A study conducted by CQ University in Australia and funded by Gambling Research Australia (GRA) found that online bettors benefit from positive messages. The study found that bettors exposed to positive messages don’t spend as much time and money on online betting as punters who weren’t sent positive messages.
Positive Messages Help Bettors Stake Less Money
More than 2,000 online betting enthusiasts took part in the study and were exposed to random messages so that researchers could see how each individual would bet. The participants were exposed to these randomized messages for over five weeks.
In total, there were twenty-seven messages that were sent to bettors. These were created by the research team in consultation with regulators and associations that help problem gamblers.
During the study, researchers recorded the betting activity of each participant – how much they would wager, how much time they would spend betting, and the gambling harms from their wagering activity.
When participants were asked what they considered was most helpful, they responded that positive messages on how to control their betting spending were easiest to understand and helped them the most.
Professor Mathew Rocklow, who led the research team, said that the people taking part in the study spent less money. They also wagered for shorter periods.
Bookmakers Should Constantly Remind Bettors to Set Betting Limits
Another GRA-funded research found that betting operators don’t always prompt customers to utilize betting limits. More than 3,000 race and sports betting enthusiasts took part in the survey, and only 41% of the participants had set a deposit limit. Rather worryingly, more than 50 per cent said they were unlikely to ever set a deposit or betting limit.
Like the previous GRA-funded research, this study also featured betting messages. This time, however, they were about bet limits. More than 1,200 regular bettors received these messages over four weeks. At the end of that period, almost a third of the participants had already activated at least one type of betting limit their bookmaker provided.
Sports betting operators in Australia have been obliged to allow bettors to set deposit and bet limits since 2019. They are also required to remind their customers constantly about setting up limits and reviewing them.
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