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BMC Public Health
Published in: BMC Public Health 1/2019

Open Access 01-12-2019 | Research article

The impact of pop-up warning messages of losses on expenditure in a simulated game of online roulette: a pilot study

Authors: Paul McGivern, Zaheer Hussain, Sigrid Lipka, Edward Stupple

Published in: BMC Public Health | Issue 1/2019

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Abstract

Background

‘Pop-up’ warning messages have potential as a Responsible Gambling tool, but many warning messages in the literature are generic. The present study simulated digital roulette to compare the effectiveness of expenditure-specific, generic and control messages, during online roulette.

Methods

Forty-five casual gamblers participated in a laboratory setting. Gambles were ‘rigged’ such that participants suffered a net loss. Total ‘play money’ wagers from individual bets after the presentation of the messages were measured.

Results

Expenditure-specific warning messages demonstrated significant reductions in wager amounts compared with other message types - Generic (p = .035) and Control messages (p < .001). No significant differences were found between Generic and Control messages (p > .05). Thus expenditure-specific warning messages about current losses were more effective than generic messages for reducing expenditure.

Conclusions

Expenditure-specific warning messages exhibit potential for ameliorating potentially harmful gambling behaviour. Expenditure-specific messages should be tested in a broader range of gambling contexts to examine their generalizability and potential for implementation in the gambling industry.
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Metadata
Title
The impact of pop-up warning messages of losses on expenditure in a simulated game of online roulette: a pilot study
Authors
Paul McGivern
Zaheer Hussain
Sigrid Lipka
Edward Stupple
Publication date
01-12-2019
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Public Health / Issue 1/2019
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2458
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7191-5

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