Positive messages and betting limits, according to an Australian study, are beneficial.

Positive messages were found to be beneficial in managing online gambling in a study conducted by CQUniversity in Australia.

The research, which was funded by Gambling Research Australia (GRA), is based on the hypothesis that online gambling puts people at a higher risk of gambling harm in comparison to traditional consumers.

Over the course of five weeks, over 2,000 regular sports and race spectators were exposed to random messages. Researchers tracked the amount of money users bet, the amount of time they bet, and the overall gambling harms they suffered during that time.

Positive messages on how to keep track of how much money you spend on gambling were deemed the most helpful and understandable by the participants.

Professor Mathew Rockloff, the study's leader, said that over the course of the five-week study, participants spent less money and time on gambling.

The research team created 27 messages in consultation with focus groups made up of researchers, gambling treatment providers, and regulators.

Consumers are not always encouraged to use the betting limit option, according to another GRA-funded study.

Only 41% of more than 3,000 regular race and sports bettors said they had set a deposit limit, and more than half said they were "unlikely" to do so.

Over 1,200 regular customers received a series of tailored bet limit messages over the course of a four-week trial. 32% of users had set at least one type of limit by the end of the four weeks.

Australian operators have been required to allow customers to set deposit limits for their online gambling since mid-2019, and to remind them to set or review their limits on a regular basis.

By fLEXI tEAM