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Effective Player Information in Preventing Excessive Gambling: Insights from Research

This research presentation discusses the effectiveness and impact of providing player information on excessive gambling. Led by Professor Alex Blaszczynski from The University of Sydney, the study examines the roles of both industry and personal responsibility in preventing problem gambling. Key areas covered include informed choice, necessary player information, and the cognitive models influencing gambling behaviors. The research highlights the limitations of simply providing information and emphasizes the importance of fostering negative attitudes towards gambling to promote responsible behavior.

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Effective Player Information in Preventing Excessive Gambling: Insights from Research

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  1. Gambling prevention & research: From legislation to action Dorigny-Lausanne1 – 2 march 2005 The provision of player information: Its effectiveness & impact on excessive gambling Professor Alex Blaszczynski PhD The University of Sydney Gambling Research Unit

  2. Acknowledgments • Collaborators: • Professor Robert Ladouceur, Laval University, Quebec • Dr. Lia Nower, University of Missouri, St. Louis, Missouri • Australian Gaming Council

  3. Questions • What is responsible gambling? • Industry versus Personal responsibility? • What is informed choice? • What player information is required? • Evidence for effectiveness?

  4. What is responsible gambling & what does it hope to achieve? • Provision of a safe gambling product: • No exploitation • No misleading claims • Does not promote or induce excess • Does not fosters loss of controlor dependence • Objective: • Reduce incidence of problem gambling

  5. Objective of player information: • Primary prevention:to prevent entry into problem gambling&/or change attitudes • Tertiary prevention:regain control & reduce problem gambling

  6. Health & lifestyle choices

  7. What are the relative responsibilities of individuals & industry in preventing problem gambling? • Individuals retain responsibility over personal choices & decisions • Industry must provide sufficient information for informed choices to be made

  8. Cognitive models of problem gambling • People gamble because of the belief in the possibility of winning • Misunderstanding crucial elements (probabilities) of games of chance leads to: • An overestimate of the chance of winning • Belief that personal skills can influence outcome • Erroneous beliefs regarding independent events & randomness

  9. What is informed choice? • Capacity to choose between options given all relevant information to determine implications & consequences of choice made

  10. What are requirements for informed choice? • Competence • Disclosure/understanding • Relevant • Accurate • Accessible • Full • Timely • Voluntary

  11. What specific player information is required to allow informed choice Categories of information • Warning: gambling may lead to addiction/harm • Counselling services • Operation, characteristics & configuration of games • Attitude shift: recreation versus income • Tracking time & money spent

  12. Is there any evidence player information influences behaviour?

  13. Empirical data • Hing (2004) • Survey to determine awareness, perceived adequacy & effectiveness of responsible gaming initiatives • 86% aware of responsible gaming policy • 67% aware of signs related to chance of winning • 20% reported impact on behaviour

  14. Similar findings reported by: • Steenbergh, Whelan, Meyers, May & Floyd (2004) • Focal Research Nova Scotia (2004) • Interaction between information & motivation to change influences attention to, & absorption of, player information

  15. Does knowledge of statistics & probabilities influence erroneous beliefs? • Behnsain & Ladouceur (2004) • Compared students attending statistics & non-statistics courses • Statistics group more knowledgeable • No difference in rates of erroneous perceptions during play (70% vs 61%) • Implications: cognitions shift during play irrespective of player information

  16. Should information be provided at school? • Two studies evaluated school programs: • Gaboury & Ladouceur (1993) • Improved learning about gambling & coping skills • Failure to translate knowledge into changes in behaviour or attitudes

  17. Should information be provided at school? • Williams, Connolly, Wood et al., (2004) • Statistics vs non-statistics university students • Information did not lead to differences between groups or across time in respect to: • Attitudes • Time or money gambled • Canadian Problem Gambling Index scores

  18. Should information be provided at school? • Williams, Connolly, Wood et al., (2004) • Educational program to Grades 10 & 11 • Improved knowledge, awareness & resistance to gambling fallacies • Reduction in time & money spent gambling

  19. Summary • Simple provision of information & odds is insufficient to effect change • Development of negative attitudes toward gambling is best predictor of decreased gambling behaviour • Education about problem gambling & erroneous cognitions contributing to gambling fallacies is the mechanism through which attitude change is achieved

  20. Balance between marketing & player information • Gaming machines are recreational devices on which you spend money • It is possible to win in the short-term • In the long term, in all but the most unusual cases & extraordinary circumstances, this outcome is virtually impossible

  21. Gambling prevention & research: From legislation to action Dorigny-Lausanne1 – 2 march 2005 The provision of player information: Its effectiveness & impact on excessive gambling Professor Alex Blaszczynski PhD The University of Sydney Gambling Research Unit

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