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.
Conflict of interest statement
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Figures
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
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
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
Generic Warning Message; A screenshot example of the generic message displayed to participants in this group
Fig. 5
Control Warning Message; A screenshot example of the control message displayed to participants in this group
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