Protecting children and young people from contemporary marketing for gambling

• Published in: Health promotion international 2023-04, Vol.38 (2)
• Main Authors: Thomas, Samantha, van Schalkwyk, May C I, Daube, Mike, Pitt, Hannah, McGee, Darragh, McKee, Martin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Child; Gambling - prevention & control; Humans; Leisure Activities; Marketing; Public Health; Sports
• ISSN: 0957-4824; 1460-2245
• DOI: 10.1093/heapro/daac194

Abstract Around the world, children are being exposed to intensive marketing for gambling products. This normalizes perceptions that gambling is essentially a harmless form of entertainment, despite mounting evidence of the harms it causes. Young people and their parents are supportive of strategies to protect children from being exposed to gambling marketing. Yet existing regulatory efforts are inconsistent and inadequate, and have not protected children from exposure to the many forms of marketing now being developed and exploited by the gambling industry. We outline existing knowledge about strategies used by the gambling industry to market its products, with a specific focus on the potential impact of gambling marketing on young people. We provide a definition of gambling marketing and outline the different forms of promotion that are currently used to market gambling, current regulatory responses, and the impact of marketing on children and young people. We then argue that a comprehensive public health approach to gambling is urgently required, which must include effective action to limit the influence of marketing for gambling products, while recognizing that it is never possible to insulate children entirely from their reach. Lay Summary • Gambling marketing has become particularly pervasive and aligned with major cultural activities such as sport. • Evidence clearly shows the normalizing impact of marketing on children and young people’s gambling attitudes and consumption intentions. • Current regulatory efforts are inadequate and have not protected children and young people from exposure to a range of different forms of marketing. • Young people and their parents support the implementation of significant restrictions on gambling marketing. • The array of marketing mechanisms used by the gambling industry should be addressed as part of a comprehensive public health policy approach to protect children from gambling harms.