SBC News RGT greenlights further loyalty card player research

RGT greenlights further loyalty card player research

Marc Etches
Marc Etches

The Responsible Gambling Trust, the industry-funded organisation that commissions research, treatment and education initiatives around problem gambling, has commissioned NatCen Social Research to conduct a follow-up to a survey of bookmaker loyalty card holders first published in 2014.

Researchers will measure problem gambling rates and study reasons for behaviour change since the original survey.

The 2014 survey of bookmaker loyalty card holders was commissioned by RGT as part of its programme of research into Category B gaming machines and sought to examine whether industry data generated by machines in bookmakers could be used to distinguish between harmful and non-harmful patterns of play.

The study saw NatCen survey over 4,000 customers of three bookmakers who had loyalty cards and asked questions about gambling behaviour. The participants in this new survey will be the same people who answered survey questions in the 2014 study, providing researchers with the opportunity to explore patterns in behaviour over time by linking them back to characteristics and behaviours observed in the data collected in the original survey.

The people being surveyed include the largest number of problem gamblers outside of treatment settings identified with a research study internationally.

Marc Etches, Chief Executive of the Responsible Gambling Trust, said: “Our gaming machine research programme was the first major study commissioned by the Responsible Gambling Trust and established a baseline for high quality research into gambling behaviour. It was always our intention that it would be the basis for further independent research to be commissioned by RGT and other organisations. This new study, alongside research we have commissioned into online gaming behaviour, will benefit from RGT’s previous investment in research and build on the global body of knowledge into problem gambling behaviour.”

Elizabeth Fuller, Research Director at NatCen, added: “This follow-up survey is important because it will give us a better understanding of how gambling behaviour can change over time. In particular, because of the large number of problem gamblers being surveyed, we expect to gain new insights into what influences gambling behaviour and how and when an individual’s gambling can become a problem.”

In a bid to widen the scope of the research, NatCen is also inviting other researchers to submit new questions to the latest survey. This will allow members of the wider policy and research community to participate in an authoritative and high quality survey without carrying the full burden of the cost of the research.

Proposals for new questions will be reviewed and assessed by an expert panel to ensure they are methodologically robust and will yield insights which address evidence gaps and data required for policy needs. The selection process will be independently conducted by NatCen. Further information on the application process for applying to submit additional questions can be found by contacting NatCen directly via [email protected].

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