Study: Children find gambling adverts "attractive"

A recently published study of the University of Bristol concluded that children and youths are more and more frequently facing gambling adverts which are disguised on social media. A percentage, which is not negligible, describes these kind of adverts as “appealing”. If one considers the dangers of gambling, this is dangerous.

The online survey of the University of Bristol questioned the participants about the issue of gambling adverts on social media platforms among other things. The result is surprising: Nearly every second child, that is, nearly one in every two youths aged between 11 and 17 years, have admitted that at least once a week, a gambling advert draws their attention on Twitter. In the case of adults the percentage is even significantly higher, at 75 %. Actually minors should not be able to see any gambling adverts at all on the internet.

Which emotion does gambling trigger in the respondents?

The study of the University of Bristol came to the conclusion, among others, that gambling very often triggers emotions, especially in minors. As part of the survey, the respondents were shown 24 adverts with gambling content. The minors stated that they had positive feelings in an average of 14 from 24 adverts.

What complicates things is, that children and youths nowadays spend a lot of time on social networks. Accordingly they are often faced with gambling content. Therefore the researchers from the University of Bristol see no other alternative, except having stricter regulations for gambling adverts on the internet. A few months ago, in an article, we had tried to answer the question, whether Blackjack and Roulette are more addictive than slot machines.

The majority of adults among the respondents found the gambling adverts mainly bothering. Around three quarters of the adults admitted that they found the majority of the adverts stressful and bothering. Only a few weeks ago, we reported about a study which was about why online gambling is so attractive for many people.

The head of the study at the University of Bristol, Dr. Raffaello Rossi, is worried about the development of the gambling adverts:

“The fact that gambling adverts have noticeable power on children and youths is extremely worrying, because it is well known, that the earlier a person starts gambling, the more likely it is, that gambling becomes a habit or a problem.”

Conclusion

Young people seem to often be attracted to gambling adverts on the internet. Many adverts with gambling content affect children, youths and young adults, and they trigger feelings as happiness or excitement in them. Besides this, many young people especially, spend a long time on social media, which makes them more prone to coming in touch with gambling offers. For this reason, it seems appropriate, that the advertising guidelines for gambling content are toughened to provide better protection, especially to young people.

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