Risk communication improvements for gambling: House-edge information and volatility statements.

OBJECTIVE

Some gambling product messages are designed to inform gamblers about the long-run cost of gambling, for example, "this game has an average percentage payout of 90%." This message is in the "return-to-player" format and is meant to convey that for every £100 bet about £90 will be paid out in prizes. Some previous research has found that restating this information in the "house-edge" format, for example, "this game keeps 10% of all money bet on average," is better understood by gamblers and reduces gamblers' perceived chances of winning. Here we additionally test another potential risk communication improvement: A "volatility statement" highlighting that return-to-player and house-edge percentages are long-run statistical averages, which may not be experienced in any short period of gambling.

METHOD

Gambling information format and volatility statement presence were manipulated in an online experiment involving 2,025 U.K. gamblers.

RESULTS

The house-edge format and the presence of volatility statements both additively reduced gamblers' perceived chances of winning. In terms of gamblers' understanding, house-edge messages were understood the best, but no consistent effect of volatility statements was observed.

CONCLUSIONS

The return-to-player gambling messages in current widespread use can be improved by switching to the house-edge format and via the addition of a volatility statement. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).