Best practice recommendations for designing responsible gambling messages: A scoping review

Session Title

Session 2-1-C: Gamblers' Behavior

Presentation Type

Paper Presentation

Location

Park MGM, Las Vegas, NV

Start Date

24-5-2023 9:00 AM

End Date

24-5-2023 10:30 AM

Disciplines

Communication | Psychology | Social and Behavioral Sciences

Abstract

Appropriately delivered responsible gambling messages have the potential to help individuals make informed decisions about their gambling behaviors. However, existing warnings have limited effectiveness as gamblers often ignore or dismiss them. Fortunately, the way a message itself is presented can impact the amount of attention that gamblers pay to responsible gambling messages. These observations suggest that research should work to identify the specific features, content elements, and delivery modalities that promote the effectiveness of responsible gambling messages. This presentation will discuss the outcomes of a scoping review designed to examine evidence-based practices for designing responsible gambling messages. This review will describe common methodological and theoretical approaches for designing responsible gambling messages, the type of samples and settings (e.g., lab studies, field experiments, and online panels) of published studies, and a new typology of message content features that are effective at gaining attention and influencing behaviors related to gambling. The findings from this review have relevance for researchers with interest in responsible gambling message design and delivery, as well as gambling operator player safety programs that include messaging components.

Implications: Warning messages that interrupt continuous or excessive play can potentially act as a preventive measure against harmful gambling behaviors and might reduce consumers’ risk of developing problem gambling. This study works to identify gaps in the literature that, when addressed, can help to craft messages that are meaningful to gamblers, thereby promoting safer play and reducing gambling-related harms.

Keywords

Message design, scoping review, gambling

Author Bios

Seth P. McCullock, Ph.D. is a Research & Evaluation Scientist with the Cambridge Health Alliance Division on Addiction, a Harvard Medical School Teaching Hospital. His main research interest involves designing persuasive messages to promote behavior change, especially in the context of health-related stigma and misinformation. He holds a Ph.D. in Communication from Purdue University.

Funding Sources

None

Competing Interests

None

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May 24th, 9:00 AM May 24th, 10:30 AM

Best practice recommendations for designing responsible gambling messages: A scoping review

Park MGM, Las Vegas, NV

Appropriately delivered responsible gambling messages have the potential to help individuals make informed decisions about their gambling behaviors. However, existing warnings have limited effectiveness as gamblers often ignore or dismiss them. Fortunately, the way a message itself is presented can impact the amount of attention that gamblers pay to responsible gambling messages. These observations suggest that research should work to identify the specific features, content elements, and delivery modalities that promote the effectiveness of responsible gambling messages. This presentation will discuss the outcomes of a scoping review designed to examine evidence-based practices for designing responsible gambling messages. This review will describe common methodological and theoretical approaches for designing responsible gambling messages, the type of samples and settings (e.g., lab studies, field experiments, and online panels) of published studies, and a new typology of message content features that are effective at gaining attention and influencing behaviors related to gambling. The findings from this review have relevance for researchers with interest in responsible gambling message design and delivery, as well as gambling operator player safety programs that include messaging components.

Implications: Warning messages that interrupt continuous or excessive play can potentially act as a preventive measure against harmful gambling behaviors and might reduce consumers’ risk of developing problem gambling. This study works to identify gaps in the literature that, when addressed, can help to craft messages that are meaningful to gamblers, thereby promoting safer play and reducing gambling-related harms.