About personalizing Responsible Gaming messages (II)

By Dan Iliovici, Vicepresident, ROMBET

(continued from previous issue)

In this year’s first issue of Casino Life & Business Magazine, we began presenting the study●1 “Responsible Gaming Message Personalization Strategies”, with the hope that it can be a good source of inspiration for regulators, operators and those directly involved. in the creation and transmission of such messages.
Thus, as I said at the end of the previous article, in order to determine the effectiveness of responsible gaming messages, the study authors analyzed the type of content used, how they are framed, if and to what extent the messages cause players to get involved, by applying those tips and messages to their case.

The content of the message
“The important elements of communication with the consumer include the language, tone and content of the message. The content of the message refers to the simplicity, clarity and understanding of the words that communicate the appropriate level of danger, consequences and / or actions to avoid injury. The type of language used in warning messages can have different impacts on individuals, depending on the culture, emotional state, level of gambling problem, and consumer self-esteem.”

Further analysis of the content of Responsible Gaming (JR) messages states:
“JR messages often inform players about the odds of winning and how the results are determined. These messages are based on the use of warnings for alcohol and tobacco products, informing consumers of the risks associated with excessive or inappropriate use. (…)
It has been hypothesized that if players understood the games and the odds of winning, they would be able to make informed decisions about their involvement. Empirical research suggests (however) that effectively communicating information does not constantly change irrational beliefs or erroneous estimates of chances of winning.
The failure of this information to change behavior is likely due to cognitive biases that allow players to understand the low odds of winning, but I still think they may have a chance of winning. Even when informational messages are accurately remembered, respondents still believe that their chances of winning are greater than the information contained in the messages and do not change their behavior. While informational messages can correct irrational beliefs, there is a limited empirical understanding of how such messages can impact gambling behavior.”

rombet

In a free translation, it seems that in vain we tell the players how much the chances of winning are, in fact, extremely small (eg the Loto 6/49 grand prize), irrational beliefs and thoughts being stronger than any rational argument. Not to mention how the winning percentages for different types of gambling are presented, the so-called RTP (Return to Player). Nobody seems interested in explaining that a 95% RTP does not mean that if a player intends to “put” 100 lei in the devices, after having fun/playing for a while, he will go home with 95 lei, for sure.

Here I would mention one more fact, a marketing practice quite common in our country, unfortunately. I often see commercials where winnings or prizes are presented as GUARANTEED!
Guaranteed, in the mind of an ordinary person, can mean that winning that prize is safe, someone (the organizer) offering the guarantee that it will be so.
GARANTÁT, -Ă, garantați, -te, adj. (About goods) whose value, quality, operation, etc. are insured by the seller of the goods. ♦ (Adverbial; fam.) Sure, no doubt. “I guarantee it.”●2
No comment!

Frame the message
“Perspective Theory●3 suggests that people behave differently when messages are framed as either gains or losses. Positive messages, or framed as a gain, focus on the benefits of improving a certain behavior, while negative messages, or framed as a loss, contain information about the harmful consequences and dangers of risky behaviors.
Although educating consumers about the risks of a product is related to informed choice, research on attitudes and persuasion suggests that focusing on negative impacts is too narrow, and a study on gambling limitation has shown that feedback on breaking a limit did not lead to a deliberate reduction in the game.
Messages are more persuasive if they promote positive attitudes and if the identified behaviors are mutually exclusive (for example, setting deposit limits vs. not having limits).
It has been found that the use of positive message framing has a greater impact than negative framing. For example, research in neuroimaging has found that framed messages of gain are more effective in improving risky choice behaviors than framed messages of loss among people with substance use disorders. When a behavior is presented as a choice, positive messages are more effective than negative messages. The public tends to respond more enthusiastically to the positive things they can do to prevent health problems, and research in many areas of public health suggests that positive messages are more effective than lossy messages when they support behavior. health prevention.”

In the next issue of Casino Life & Business Magazine we will continue the presentation of this interesting academic study●4.

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●1 Gainsbury, S.M., Abarbanel, B.L.L., Philander, K.S. et al. Strategies to customize responsible gambling messages: a review and focus group study. BMC Public Health 18, 1381 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-6281-0
●2 According to DEXonline.ro
●3 Original Prospect theory – see definition of Investopedia, https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/prospecttheory.asp
●4 This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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