Raising players’ “gambling literacy” is an effective way for responsible-gambling efforts to succeed, members of a Global Gaming Expo panel agreed.
That doesn’t require a player to research complex strategies, simply to grasp basic concepts, such as “Gambling is not a good way to make money” and “I’m not more likely to win after a loss.”
“If they understand how gambling works, they’ll understand more that this is a game of chance,” said Christina Menicucci Benna, manager of Responsible Gameplay for Aristocrat Gaming. That knowledge helps players manage their overall entertainment experience, including setting a budget for the time and money they’ll spend gambling.
Benna spoke Oct. 8 at a Global Gaming Expo panel discussion titled “The Importance of Positive Play.” Other panelists were Dr. Richard Wood, a psychologist who has been developing and evaluating responsible gambling initiatives for 25 years, and Garrett Farnes, director of Responsible Gaming for MGM Resorts International. Jamie Helmick, vice president of consumer marketing for Aristocrat Gaming, moderated.
Wood said the early efforts to stem “problem gambling” talked down to players and focused on telling them what not to do rather than what they should do. Subsequent research proved that “positive” players want to win money, but their primary motivation is entertainment. After researching methods to measure the effectiveness of RG messages and the level of a person’s Positive Play, he identified four key factors, two classified as personal beliefs and two as behaviors.
The beliefs involve personal responsibility or how well players commit to playing within their means, and gambling literacy or the level of their understanding and misconceptions about the games they like. The behavioral factors involve control or whether they’re open and honest about their play with family and friends, and pre-commitment or whether they think about how much money and time they can spend on gambling.
Farnes said operators with a large national footprint might adapt their Positive Play messaging based on the circumstances and makeup of the customers they’re trying to reach. In Las Vegas, for example, they might choose to emphasize rules-of-the-game messaging, because of the large number of low-volume players who visit for a few days. In regional markets with higher-volume and more local players, the messages might focus more on responsibility, such as not chasing losses. “What you have to do is test those markets and see if that messaging resonates with the players in those different markets,” he said. “Grow and adapt.”
In response to an audience question, Benna and Farnes acknowledged the compliance issues that limit operators’ ability to raise the issue of Positive Play on social media, particularly those with a young audience. “We can’t, as an industry, go in and have these conversations, which is brutal,” Farnes said. Operators must look to RG groups or other advocates, such as the American Gaming Association, for assistance, he said.
Benna said efforts to expand the reach of Positive Play messages will continue. “We know that this will continue to evolve,” she said, citing partnerships with the academic world, behavior experts, and RG councils. “We have to be as unified as we can be to protect the consumer.”
After the panel discussion, Wood told CDC Gaming that an emphasis on Positive Play wouldn’t lead casinos to stop advertising jackpots, because all players want to win. The question, he said, is whether the player gambles for entertainment or is trying to escape a problem.
“One of the things we found is that Positive Play is linked to satisfaction and player loyalty,” he said. “If you’re a positive player, you’ve probably got an overall psychological sense of well-being. Gambling isn’t creating problems for you; it’s not causing stress with your family. It’s just a fun thing that you do, so it’s related to satisfaction.”
He referenced a study he did several years ago in Sweden, showing that many poker players didn’t want to feel that they were winning money from people who couldn’t afford to lose.
“Operators can promote themselves in terms that will help with satisfaction and loyalty. That will also work promoting the games themselves.”
