Review of Pop-Up Messages on Electronic Gaming Machines as a Proposed Responsible Gambling Strategy

Gambling revenue worldwide is increasing and associated increases in problem gambling heighten the need for effective responsible gambling strategies. This is particularly important for electronic gaming machines (EGMs), which are purported to make the largest contribution to problem gambling. In an attempt to increase the effectiveness of responsible gambling strategies, governments in Australia, New Zealand and Canada have supported the implementation of ‘pop-up’ messages on EGMs to break play and inform gamblers when they have been playing continuously for a set period of time. The purpose of this article is to review the evidence available regarding the efficacy of pop-up messages as a responsible gambling strategy for EGMs. While there is some evidence of the usefulness of these messages limitations remain to the known value of this strategy. Further research is needed to determine the optimal frequency of and content of pop-up messages, and the extent to which this method potentially minimises gambling-related harm.