A Content Analysis of Gambling Operators' Twitter Accounts at the Start of the English Premier League Football Season - PubMed (original) (raw)

A Content Analysis of Gambling Operators' Twitter Accounts at the Start of the English Premier League Football Season

Elizabeth A Killick et al. J Gambl Stud. 2020 Mar.

Abstract

The use of social media is now an established strategy to engage and maintain customer loyalty. The purpose of the present study was to examine the Twitter accounts of ten of the largest online sports betting operators in the UK to determine what marketing strategies were employed. More specifically, this study analyzed 3375 tweets posted by the operators during the opening weekend of the 2018-2019 English Premier League football season using a content analysis methodology. The results demonstrated that multiple strategies, including hashtags, were used to link gambling operator tweets with major sporting events, and the use of numerous promotional campaigns. Notably, over 90% of the tweets contained no responsible gambling information. The quantity and content of social media posts underline the need for a review of the current advertising regulations in the UK. Further research should examine how exposure to sports betting social media marketing influences gambling behavior.

Keywords: Advertising; Gambling; Marketing; Online sports betting; Social media; Sports betting.

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Conflict of interest statement

The first author declares that she has no conflict of interest.The second author’s university currently receives funding from Norsk Tipping (the gambling operator owned by the Norwegian Government). The second author has received funding for a number of research projects in the area of gambling education for young people, social responsibility in gambling and gambling treatment from Gamble Aware (formerly the Responsibility in Gambling Trust), a charitable body which funds its research program based on donations from the gambling industry. The second author also undertakes consultancy for various gaming companies in the area of social responsibility in gambling.

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