Summary
- carries out betting market study in Australia
- Betting apps fueling growth in betting
- Young Australians swayed by betting apps and advertising
The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is carrying out detailed research into the gambling market in Australia.
According to the early findings from the research project, heavily-marketed sports betting apps are the main reason behind the rise in sports gambling in Australia. The study further investigated how resultant gambling practices have severe repercussions for players, their families and the sports community.
Titled ‘In it to win it,’ the research adopts an interdisciplinary approach to investigate the attraction of sports betting and its impact on young Australians and low and moderate risk gamblers. It also brings to light the cost of gambling-related harms that negatively impact health, relationships, and well-being.
The research employs EEG and eye-tracking to monitor participants’ reactions to marketing stimuli along with interviews and cognitive neuroscience. The project also aims to understand the social rationale behind betting to prompt better policies on gambling.
The study involves researchers from QUT, the Universities of Glasgow, Wollongong, Swinburne and RMIT. Fifty Sydney-based participants falling in the age bracket of 18 to 35 took part in the study. More findings are awaited from the ongoing research which is being funded by the Australian Research Council.
The increased feasibility of sports betting brought around by convenient technology has caused its revenue to peak at $5.5 billion in 2021. According to principal researcher Professor Ross Gordon, revenue figures have risen by 4.3 percent per year over the last five years.
World gambling trends also increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The time Australians spent online as well as the ease of accessing sports betting websites had a huge role in determining these inflated figures. Web advertisements and sports betting apps offered prior alerts for future events along with friendly interfaces, which tempted players to place frequent bets. Gordon said such findings have been reported previously by research studies on the same subject.
Moreover, the study attributes the rise in Aussies’ fixation with gambling to aggressive marketing campaigns by sports betting apps. Participants conveyed how short, recurrent advertisements piqued their curiosity about betting. Ads also promised adrenaline thrills, success, and power to attract players.
Though some participants in the research study confessed that they did not have the resources to place bets, the fear of missing something exciting, egged them on. Many women have also joined the fray besides young men who are targets of such betting advertisement strategies.
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