Twitter for Gambling Ads

This article investigates how gambling companies utilise Twitter for marketing purposes, their approaches towards generating customer engagement, and public relations. The study analyses how these companies present gambling as a glamorous activity, highlight the ease of use and accessibility of their products, and normalise it as an everyday leisure activity. The evaluation of tweets' frequency and the content of messages sent by different gambling operators is one of the key values to be found within this work. In particular, it can be found examples of the most engaging hashtags. In addition, the article presents how gambling operators employ viral content and humour to reach out to a wider audience and how they utilise user-generated content to enhance customer relationships. The study concludes by highlighting the potential risks of continuous exposure to gambling advertisements and tweets for followers, particularly for those suffering from problem gambling.

Authors of this review:

Nikita Goncharenko

Date of Publication:

09/04/2023

Academic Reference:

Bradley, A. and James, R. (2019). How are major gambling brands using Twitter?. International Gambling Studies. 19. 1-20.

Tags:sports gambling sports marketing

Key Ideas

Problem gamblers are more sensitive to gambling adverts and may increase their gambling behavior.

Gambling adverts normalize gambling as a leisure activity and use social events to promote it.

Twitter's timeliness is beneficial for gambling companies to reach specific segments of the population.

Content of tweets varies among companies, with Bet365 and Coral using more visual content and William Hill and Ladbrokes focusing more on user requests.

Hashtags are used to create engaging competitions or promote specific events.

Words associated with positive emotions like anticipation, joy, and trust are commonly used in tweets.

The frequency of gambling adverts could normalize gambling as an everyday part of normal life.

Companies use Twitter to engage with existing customers (Engagement, Retention) and to reach new ones (Acquisition).

Gambling adverts portray gambling as a glamorous and exciting activity with ease of winning money.

Adverts highlight the ease of use and accessibility of their products.

Adverts normalize gambling as a leisure activity embedded in social events.

Adverts in the betting sector exhort gamblers to bet quickly and target young men.

Hashtags like '365higherorlower', '365chipcount' and 'paddypileup' relate to competitions.

Betfair uses the responsible gambling hashtag 'whenthefunstopsstop'.

Continuous reminders about gambling can make followers aware of gambling opportunities.

Citations

"...introductory bets with generous odds, which typically require further betting to release winnings. For example, if an introductory bet is successful, this is converted into credits which can be used for free bets, where the winnings minus the free bet can be cashed out."

External References

Binde, P., & Romild, U. (2018). Self-reported negative influence of gambling advertising in a Swedish population-based sample. Journal of Gambling Studies, 34(3), 911-929.

Clemens, F., Hanewinkel, R., & Morgenstern, M. (2017). Exposure to gambling advertisements and gambling behavior in young people. Journal of Gambling Studies, 33(1), 1-13.

Deans, E. G., Thomas, S. L., Daube, M., Derevensky, J., & Gordon, R. (2016). Creating symbolic cultures of consumption: An analysis of the content of sports wagering advertisements in Australia. BMC Public Health, 16(1), 1-10.

Gainsbury, S. M., Hing, N., Delfabbro, P. H., Dewar, G., & King, D. L. (2016). An exploratory study of gambling operators' use of social media and the latent messages conveyed. Journal of Gambling Studies, 32(1), 125-141.

Hing, N., Cherney, L., Blaszczynski, A., Gainsbury, S. M., & Lubman, D. I. (2014). Do advertising and promotions for online gambling increase gambling consumption? An exploratory study. International Gambling Studies, 14(3), 394-409.