NEW STUDY TO LOOK AT FEMALE TARGETED GAMING ADS

Deakin University Associate Professor Samantha Thomas says that wagering companies have traditionally run marketing campaigns in which women played “mostly decorative roles” or were “secondary characters in a male’s betting experience”. However, times have changed and some of the latest gambling ads now feature women in the “hero” role in a bid to change female attitudes to betting.

Some of these recent campaigns include the CrownBet commercial featuring Australian actor Nicky Whelan, various female skewed Spring Racing Carnival promotions and the Sportsbet campaign which promoted bets on the outcome of popular TV shows The Bachelor and The Bachelorette.

“Women are gambling on a more diverse range of gambling products, and we are also seeing that younger women have more positive views towards gambling,” Dr Thomas said.

The new study will analyse whether advertising is making gambling seem more socially acceptable for young females, and why their attitudes towards some forms of gambling, such as sports-betting, may be changing.

“While there has been a significant amount of research on young men and gambling, there is almost no research on the gambling behaviours of young women in Australia,” Dr Thomas said. “We want to properly understand this behaviour so we can develop strategies to help reduce and prevent gambling harm among young women.”

Sports-betting is the fastest-growing form of gambling in Australia. Latest government figures show expenditure on sports-betting has grown by over 500 percent in the past decade, largely due to the take-up of internet and app-based wagering services aided by a proliferation of targeted advertising.

 

Sources: The Age, SMH, AIFS.GOV.AU