{"id":15159,"date":"2023-01-13T10:05:23","date_gmt":"2023-01-13T08:05:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/161.116.26.48\/?p=15159"},"modified":"2023-01-13T10:27:34","modified_gmt":"2023-01-13T08:27:34","slug":"hibai-lopez-the-key-in-the-advertising-message-of-betting-houses-is-giving-consumers-the-illusion-of-control-over-the-product","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fbg.ub.edu\/en\/news\/hibai-lopez-the-key-in-the-advertising-message-of-betting-houses-is-giving-consumers-the-illusion-of-control-over-the-product\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThe key in the advertising message of betting houses is giving consumers the illusion of control over the product\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr Hibai L\u00f3pez Gonz\u00e1lez is a lecturer in the Department of Library and Information Science and Audiovisual Communication of the Faculty of Information and Audiovisual Media at the University of Barcelona. His main field of research is studying how marketing and advertising campaigns affect gambling and what type of influence they have on people who develop gambling problems.<\/strong><\/p>\n

What impact does advertising for gambling companies have on the development of gambling addictions?<\/strong>
\nThere are many factors involved in a person having this type of mental-health issue. Exposure to stimuli in their environment, such as adverts, is a small part of other factors, like their psychology and personality, and biological and social determinants like their family environment, laws in their country, etc.<\/p>\n

How do companies design their products to make them more addictive?<\/strong>
\nThe structural characteristics of the product determine how dangerous it is. If you do the football pools on a Wednesday and have to wait until Sunday to find out the results of the matches, that four- or five-day wait makes this product less attractive. However, if you\u2019re betting live and know the result of your bet in just minutes, it\u2019s much easier to keep on betting. The length of the game and ease of access determine how addictive a product is.<\/p>\n

How do betting houses put together a credible message so consumers believe they can win money on this type of product?<\/strong>
\nThere\u2019s a very important element, which is how they make you feel like you\u2019ve almost won. Meaning, how do you make a product in which you lose money but have the sensation that you\u2019re just about to win money? On a slot machine, if you need three melons to win the prize, getting one melon, one lemon and one strawberry isn\u2019t the same as getting two melons and half a melon that you almost, but not quite, land on. And you think: if I keep going, I\u2019ll win. All of that has to do with product design and this is very important because it is something you can hold the company that makes the product responsible for. Because if we only look at the genetic or psychological factors of people with gambling problems, we put the blame on the person with the problem. However, if research focuses on how the products are designed, marketed and publicised, then we can hold the industry liable and legislation can have an impact on how these companies operate.<\/p>\n

The house always wins, right?<\/strong>
\nThe reward the consumer sees has to be intermittent; sometimes they get a reward, sometimes they don\u2019t. But they can\u2019t lose all the time. For a casino, it\u2019s very important for the punters to win sometimes. If you only lost, no one would go. It wouldn\u2019t make any sense. This is a significant part of the advertising message: convincing people a product designed so consumers lose in the long term is better than others and making consumers think they can make a profit. This is key in their advertising message, generating this illusion of control over the product.<\/p>\n

What type of audience is most susceptible to these messages?<\/strong>
\nTeens and young people are most vulnerable, and people who already have a problem with gambling. People who have developed a gambling problem, in our interviews, report that advertising has a greater influence on them, that it makes them feel bad psychologically. Sometimes they\u2019re trying to quit, but they are exposed to new stimuli, like emails or a slot machine in a bar when they want to grab coffee.<\/p>\n

What stage is your research at now?<\/strong>
\nI\u2019m starting to study some of the changes we\u2019re seeing in the sector. Now, most football teams don\u2019t wear the logos of betting houses, but they do wear advertising for investments that incorporate elements of gambling, such as trading apps, fan tokens (a type of crypto-asset with speculative value) and NFTs. And I\u2019m looking for funding to start a project on the advertising and marketing strategy behind these new products that incorporate elements of gambling. I\u2019m reaching out to the UB community to see if any other departments are interested in this topic. I\u2019m open to collaborating and setting up a team or whatever we need.<\/p>\n

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