Project
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Funded by .
Collaboration with University of Edinburgh and University of Glasgow.
This study is addressing three major questions: how have gambling practices, and the risk factors around gambling harms, changed due to the Covid-19 pandemic; what has been the effect on gambling marketing; and how have the experiences and practices of high risk groups altered.
The study focuses on two groups at particular risk of adopting more risky, online gambling practices – young adults and sports bettors.
The research team will consider how risk factors – such as boredom, stress, anxiety, financial problems and loneliness – may have heightened during lockdown. It will also look at gambling opportunities unaffected by the restrictions – such as online slots and casino games, e-sports and virtual events – which are associated with high rates of problem gambling.
The team will also look at how gambling behaviours change as restrictions ease, including when major sports events restart.
As part of the project, surveys have been conducted with young people (aged 16 to 24) and sports bettors; gambling companies’ marketing and promotional activities are being assessed; and qualitative interviews have beeen carried out with people who have experience of betting, including those deemed to be in the ‘high risk’ group.
Total award value ?464,386.77
Professor, ISM
Research Fellow, Institute for Social Marketing
Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Social Marketing
Research Fellow, Institute for Social Marketing
Research Fellow, Institute for Social Marketing
Article
Wardle H, Critchlow N, Brown A, Donnachie C, Kolesnikov A & Hunt K (2022) The association between gambling marketing and unplanned gambling spend: Synthesised findings from two online cross-sectional surveys. Addictive Behaviors, 135, Art. No.: 107440. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2022.107440
Article
Critchlow N, Hunt K, Wardle H & Stead M (2022) Expenditure on paid-for gambling advertising during the national COVID-19 ‘lockdowns’: An observational study of media monitoring data from the United Kingdom [Gambling advertising spend during COVID-19]. Journal of Gambling Studies. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-022-10153-3
Article
Wardle H, Kolesnikov A, Fiedler I, Critchlow N & Hunt K (2022) Is the economic model of gambling dependent on problem gambling? Evidence from an online survey of regular sports bettors in Britain. International Gambling Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/14459795.2022.2088823
Article
Wardle H, Donnachie C, Critchlow N, Brown A, Bunn C, Dobbie F, Gray C, Mitchell D, Purves R, Reith G, Stead M & Hunt K (2021) The impact of the initial Covid-19 lockdown upon regular sports bettors in Britain: findings from a cross-sectional online study. Addictive Behaviors, 118, Art. No.: 106876. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2021.106876
Article
Hunt K, Critchlow N, Brown A, Bunn C, Dobbie F, Donnachie C, Gray C, Purves R, Reith G, Stead M, Mitchell D & Wardle H (2020) Protocol for a mixed-method investigation of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and gambling practices, experiences and marketing in the UK: the "Betting and gaming Covid-19 impact study". International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17 (22), Art. No.: 8449. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17228449