The impact of pop-up warning messages of losses on expenditure in a simulated game of online roulette: a pilot study - PubMed (original) (raw)

Controlled Clinical Trial

The impact of pop-up warning messages of losses on expenditure in a simulated game of online roulette: a pilot study

Paul McGivern et al. BMC Public Health. 2019.

Abstract

Background: 'Pop-up' warning messages have potential as a Responsible Gambling tool, but many warning messages in the literature are generic. The present study simulated digital roulette to compare the effectiveness of expenditure-specific, generic and control messages, during online roulette.

Methods: Forty-five casual gamblers participated in a laboratory setting. Gambles were 'rigged' such that participants suffered a net loss. Total 'play money' wagers from individual bets after the presentation of the messages were measured.

Results: Expenditure-specific warning messages demonstrated significant reductions in wager amounts compared with other message types - Generic (p = .035) and Control messages (p < .001). No significant differences were found between Generic and Control messages (p > .05). Thus expenditure-specific warning messages about current losses were more effective than generic messages for reducing expenditure.

Conclusions: Expenditure-specific warning messages exhibit potential for ameliorating potentially harmful gambling behaviour. Expenditure-specific messages should be tested in a broader range of gambling contexts to examine their generalizability and potential for implementation in the gambling industry.

Keywords: Electronic gaming machines; Harm minimisation; Pop-ups; Responsible gambling; Warning messages.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1

Fig. 1

Roulette Screenshot (without example warning message); A screenshot of the software used for the study without any pop-up warning messages displayed

Fig. 2

Fig. 2

Roulette Screenshot (with example warning message); A screenshot of the software used for the study, which also shows how the screen appeared to participants when pop-up messages appeared on the screen

Fig. 3

Fig. 3

Expenditure-Specific Warning Message; A screenshot example of one of the four expenditure-specific messages displayed to participants in this group. The values displayed in each of the four messages was relevant to their current bankroll position at the time of display

Fig. 4

Fig. 4

Generic Warning Message; A screenshot example of the generic message displayed to participants in this group

Fig. 5

Fig. 5

Control Warning Message; A screenshot example of the control message displayed to participants in this group

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