The Ministry expects this piece of research to explore the following questions;
- What effect does marketing (including advertising, sponsorship or promotion) of gambling have on public views and attitudes regarding the desirability of gambling and the attractiveness of participating?
- How do the marketing and promotional strategies used by different gambling industries, such as advertising, marketing, host responsibility initiatives or sponsorship both internal to venues (eg, use of culturally specific imagery in venues) and external to gambling venues (eg, sponsorship of community events)
- What forms of marketing and promotional activities are more influential in creating safe gambling environments?
- What forms of marketing and promotional activities are more strongly associated with the establishment of harmful gambling behaviours?
- What international guidelines, codes of conducts and standards relating to the advertising, marketing and sponsorship of gambling – particularly in relation to Asian (such as Chinese and Korean) and Pacific populations – may be relevant to supporting and encouraging safe gambling in specific venues in New Zealand?
- What forms of marketing and promotional activities are appropriate and effective for supporting and encouraging safe gambling in specific venues (ie, Class four venues, casinos)?
- What role does marketing have on rates of participation in gambling?
- What role does marketing have on the incidence of at-risk and problem gambling?
- Is there a relationship between gamblers awareness/recall of gambling marketing and level of gambling problems/harm or awareness of harm?
- Does the marketing of large lottery jackpots encourage people to spend more on lotteries than they usually do?
Purpose
The current report presents key findings of exploratory research examining the marketing, advertising and sponsorship of gambling products and services within New Zealand. The Ministry of Health recognises the marketing, advertising and sponsorship of gambling as key issues with potential to affect public health within New
Zealand.
However, while some past research has examined the effects of advertising of other potentially harmful products on consumers, very little research has explored the effects of gambling marketing and advertising on the attitudes and behaviours of gamblers. There is a particular need to better understand and explore how advertising may affect at-risk gamblers and whether advertising approaches within New Zealand could be further enhanced for improved consumer protection.
As an exploratory study, the research was broad in focus and aimed to inform a diverse range of research questions. Given the limited available prior research, the study does not attempt to present a definitive or fully conclusive position on all effects of gambling advertising. Indeed, in this very early stage of research, it is important to recognise that many effects are difficult to define and quantify, and in some cases, will still remain unanswered.
However, the study has been instrumental in identifying a range of important insights into the possible effects of gambling marketing and advertising and has provided a strong foundation for further research into the topic. For this reason, key findings should be considered indicative, rather than definitive.
Methodology
The current study was primarily a qualitative study. The methodology, however, included:
• A literature review on the marketing, advertising and sponsorship of gambling products and services
• A global scan of guidelines and codes relating to gambling and general marketing and advertising (including a scan of codes in Asian and Pacific nations)
• Conduct of 11 focus groups with gamblers to explore the effects of gambling marketing and advertising (including review of New Zealand gambling advertising materials in groups to stimulate discussion)
• Conduct of a quantitative survey of 400 gamblers using an online research panel to further explore the effects of gambling marketing and advertising in a convenience sample of non-problem and at-risk gamblers (This also included sampling of New Zealand Europeans, Maori, Pacific and Asian gamblers)