate consortia, led by Ipsos MORI and the Institute for Social Marketing at the University of Stirling. The synthesis of findings across the research was written by Ipsos MORI. The research shows that regular exposure to gambling promotions can change perceptions and associations of gambling over time for children, young people and vulnerable adults.
Among those who don’t currently gamble, exposure to gambling promotions was one of the most significant associations with whether someone was likely to gamble in the future. However, the attitudes of peers and carers was also critical when looking at whether an 11-24-year-old was a current gambler. The report reveals that if a child or young person has a close friend or carer who gambles, that individual is six times more likely to be a current gambler, than those without such a connection.
However, when specifically looking at exposure, researchers observed that almost all (96%) of the 11-24-year-old participants had been exposed to gambling marketing messages in the last month. Furthermore, participants in the qualitative research were shown snippets of gambling logos and when asked to identify them, correctly identified an average of eight out of ten.
By using an age classifier on Twitter, researchers also found clear evidence of children following and engaging with gambling related accounts. It was estimated that 41,000 UK followers of gambling-related accounts on the social media platform were likely to be under 16 and 6% of followers of ‘traditional’ gambling accounts were found to be children, a figure that increased to 17% when looking specifically at eSport gambling accounts.
Researchers concluded that the rise of new forms of gambling marketing through social media have increased the ways in which children, young people and vulnerable adults can engage with gambling brands, which in turn helps to establish brand loyalty. One of the recommendations from the report was that more could be done to work closely with social media platforms to improve age screening tools, before individuals are allowed to follow accounts that promote gambling.
However, when examining where children and young people came across gambling in the past month, TV remained the most common source of exposure:
Researchers identified a risk that some advertising may play on the susceptibilities of children, young people and vulnerable adults, particularly when their understanding of the risk of gambling may be poor. The appeal of a gambling promotions, for example ones that imply limited risk, or inflated suggestions of winning, may not always result in an immediate bet. Instead, these adverts were successful in eliciting a range of emotional and cognitive responses from children, young people and vulnerable adults. This therefore was likely to shape their attitudes and the likelihood as to whether or not they would consider gambling in the future.
Responding to the research findings, Marc Etches, CEO of GambleAware, has said:
“Gambling is an adult activity, but this new research conclusively shows that it has become part of everyday life for children and young people. This constant exposure to it through advertising and marketing, or via close friends and family, has the potential for serious long-term implications for children and young people. The exposure to gambling on social media suggests there is a clear need for social media companies to improve age screening tools and for gambling companies to make full use of existing ones, to help protect children from potential harmful exposure to gambling. We must always be mindful that gambling is a public health issue and it can have serious implications for people’s mental health. This report is an apt reminder for us to ensure that the next generation is made aware of the risks of gambling as well as the help and support that is available via the National Gambling Treatment Service.”
Researchers at Ipsos MORI identified a number of recommendations to help protect children, young people and vulnerable adults from experiencing gambling harms. These included:
Steve Ginnis, Research Director at Ipsos MORI, has said:
“The research points to the ubiquitous nature of gambling advertising, beyond sports and beyond television; and further demonstrates that the impact of exposure goes beyond traditional selling techniques that elicit an immediate response. The evidence captured in this research suggests that there is value in taking further action to reduce exposure and appeal of gambling advertising, which in turn is likely to help mitigate against the plausible risk of gambling-related harms among children, young people and vulnerable adults. Our recommendations are intended to help stimulate collective discussion and action.”
