Responsible Gambling Program Awareness and Engagement, and Gambling Beliefs and Behaviors: A Three-Wave Study of Customers from a Large Gambling Operator

Session Title

Session 1-4-B: Evaluating Responsible Gambling Frameworks

Presenters

Eric R. Louderback, Harvard Medical School and Cambridge Health AllianceFollow
Debi A. LaPlante, Harvard Medical School and Cambridge Health Alliance
Brett Abarbanel, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Shane W. Kraus, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Bo J. Bernhard, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Heather M. Gray, Harvard Medical School and Cambridge Health Alliance

Presentation Type

Paper Presentation

Location

Park MGM, Las Vegas, NV

Start Date

23-5-2023 3:45 PM

End Date

23-5-2023 5:15 PM

Disciplines

Community Health and Preventive Medicine | Quantitative Psychology | Social Statistics

Abstract

Despite the size and scope of responsible gambling (RG) programs worldwide, relatively few studies have evaluated these programs. Using survey data from three large samples of subscribers to MGM Resorts International’s casino loyalty program in the U.S., we examined respondents’ awareness of and engagement with the GameSense RG program, and gambling beliefs and behaviors. In one study of 4,795 subscribers, we found that more respondents who had visited a property with a state-regulated, branded GameSense center were aware of GameSense (36.5%), compared to respondents who visited other properties with a corporate-integrated GameSense model (7.4%). Perceptions of the operator’s RG practices were generally favorable. In a second study, we used a repeated cross-sectional approach including data collected from one sample (n = 3,748) shortly before the rollout of GameSense in 2017 – 2018, and from two samples collected 1 year (n = 4,795) and 2 years (n = 3,927) after the program’s implementation. We found that awareness of the GameSense program increased between pre- and 1-year post-implementation, yet did not increase further at 2-years post-implementation. Our findings have implications for research on RG programs and we provide practical recommendations for enhancing such programs for both operators and researchers.

It is important to evaluate programs intended to encourage responsible gambling and enhance player safety to ensure that these initiatives are achieving their intended goals. A better understanding of program efficacy can foster continuous improvement and the adaptation of program elements in response to changes in risk metrics over time.

Keywords

gambling, responsible gambling, player safety programs, responsible gambling programs, survey research, quantitative analysis

Author Bios

Eric R. Louderback, Ph.D. is a Research & Evaluation Scientist at the Division on Addiction at Cambridge Health Alliance, and an Instructor at Harvard Medical School. He has expertise in quantitative risk assessment models for online gambling, responsible gambling program evaluation, applied data science methodologies, and open science-informed research approaches. His research has been published in peer-reviewed journals including the Journal of Gambling Studies, International Gambling Studies, PLOS One, and Addiction Research & Theory.

Debi A. LaPlante, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Division on Addiction. Dr. LaPlante joined the Division on Addiction in 2001, after earning her Ph.D. in Social Psychological from Harvard University. She became Director of the Division in 2019. Her research interests include understanding addiction in at-risk populations, studying how technology influences addiction experiences, and advancing open science research principles and practices.

Brett Abarbanel, Ph.D. is Director of Research at University of Nevada, Las Vegas, International Gaming Institute, with an affiliate appointment at University of Sydney, Australia. Her research covers gambling technology and policy, responsible gambling, and esports and video games, for which she is a founding director of the Nevada Esports Alliance.

Shane W. Kraus, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist and assistant professor of psychology at University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Sexual Health and Compulsivity, and his research focuses on the assessment and treatment of psychopathology, substance misuse, gambling disorder, and compulsive sexual behavior disorder.

Bo. J. Bernhard, Ph.D. is Vice President of Economic Development at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and Executive Director of the UNLV International Gaming Institute (IGI). He has delivered over 200 keynote addresses in clinical, regulatory, and government settings and his work is published in the field’s top journals.

Heather M. Gray, Ph.D. is Director of Academic Affairs at the Division on Addiction, Cambridge Health Alliance, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital. In collaboration with Internet and land-based gambling operators in the US and internationally, she has studied how people gamble and respond to interventions designed to promote responsible gambling.

Funding Sources

This research was funded by MGM Resorts International (MGM), a large international gambling company. MGM consulted on the sample recruitment procedure and some of the survey items. The researchers formulated the research questions and designed the analysis plans. The researchers independently conducted all analyses, data interpretation, manuscript preparation, and manuscript submission without any input from MGM. The first author's employer (Division on Addiction) receives additional funding from a variety of federal, state, local, and private sources, as described at https://www.divisiononaddiction.org/funding-statement/.

Competing Interests

During the past five years, Dr. Eric R. Louderback has received research funding from a grant issued by the National Science Foundation (NSF), a government agency based in the United States. Dr. Louderback’s research has been financially supported by a Dean’s Research Fellowship from the University of Miami College of Arts & Sciences, who also provided funds to present at academic conferences. He has received travel support funds from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem to present research findings and has provided consulting services on player safety programs for Premier Lotteries Ireland. Dr. Louderback is a researcher at the Division on Addiction (Division) and all Division funders are listed at https://www.divisiononaddiction.org/funding-statement/. Additional details regarding past funding and disclosures of interests for co-authors is available in the published study (Louderback et al., 2022), which is accessible at https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-022-10109-7.