GambleAware Study Finds Responsible Gambling Ads May Increase Gambling Activity

^{GambleAware runs campaigns that effectively discourage betting, but new research shows other companies’ ads make players take the risks less seriously. (Photo: Stephen Frost / Alamy)}

Research released by leading UK gambling support charity GambleAware on Aug. 20 found that advertisements that are designed to promote responsible gambling might actually be causing people to gamble more than they otherwise would.

The research focused on ads that are currently being produced by gambling firms in the UK.

Industry Ads Fail to Dissuade Players from Gambling 

The issue, according to the research, was that these ads served to make gambling seem like a safe activity, which in turn encouraged individuals to wager money without considering the risks. For instance, 45 percent of people seeing a video of one gambling ad from an operator felt that the commercial suggested that gambling was harmless fun.

“This new research shows that so-called ‘safer gambling’ videos produced by gambling operators could be doing more harm than good,” GambleAware Chief Communications Officer Alexia Clifford said in a statement. “It’s unacceptable that adverts claiming to help people reduce their risk of harm are encouraging people to gamble more instead.”

In fact, a video produced by GambleAware which was also shown to participants in the study was the only one that was found to be effective in reducing the intention to gamble in viewers.

“The gambling industry cannot be left to ‘mark its own homework’ on such an important issue,” Clifford added. “We need stronger legislation on gambling marketing and advertising, including more effective monitoring of gambling industry-led advertising campaigns, health warnings on all gambling advertising, and for all adverts to signpost to where people can get help for gambling harms.”

Study Could Influence Further Public Health Campaigns

The study was conducted by Thinks Insight & Strategy along with Professor Elliot Ludvig, who studies Psychology at the University of Warwick. Professor Ludvig says the research should be used by regulators and officials in the gaming industry to create more effective campaigns to reduce gambling harm.

“The aim was to produce evidence to inform guidance on the design of effective safer gambling advertising videos and to establish how to measure their impact,” Professor Ludvig said. “The findings from this experiment should be used to help to guide the design of effective safer gambling advertising videos and establish standards for measuring their impact.”

The research on gambling ads comes as GambleAware begins to wind down its operations in the UK. The charity is currently in the process of a managed closure, and is planning to end operations by March 31, 2026. The move comes in response to a more statutory, public-health model for addressing gambling harm in which public government agencies will take on a leading role, a move that GambleAware has supported.