Science Faculty, Brain and Mind Centre, School of Psychology, University of Sydney, Australia.
Addiction. 2021 Oct;116(10):2801-2813. doi: 10.1111/add.15471. Epub 2021 Mar 25.
We tested the effectiveness of three different messages designed to increase limit-setting on gambling sites and sent these via e-mail or in-account notification to compare delivery modes. As a secondary aim, we examined the effects of limit-setting on gambling behaviour.
A pre-registered, naturalistic randomized control trial using a 3 × 2 plus control design.
Four on-line Australian sports and racing wagering websites.
A total of 31 989 wagering customers (reduced to 26,560 after eligibility screening) who had placed bets on at least 5 days in the past 30 [mean age = 41.4, standard deviation (SD) = 14.3; 79% male].
Messages were sent via e-mail or in-account notification by on-line gambling operators and were designed to either: (1) be informative, describing the availability and purpose of the tool (informative messages), (2) highlight the benefits other people receive from using the tool (social messages) or (3) promote the benefit individuals could receive from using the tool (personal messages). A control group who did not receive messages was monitored for comparison.
Our primary outcome was the number of customers who set a deposit limit within 5 days of receiving messages and secondary outcomes included pre- and post-message betting behaviour (e.g. average daily wager).
One hundred and sixty-one (0.71%) customers sent messages set limits compared to three (0.08%) controls [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 8.17, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 2.99, 33.76)]. Social and personal messages were no more effective than informative messages (aOR = 0.98, 95% CI = 0.65, 1.48; aOR = 0.93, 95% CI = 0.60, 1.44) and in-account messages were no more effective than e-mails (aOR = 1.02, 95% CI = 0.71, 1.49). Customers who set limits significantly decreased their average daily wager, the SD of daily wager, net loss and betting intensity compared with non-limit-setters.
Messages to on-line gambling website customers are inexpensive, and may lead to small but impactful increases in setting deposit limits. Limit-setting may be an effective strategy for reducing gambling expenditure and intensity.
我们测试了三种旨在增加赌博网站限注的不同信息，通过电子邮件或账户通知发送这些信息，以比较不同的传递方式。作为次要目标，我们研究了限注对赌博行为的影响。
使用 3×2 加对照设计的预先注册的自然随机对照试验。
四个澳大利亚在线体育和赛马投注网站。
共有 31989 名投注客户（在符合条件的筛选后减少到 26560 名），他们在过去 30 天内至少有 5 天下注[平均年龄为 41.4，标准差（SD）为 14.3；79%为男性]。
在线赌博运营商通过电子邮件或账户通知发送信息，信息的设计目的是：（1）提供工具的可用性和用途的信息（信息消息），（2）突出其他人使用该工具获得的好处（社会消息）或（3）宣传个人使用该工具可能获得的好处（个人消息）。一个未收到信息的对照组用于比较。
我们的主要结果是在收到信息后的 5 天内设置存款限额的客户数量，次要结果包括预信息和后信息的投注行为（例如，平均每日赌注）。
与三个对照组（0.08%）相比，有 161 名（0.71%）发送消息的客户设置了限制[调整后的优势比（aOR）=8.17，95%置信区间（CI）=2.99，33.76]。社会和个人消息并不比信息消息更有效（aOR=0.98，95%CI=0.65，1.48；aOR=0.93，95%CI=0.60，1.44），账户内消息也不比电子邮件更有效（aOR=1.02，95%CI=0.71，1.49）。与非限注者相比，设置限制的客户的平均每日赌注、每日赌注的标准差、净损失和投注强度显著降低。
向在线赌博网站客户发送消息成本低廉，可能会导致少量但有影响力的存款限额增加。限注可能是减少赌博支出和强度的有效策略。
