‘When the fun stops’ messaging fails to reduce gambling, report finds

The Senet Group’s ‘When the fun stops, stop’ campaign does not have any “significant” effect on changing gambling habits, according to a new report from the University of Warwick.

Researchers from the university’s psychology department conducted a survey which aimed to mimic the effect that online gambling advertising has on players.

A total of 506 people were surveyed during the study, with the survey sample being individuals who regularly placed sports bets online.

During the study, players were offered nine bonuses of £0.10 at different times during the FA Cup final in various ads. Half of these ads contained the ‘when the fun stops message’ and half did not.

The three options provided as part of the research project, which aimed to show the impact of RG-led messaging

Overall, 41.3% of participants decided to place a bet when show ads with the responsible gambling warning, compared to 37.8% of participants who bet when no warnings were included.

The researchers said the results were not statistically significant but concluded that the use of ‘when the FUN stops, stop’ did not reduce levels of gambling.

The researchees did acknowledge their test was for bets of tiny amounts and not “problem gambling” which is what the warning was designed to prevent.

Indeed, researchers believe that in some cases RG-led messaging cpould “backfire”, having the opposite effect to discouraging gambling.

Giving its verdict on the campaign, researchers said the “lack of an observed positive effect” on responsible gambling behaviour, together with the possibility that the messaging used might backfire, would suggest that the campaign should be “discontinued in its present form”.

The findings follow an earlier GambleAware commissioned report which revealed that 69% of frequent bettors were aware of the ‘Bet Regret’ campaign, as compared to 54% of individuals being aware of the ‘When the fun stops, stop’ campaign.

Gillian Wilmot, Senet Group Chairman, said the ‘When the Fun Stops Stop’campaign had generated “substantial awareness” of the link between negative emotional states and problem gambling,”.

Wilmot said the campaign has given young men “an accessible phrase to challenge each other’s behaviour in a way which has now passed into popular culture,”.

“Discouraging all betting was never its purpose. Instead it aims to get gamblers to pause and reflect, in much the same way as the current Bet Regret messaging.

Last year we initiated a review of the campaign, informed by a substantial behavioural study, and the new creative will reflect a change to the relative size of the word fun in response to feedback,” Wilmot added.