"Show Me the Money": Preliminary Lessons from an Implementation of Intervention Tools at the Payment Gateway Level

Mandatory verses voluntary self-tests for new online casino customers: effect on engagement, quality, gambling behavior and use of responsible gambling measures

BACKGROUND

To combat the public health concern that is problem gambling, gambling operators are increasingly being required by legislation to exercise a duty of care obligation, including the provision of Responsible Gambling (RG) tools. Self-test assessments have long been a popular RG tool implemented by many operators, yet there has been scant empirical research on self-tests, including on how the method of delivery impacts engagement, quality, and subsequent gambling behavior. The main objective of the current study was to examine if the level of voluntariness to perform a self-test moderated these key outcomes.

METHOD

Participants in the study, 1800 new online customers at a leading Swedish gambling company, were randomized to one of three arms: No message (control), up to four messages inviting them to do a self-test, and one message with a mandatory (but technically possible to circumvent) self-test. The interventions were presented when the customer logged in.

RESULTS

The results showed that 38.9% in the mandatory group and 4.8% in the voluntary group completed the self-test, with indications of a somewhat lower quality of the test by the mandatory group. There was no difference in customer churn or gambling behavior, and only minor differences in use of RG-measures post intervention.

CONCLUSIONS

We conclude that presentation format matters and can affect the use and quality of tests: gambling operators should exercise caution when interpreting non-risk assessment results derived solely from self-test tools, particularly mandatory ones, as it can result in inaccurate risk assessments that may mislead duty of care obligations. The balance between achieving high participation and maintaining quality (and thereby meaningfulness) is discussed.

Towards an Active Role of Financial Institutions in Preventing Problem Gambling: A Proposed Conceptual Framework and Taxonomy of Financial Wellbeing Indicators

The transformation of gambling into a largely digital commodity has created a need for online payment technologies to facilitate online gambling, thereby also raising the question of what role these actors can play in the promotion of Responsible Gambling (RG). With the means and access they maintain, financial institutions are in a unique position to alleviate financial pitfalls, yet their role in the gambling context has thus far received little scrutiny. The objective of this study was to conduct an extant literature review to develop an initial set of financial indicators tailored for financial institutions, enabling them to engage in the RG initiatives. We conducted a two-step narrative literature review to identify both general Financial Well-Being (FWB) indicators across financial research disciplines, and one specific to gambling. A literature search over the past 20 years was performed across the following academic databases: Medline (Ovid), Sociological Abstracts (ProQuest), Web of Science (Clarivate), and PsycInfo (EBSCO). Manifest content analysis was used in step one to review general financial well-being, yielding a general FWB conceptual framework. In step two, we applied latent content analysis to the gambling-specific literature, linking essential concepts of gambling-related financial harms to the broader FWB literature. This resulted in a tentative taxonomy of indicators applicable to financial institutions with gambling customers. In tandem with the FWB conceptual framework, the preliminary taxonomy could provide a foundation for financial institutions catering to gambling customers to engage in the duty of care agenda, potentially broadening player protection beyond the current operator-focused RG measures.

Gambling Harm-Minimisation Tools and Their Impact on Gambling Behaviour: A Review of the Empirical Evidence

The harms accompanying disordered gambling are well documented. Additionally, there is growing attention to the harms that arise from people who gamble heavily but do not meet the criteria for a gambling disorder. Accordingly, there has been an increasing interest in the effectiveness of consumer protection tools for consumers of gambling products. Subsequently, there is a need to properly evaluate the evidence for their effectiveness. This review aimed to conduct a narrative synthesis of empirical studies to identify gaps, weaknesses, and strengths in the existing evidence for the effectiveness of harm minimisation tools available to people who gamble. This review includes studies published between January 2015 to July 2022 and comprises 55 peer-reviewed studies for final synthesis. Findings reveal that while more research is needed to examine the effectiveness of active and passive consumer protection tools, uptake of tools is low in part because users view them as tools for individuals already experiencing gambling harm as opposed to protective tools for all users. Research is needed to determine effective ways of communicating the value of consumer protection tools for gambling.

Probing the Role of Digital Payment Solutions in Gambling Behavior: Preliminary Results From an Exploratory Focus Group Session With Problem Gamblers

BACKGROUND

Technology has significantly reshaped the landscape and accessibility of gambling, creating uncharted territory for researchers and policy makers involved in the responsible gambling (RG) agenda. Digital payment solutions (DPS) are the latest addition of technology-based services in gambling and are now prominently used for deposit and win withdrawal. The seamless collaboration between online gambling operators and DPS, however, has raised concerns regarding the potential role of DPS platforms in facilitating harmful behavior.

