Exploring the effectiveness of an 'Intelligent Messages Framework' for developing warning messages to reduce gambling intensity

Warning messages are a common tool used in public health initiatives in an attempt to minimise consumer harm. Electronic gaming machines provide a unique opportunity to deliver messages that are personalised: i.e. based on player behaviour, gambling history and personal characteristics. This study explores whether messages that respond to player behaviour may be effective in reducing gambling intensity based on the Intelligent Messages Framework (Langham, Thorne, Rockloff, & Donaldson, 2017). One-hundred and seventy-two participants (82 males, 90 females) ranging from 20 to 88 years of age (M=48.95, SD=16.06) played a computerised gambling simulation. Participants were presented with a pop-up message following the 21st spin during game play, which varied according to message purpose (informative, self-monitoring, self-evaluative), and message frame (positive, challenging, negative). Results showed that female participants had faster betting speeds, greater betting persistence, and greater total losses in the negative, self-evaluative condition compared with other conditions. Findings suggest that messages need to be tailored appropriately based on the consumer’s characteristics in order to be effective. Messages that do not consider the individual needs of the consumer may increase gambling intensity and therefore fail to be an effective harm-minimisation tool. There is a need to develop and test more sophisticated methods of delivering messages to consumers, particularly given that ineffective messages have the potential to be counterproductive in reducing gambling intensity.