New gambling harm taglines – considering behavioural identity
Mat Crompton, strategy director at Icon Agency and his friend and colleague, behavioural science specialist Kris White, commend the new gambling harm taglines – but suggest that embracing a gambler’s behavioural identity may provide a pathway to sustained long-term change.
Development and approval of gambling harm taglines is a difficult endeavour. The final result must satisfy a complex range of stakeholders—not least the gambling companies themselves.
For too long, using the term ‘gamble responsibly’ has been an abdication of well, responsibility – from those with power to the individual gambler.
Alternatives have been tried around the world. In the UK, the line ‘When the fun stops, stop’ has been proven to be ineffectual (Newell et al. 2022) and, if anything, simply reminds gamblers that gambling is, indeed, fun.
