The Impact of Informational Compared to Self-Evaluation Warning Messages on Slot Machine Gambling Behavior
Faculty Mentor
Meredith Ginley
Mentor Home Department
Psychology
Short Abstract
Gambling warning messages can decrease rates of gambling and risk-taking behaviors. Previous studies have shown that the wording, context of viewing, and display features impact a message’s influence on behavior. The present study is a secondary analysis of data from an experiment investigating winning and losing conditions on an experimental slot machine. In this study, we examined the difference between personally reflective warning messages and informational warning messages on participant play. It was hypothesized that compared to when presented with information messages, when participants were presented with personally reflective warning messages, they would spend a longer time acknowledging the message, placing their bets, and spinning to continue gameplay. These types of play behaviors (i.e. playing slower) can be a proxy for less risky play. Results showed that the personally reflective messages did have a significant impact on the time to acknowledge, time to bet, and time to spin for those within the message-loss condition. In the message-win condition, however, a significant difference was found between the messages when looking at the time to acknowledge. These results suggest that the personally reflective messages did have a stronger ability to alter gambling behaviors, but the context of winning or losing also had a large impact on the messages’ influence. Further efforts should be put towards developing messages that impact behavior in both winning and losing conditions.
Category
Social Sciences
Start Date
5-4-2024 10:20 AM
End Date
5-4-2024 11:20 AM
Location
D.P. Culp Center Multicultural Center Presentation Room
The Impact of Informational Compared to Self-Evaluation Warning Messages on Slot Machine Gambling Behavior
D.P. Culp Center Multicultural Center Presentation Room
Gambling warning messages can decrease rates of gambling and risk-taking behaviors. Previous studies have shown that the wording, context of viewing, and display features impact a message’s influence on behavior. The present study is a secondary analysis of data from an experiment investigating winning and losing conditions on an experimental slot machine. In this study, we examined the difference between personally reflective warning messages and informational warning messages on participant play. It was hypothesized that compared to when presented with information messages, when participants were presented with personally reflective warning messages, they would spend a longer time acknowledging the message, placing their bets, and spinning to continue gameplay. These types of play behaviors (i.e. playing slower) can be a proxy for less risky play. Results showed that the personally reflective messages did have a significant impact on the time to acknowledge, time to bet, and time to spin for those within the message-loss condition. In the message-win condition, however, a significant difference was found between the messages when looking at the time to acknowledge. These results suggest that the personally reflective messages did have a stronger ability to alter gambling behaviors, but the context of winning or losing also had a large impact on the messages’ influence. Further efforts should be put towards developing messages that impact behavior in both winning and losing conditions.