Abstract
Internet gambling has been widely legalised in recognition of its capacity to, and the importance of, providing consumer protection tools to prevent and minimise gambling-related harms. Most licensed Internet gambling sites are required to provide consumer protection tools, including activity statements, deposit limits, and time-outs (temporary self-exclusion). However, few Internet gambling customers engage with the tools. An online survey of 564 customers of Australian Internet gambling sites aimed to understand the extent to which consumer protection tools are used, characteristics of those using these tools, and the perceptions and attitudes towards tool use, including barriers to use. Most participants were aware of the tools and had accessed activity statements; few had used deposit limits (24.5%) or time-outs (8.1%) but use of these restrictive tools was higher among those at-risk of gambling problems. Satisfaction with tools was generally high among users and tools were mostly used as intended; however, only moderate changes in behaviour were reported. Participants predominately did not use the restrictive tools as they did not see these as relevant for them, and they were perceived to be intended for people with gambling problems. The findings are important to drive necessary improvements to consumer protection efforts including efforts to encourage perception that tools are relevant for all customers. Changes to current practice, including terminology and promotion of tools, are needed by Internet gambling operators and policy makers to improve the utilisation and effectiveness of consumer protection tools to enable sustainable gambling among the broader cohort of Internet gamblers.
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Funding
This work was supported by an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Research Award [DE1060100459] awarded to Dr Sally Gainsbury and research funding provide by Responsible Wagering Australia to Gainsbury and Blaszczynski.
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SG and AB have received funding for University-based research from Responsible Wagering Australia and other wagering and gambling operators. Since 2015, SG has received research funding from the Australian Research Council, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Responsible Wagering Australia, the Australian Communication and Media Authority, the University of Sydney, Star Entertainment, Manitoba Gambling Research Program. She has had travel costs paid and/or honorariums related to conference presentations by Generation Next, Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation QLD, Responsible Gambling Council (Canada), Alberta Gambling Research Institute, GambleAware, National Council for Problem Gambling Singapore, Community Clubs Victoria, Financial and Consumer Rights Council, Credit Suisse, SNSUS, British Columbia Lottery Corporation, Australian Psychological Society. Honorariums for research consulting services have been received from Gambling Research Exchange Ontario, Communio Australia, MinterEllison, Greenslade Legal, KPMG, Clayton Utz. For the period 2015–2018, Professor Alex Blaszczynski has conducted research funded directly by Australian or international government, or government-related funding agencies, and industry operators. These include Gambling Research Exchange Ontario, ClubsNSW, Dooleys Club Lidcombe, Aristocrat Leisure Industries, Australian Communications Media Authority, Gaming Technologies Association, Gambling Research Australia, Responsible Wagering Australia, Commonwealth Bank, NSW Department of Trade and Investment (NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing), La Loterie Romande (Switzerland), Camelot (United Kingdom), La Française des Jeux (France), Loto-Quebec (Canada), and National Lottery (Belgium), and the National Association for Gambling Studies. He has received honorariums from Manitoba Gambling Research Program and GambleAware (formerly UK Responsible Gambling Trust) for grant reviews, and royalties from several publishers for books and book chapters. He has also received travel and accommodation expenses from Leagues Clubs, Gambling Research Exchange Ontario, USA National Council on Problem Gambling, Japan Medical Society for Behavioural Addiction, Le Comité d’organisation Congrès international sur les troubles addictifs, Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries, and New Horizons (British Columbia Lottery Corporation) to attend conferences and meetings.
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This research was approved by the University of Sydney Human Research Ethics Committee (Project No. 2018/400). All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
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Gainsbury, S.M., Angus, D.J., Procter, L. et al. Use of Consumer Protection Tools on Internet Gambling Sites: Customer Perceptions, Motivators, and Barriers to Use. J Gambl Stud 36, 259–276 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-019-09859-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-019-09859-8