Safer Gambling adverts do more harm than good, report finds

Well meaning adverts that encourage safer gambling practices increase curiosity and activity around gambling, a new study has found.

A new study commissioned by GambleAware has found that so-called ‘safer gambling’ advertising campaigns could in fact increase gambling activity among some viewers.

The research, conducted by Ipsos and ClearView, tested behavioural responses to video advertisements designed to encourage responsible play. The study involved over 7,000 adults in Great Britain, including gamblers and non-gamblers.

According to the findings, exposure to the advertisements led to a small but measurable increase in gambling participation, particularly among young adults. The adverts triggered curiosity or reinforced gambling behaviour rather than discouraged it. The report concluded that existing messaging approaches are unlikely to deliver meaningful harm reduction in their current form.

Mixed impact of current campaigns

Zoë Osmond, Chief Executive of GambleAware, said the results highlight “the urgent need for more effective approaches” to public messaging on gambling harm. 

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) have previously tightened rules around gambling adverts to reduce their appeal to under-18s. In the UK, you cannot show people under the age of 26 in gambling adverts, for example. 

This backfire is a known phenonmenon called the Cobra Effect, where the solution to the problem often leads to an increase in the problem. It was named so after British colonisiers in India tried to cull the poisoness snake population by paying bounties for them, which increased to them being farmed for profit.

Earlier this summer it was revealed that GambleAware would shut down next year, after it is set to be replaced by a mandatory government levy which supports the National Health Service.