Kindred Group, Tigne Point, Sliema TPO0001, Malta.
Psychology Department, Nottingham Trent University, 50 Shakespeare Street, Nottingham NG1 4FQ, UK.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Feb 19;18(4):2000. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18042000.
Online gambling has continued to grow alongside new ways to analyze data using behavioral tracking as a way to enhance consumer protection. A number of studies have analyzed consumers that have used voluntary self-exclusion (VSE) as a proxy measure for problem gambling. However, some scholars have argued that this is a poor proxy for problem gambling. Therefore, the present study examined this issue by analyzing customers (from the gambling operator ) that have engaged in VSE. The participants comprised of costumers that chose to use the six-month VSE option (n = 7732), and customers that chose to close their account due to a specific self-reported gambling addiction (n = 141). Almost one-fifth of the customers that used six-month VSE only had gambling activity for less than 24 h (19.15%). Moreover, half of the customers had less than seven days of account registration prior to six-month VSE (50.39%). Customers who use VSE are too different to be treated as a homogenous group and therefore VSE is not a reliable proxy measure for problem gambling. The findings of this research are beneficial for operators, researchers, and policymakers because it provides insight into gambling behavior by analyzing real player behavior using tracking technologies, which is objective and unbiased.
在线赌博随着使用行为跟踪进行数据分析的新方法而持续增长，这是一种增强消费者保护的方式。许多研究已经分析了使用自愿自我排除（VSE）作为赌博问题代理指标的消费者。然而，一些学者认为这是赌博问题的一个很差的代理指标。因此，本研究通过分析参与 VSE 的客户（来自赌博运营商）来研究这个问题。参与者包括选择使用六个月 VSE 选项的客户（n=7732）和因自我报告的赌博成瘾而选择关闭账户的客户（n=141）。使用六个月 VSE 的客户中，近五分之一的客户只有不到 24 小时的赌博活动（19.15%）。此外，一半的客户在使用六个月 VSE 之前的账户注册时间不到七天（50.39%）。使用 VSE 的客户差异太大，不能视为同质群体，因此 VSE 不是赌博问题的可靠代理指标。本研究的结果对运营商、研究人员和政策制定者都有益，因为它通过使用跟踪技术分析真实玩家行为，提供了对赌博行为的深入了解，这种方法是客观和无偏的。
