Dear Reader,
Recently a report titled The marketing of wagering on social media: An analysis of promotional content on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook was published by the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation. The report, authored by Thomas et al. (2015) examined the role of social media in the marketing of wagering products and services by seven brands in Australia. You can read the report via this link: http://www.responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/information-and-resources/research/recent-research/the-marketing-of-wagering-on-social-media .
Thomas et al. (2015) focused on activity in September 2014 – to represent the final seasons of the Australian Football and National Rugby League and April 2015 – to represent the start of the AFL and NRL season. The authors conducted a mixed methods interpretive content analysis of social media promotions on YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook to explore the written, verbal and visual communication strategies used within the marketing promotions. The authors coded the content of the promotions in six ways – user engagement; branding and content link with sport; promotional creative strategies; specific wagering promotions; appeal factors and content of ‘most popular’ videos. The report identified a series of key findings including - there was a high volume of messages on some social media platforms (particularly Twitter) and links were created between these messages and live sporting events; there were a complex range of promotional strategies used within and across social media channels; some marketing strategies (e.g. humorous videos or game commentaries) may not be clearly understood or distinguished by consumers as promotions; promotional special offers (e.g. cashback, bonus bet or refund promotions) may led to a perception that there is a reduced risk of loss; the use of strategies that may appeal to young people (e.g. cartoons, memes, celebrity endorsements within wagering promotions) and the lack of comprehensive harm minimisation messaging. The authors recommended a series of recommendations – increase public knowledge and awareness of the strategies used by the sports wagering industry to market products and services on social media channels; provide information to policy and decision-makers and regulators about the marketing of wagering and its impact on the population; discuss with sports organisations how promotions may influence gambling attitudes and behaviours, develop research structures to map and monitor how the sports wagering industry promote their products on social media over time and to engage in dialogue with social media companies about their roles and responsibilities in this space.
Inspired by the report by Thomas et al. (2015) I have conducted a similar analysis in order to examine how betting is being marketed via social media by 12 gambling companies in the United Kingdom during the 2015 Rugby World Cup. I am investigating how betting is marketed via YouTube and Facebook and will share my findings with you over the next few days.
Regards,
Stephanie
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