Key Ideas
It's a common pattern in gambling research to use self-report, as a study method.
Account-based gambling is, however, limited to players who registered. Yet, most of the gambling is still cash-based and therefore happens offline. For offline players, self-report still stays the primary method of data collection.
One of the key benefits of an account-based approach is precise, individualized customer responses/behavior that can be analyzed. Limitations related to betting frequency, types, and sizes are no longer a problem for analysis. That also provides the possibility to compare players with similar game patterns with each other rather than with a general baseline.
As for the self-report method, it is namely subjective and emotional, which makes room for under- or overestimation, as well as memory preferences.
Internet gambling's affiliation channels include commercial goods, public online forums, private social media chats, as well as informational and educational online resources related to gambling.
One of the threats of gambling activity is that it happens fast within almost any context. In my opinion, this can be dangerous because in practice that's the description of auto-pilot behavior.
Other significant threats include the variety of gambling opportunities, and subsequently, the different gambling behavior that these opportunities promote.
Factors of frequency, bet size, and emotional engagement should be taken into consideration by gambling providers when creating responsible gambling actions.
Several responsible gambling features were identified by gamblers, as particularly useful. These included self-set spending and time limits, a self-assessment test, regular financial statements, self-exclusion, and individualized behavioral summaries, as opposed to general strategies applied to all players.
The practical implication of player-account data reporting is the automatic identification of gamblers with potentially risky playing activity, which could, for example, be characterized as high-intensity, high-frequency gambling, or increased bet size.
The three dangerous behavioral patterns include so-called "chasing behavior", loss of control, and immediate return after the self-exclusion ban was lifted.
In comparison to offline gambling, online gambling could potentially exclude barriers to self-exclusion, such as guilt, shame, or embarrassment.
Player-account data could also help psychological clinicians in providing relevant treatments for their patients.
One of the key dangers for players is the variety of legal and illegal online gambling providers. That holds the risk for players to obtain several accounts at different gambling providers. Consequently, the research could be limited to individual forms of gambling rather than entire gambling involvement.
Social, biological, environmental, and individual factors impact gambling behavior. To fulfill the knowledge of players, the player-account data could be supported with self-reported data (e.g. interviews).
My point: responsible gambling is the feature for gambling providers to place self-responsibility on individual players. Yet, individual gamblers tend to view this feature as positive, which seems to prolong retention and even increase acquisition.
Citations
"Account-based gambling refers to bets placed on gambling activities from a centralized account that is linked to an identified individual. Player account data, therefore, refers to the record of all behaviour that is obtained by the gambling operator in relation to a particular customer."
"there is increasing evidence to indicate that past gambling behaviour is a key factor in predicting current and future gambling." (Lam & Mizerski, 2009)
"An increasing number of events have been investigated owing to unusually large numbers and sizes of wagers placed on relatively unlikely events.”" (Forrest & Simmons, 2003; McLaren, 2008)
"Use of identifiable accounts reduces the likelihood of crimes including tax evasion and money laundering.”" (Forrest & Simmons, 2003; Parke et al., 2008)
"Research using player account data would be limited without strict measures undertaken by operators to restrict individuals to a single account. The use of multiple accounts by a single player or multiple players using a single account would bias results"
External References
Lam, Desmond & Mizerski, Richard. (2009). An investigation into gambling purchases using the NBD and NBD–Dirichlet models. Marketing Letters. 20. 263-276.
McLaren, Richard. (2008). Corruption: Its Impact on Fair Play.
Parke, J., Rigbye, J., & Parke, A. (2008). Cashless and card-based technologies in gambling: A review of the literature. Report for the Gambling Commission, University of Salford, Salford.