OBJECTIVE

Using a focus group session with problem gamblers, this study describes a preliminary investigation of the role of DPS in the online gambling context and its influence on players' gambling habits, financial behavior, choices of gambling environment, and the overall outcome of gambling subjective experiences.

METHODS

A total of 6 problem gamblers participated in a one-and-half-hour focus group session to discuss how DPSs are integrated into their everyday gambling habits, what motivates them to use DPS, and what shifts they observe in their gambling behavior. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the empirical evidence with a mix of inductive and deductive research approaches as a knowledge claim strategy.

RESULTS

Our initial findings revealed that the influence of DPSs in online gambling is multifaced where, on the one hand, their ability to integrate with players' existing habits seamlessly underscores the facilitating role they play in potentially maximizing harm. On the other hand, we find preliminary evidence that DPSs can have a direct influence on gambling outcomes in both subtle and pervasive ways-nudging, institutionalizing, constraining, or triggering players' gambling activities. This study also highlights the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of online gambling, and it proposes a preliminary conceptual framework to illustrate the sociotechnical interplay between DPS and gambling habits that ultimately capture the outcome of gambling's subjective experience.

CONCLUSIONS

Disguised as a passive payment enabler, the role of DPS has so far received scant attention; however, this exploratory qualitative study demonstrates that given the technological advantage and access to customer financial data, DPS can become a potent platform to enable and at times trigger harmful gambling. In addition, DPS's bird's-eye view of cross-operator gambling behavior can open up an opportunity for researchers and policy makers to explore harm reduction measures that can be implemented at the digital payment level for gambling customers. Finally, more interdisciplinary studies are needed to formulate the sociotechnical nature of online gambling and holistic harm minimization strategy.

Offering an auto-play feature likely increases total gambling activity at online slot-machines: preliminary evidence from an interrupted time series experiment at a real-life online casino

Auto-play is a ubiquitous feature in online casino gambling and virtual slot machines especially, allowing gamblers to initiate spin sequences of pre-set length and value. While theoretical accounts diverge on the hypothesized causal effect on gambling behavior of using the auto-play feature, observational findings show that this feature is used to a higher degree by problem and/or high-intensity gamblers, suggesting that banning this feature may constitute a global responsible gambling measure. Direct, experimental research on causal effects of offering auto-play at online casinos is however lacking. Here, we report the findings of an interrupted time series experiment, conducted at a real-life online casino in Sweden, in which the auto-play feature was made available during a pre-set duration on 40 online slot machines, with 40 matched slots serving as control. Aggregated time series on daily betted amount, spins and net losses were analyzed using a structural Bayesian framework that compared observed developments during the peri-intervention period to modeled counterfactual estimates. Results suggest that offering an auto-play feature on online casinos likely increases total gambling activity in terms of betted amount (approx.+ 7-9%) and (perhaps) number of spins (approx. +3%) but has no effect on net losses. Limitations of studying auto-play effects on a population-level, as well as the complexities of banning this feature within a complex ecosystem of non-perfect channelization to licensed providers, are discussed, including suggestions for future research.

Gambling harm prevention and harm reduction in online environments: a call for action

BACKGROUND

Gambling is increasingly offered and consumed in online and mobile environments. The digitalisation of the gambling industry poses new challenges on harm prevention and harm reduction. The digital environment differs from traditional, land-based gambling environments. It increases many risk-factors in gambling, including availability, ease-of-access, but also game characteristics such as speed and intensity. Furthermore, data collected on those gambling in digital environments makes gambling offer increasingly personalised and targeted.

MAIN RESULTS

This paper discusses how harm prevention and harm reduction efforts need to address gambling in online environments. We review existing literature on universal, selective, and indicated harm reduction and harm prevention efforts for online gambling and discuss ways forward. The discussion shows that there are several avenues forward for online gambling harm prevention and reduction at each of the universal, selective, and indicated levels. No measure is likely to be sufficient on its own and multi-modal as well as multi-level interventions are needed. Harm prevention and harm reduction measures online also differ from traditional land-based efforts. Online gambling providers utilise a variety of strategies to enable, market, and personalise their products using data and the wider online ecosystem.

CONCLUSION

We argue that these same tools and channels should also be used for preventive work to better prevent and reduce the public health harms caused by online gambling.