Evaluating the impact of the “when the fun stops, stop” message on online gambling behaviour

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Author(s): Newall, Philip W. S. ; Weiss-Cohen, Leonardo ; Singmann, Henrik ; Walasek, Lukasz ; Ludvig, Elliot A.

Journal: Lancet Public Health

Year Published: 2022

Date Added: June 15, 2022

“When the fun stops, stop” was a popular safer gambling message seen in the UK from 2014 until at least October of 2021. The researchers did three online experiments to test the impact of this message. Participants were offered real money to gamble on football matches (experiments 1 and 3) or an online roulette game (experiment 2). Each experiment randomly assigned participants to see the original yellow version of the message or no message. Experiment 2 included an extra condition in which participants saw a black and white version of the message. The results across the experiments showed that the message had no beneficial effect in reducing gambling behaviours.

Citation: Newall, P. W. S., Weiss-Cohen, L., Singmann, H., Walasek, L., & Ludvig, E. A. (2022). Impact of the “when the fun stops, stop” gambling message on online gambling behaviour: A randomised, online experimental study. The Lancet Public Health, 7(5), e437 – e446. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(21)00279-6

Article DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(21)00279-6

Keywords: gambling behaviours ; messaging ; online gambling ; safer gambling

Topics: Online Gambling

Conceptual Framework Factors: Exposure - Gambling Setting ; Types - Structural Characteristics ; Exposure - Marketing and Messaging ; Environment - Responsible Gambling ; Exposure - Accessibility ; Resources - Harm Reduction, Prevention, and Protection ; Gambling Environment ; Gambling Resources

Study Design: Experimental: RCT (randomized controlled trial)

Geographic Coverage: United Kingdom

Study Population: Experiments 1 and 3: adults living in the UK who had previous experience with online sports betting, and those in experiment 1 also previously reported an interest in the UK Premier League football on Prolific (n = 506 in experiment 1 and n = 1003 in experiment 3). Experiment 2: adults living in the UK who had previous experience with online roulette (n = 1500)

Sampling Procedure: Participants were recruited and paid via the crowdsourcing platform Prolific.

Study Funding:

This study was funded by the British Academy and Leverhume, the University of Warwick, and the Swiss National Science Foundation grant.