UK Gambling Commission researches safer gambling messaging

The Gambling Commission hosted a co-creation workshop to utilise a new method which would bring stakeholders together to explore a key industry issue.

Our first workshop looked into safer gambling messaging to low and moderate-risk gamblers. Participants included three Gambling Commission experts, 12 representatives from a number of major operators and, importantly, 12 consumers.

Making gambling fairer and safer for consumers is the ultimate aim of the Commission. Exploring the ways in which safer gambling messages are communicated to customers required the input of multiple operators to make meaningful progress. We were also keen to include the very people who could be the main recipients of these messages.

During the day we employed various methods and tools to paint a picture of existing practises, gain feedback from customers and look for opportunities for change.

This was the first time we’d brought consumers and operators together to talk about safer gambling messaging and it was really interesting to watch the two groups interact in a positive way. Plus, bringing operators and consumers together in an open forum allowed us to share challenges and identify potential future collaborations.

Our key learnings from the workshop included:

• Hearing the voice of the customer, including what they liked about existing messages and how they’d react to new methods of communication
• Understanding how operators engage with consumers to inform their own approach to customer interaction regarding safer gambling messaging
• Identifying and sharing best practice

The day provided many ideas for change operators could consider when planning for future activities. Our findings have been written up in our report. To find out more about other projects we’ve been working on read our guidance on customer interaction and the Behavioural Insights Team’s work into reducing risky play in online environments.

Readers should note the above report and its findings are for operators to consider in addition to the LCCP (1).

Further to this, a consultation on Customer Interaction will take place in the next few weeks. This will look at formal requirements relating to Customer Interaction, which are contained within the (LCCP).

(1) LCCP – Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice sets out what gambling operators must do in order to hold an operating licence in Great Britain.