Per Binde, Associate professor of social anthropology

Transcription

1 Presentation at the 10 th EASG conference on gambling studies and policy issues, Helsinki, September 9-12, 2014 Per Binde, Associate professor of social anthropology

2 Report published in April, 2014 Presentation overview 1. Introduction to gambling advertising 2. Summary of the critical research review 3. Comments and questions Report available at

3 1 Introduction to gambling adverising

4 Gambling advertising: A controversial topic Adverting in general: commercial indoctrination versus creative force Advertising is deadly dangerous S. Lindqvist, 1957/2001 Advertising: The good force L. Boisen, 2003

5 Gambling advertising: A controversial topic Adverting in general: commercial indoctrination versus creative force Gambling: some people like it and some dislike it Gambling advertising: strong opinions; relatively little knowledge and research The positive view: gambling is commercial; advertising is good for consumers The negative view: advertising is largely deceptive, unethical and cause harm; political demands for bans and restrictions

6 Sweden: television commercials for gambling* Companies not regulated in Sweden Companies regulated in Sweden * Estimated gross investments; source:tns-sifo / The Swedish Gambling Authority

7 UK television commercials for gambling* * Estimated gross investments; source:tns-sifo / The Swedish Gambling Authority * Ofcom Trends in Advertising Activity - Gambling. London: Ofcom.

8 What harm might gambling advertising do? Mislead consumers Contribute to problem gambling

9 2 The critical research review

10 The critical research review Empirical studies 33 focused studies; observations in 19 other studies; all are listed in an Appendix, which will be kept updated (see ) Conventional gambling advertising Television, print, billboards, web, etc., excluding social media, promotional offers, sponsoring, etc. Focus on the feasibility of future studies rather than drawing specific conclusions based on past research Recommendations for future studies General recommendations on methodology and priority rating of specific research approaches.

11 General conclusions Advertising is a methodologically challenging topic E.g., the impact of advertising on the individual is often indistinct In general, the impact of advertising on the prevalence of problem gambling (PG) is likely to be small But not insignificant and greater in some specific circumstances Absolute extent of advertising impact on PG is very difficult to assess; it is easier to study relative impact Relative impact on various groups of people by different forms of advertising Good possibilities of gaining more knowledge! This allowing policy and responsible marketing to become more evidence-based

12 Types of studies and recommendations Studies of the volume of advertising and its efficiency +++ Surveying the volume and forms of advertising ++ Eye tracking: an experimental method for exploring exposure + The economic efficiency of advertising Studies of advertising impact on problem gambling + Longitudinal youth studies + Econometric studies of advertising impact ++ Possible experimental methods from alcohol advertising studies + Cross sectional observations +++ Self rated impact of gambling advertising Studies of messages in advertising +++ Content analysis ++ The professional production of gambling advertising +++ Self report studies of perception of advertising +++ Advertising codes and risk factors for problem gambling ++ Deception in gambling advertising ++ The ethics of gambling advertising Priority ratings: +++ High; ++ Medium; + Low

13 The anthropology of gambling