Study Finds Online Content Makes Gambling Feel Ever-Present

Online exposure can make gambling feel ever-present for teenage boys and young men, according to a report published by British regulator the Gambling Commission.

The Commission’s report, titled “Lived experiences of gambling in teenage boys and young men: Qualitative research”, looked into the lived experiences of teenage boys and young men aged 14 to 25.

The researchers set out to understand awareness and perceptions of gambling and gambling-like behaviours, and examine the social and cultural factors that shape participation.

How the research was compiled

It is worth noting the research was put together with a very small sample size, albeit the research was qualitative, rather than trying to put numbers on any particular facts or characteristics.

It was not made explicitly clear as to the extent to which the participants regularly gamble. For safeguarding reasons, the sample did not include participants who had experienced significant gambling-related harm.

Research agency Humankind Research put the findings together via four methodologies. In the first stage, Humankind Research conducted four 60-minute individual interviews online with members of the Gambling Commission’s Lived Experience Advisory Panel (LEAP) and the former Advisory Board for Safer Gambling (ABSG), as well as representatives from charity GambleAware and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

The other three stages were carried out with 24 teenage boys and young men based in Great Britain. After the second stage, where participants were introduced to the process via a Zoom call, the participants were asked to complete a four-day diary about their relationship with gambling and gambling-like activities in the third stage. They completed a series of tasks inviting them to reflect on their interactions with gambling.

In the final stage, 60-minute follow-up interviews were conducted online with each participant. In the final stage of the interviews, participants were asked how teenage boys and young men could be better supported when it comes to gambling activity.

Daily exposure

With regards to exposure to online gambling via online content, participants said they were exposed to gambling-related content on a daily basis. The majority of this stemmed from algorithmic feeds as opposed to intentional search, indicating gambling content was appearing even if it was not actively being pursued.

Participants frequently mentioned social media platforms including TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Instagram Reels, which all feature gambling advertising. Short, meme-based videos were listed as commonplace in participants’ social media feeds.

Low gambling literacy

The research also focused on gambling literacy. Most participants felt confident in their understanding of how gambling works, but were often unable to provide detailed answers when asked to explain odds, chance, or probability in detail.

Comprehension tended to be limited to surface-level cues or simplified explanations provided by gambling operators.

While it could perhaps be a more worrying sign if underage gamblers showed strong awareness of gambling terminology, it could also indicate that young adult males involved were betting without much knowledge of what they were betting on.

Online gaming acts as an introduction

A separate finding was that a majority of participants said that gaming was their first online exposure to the types of chance and reward that are associated with gambling.

Features such as loot boxes, which were most commonly mentioned by under-18 participants, as well as prize packs, brought risk–reward mechanisms into gaming environments, which participants said made gambling-like behaviours feel routine, even if money was not at stake.

What happens next?

The research builds on the Commission’s Young People and Gambling research, which showed teenage boys are more intense in their gaming, increasing their exposure to gambling-like features. The Commission said it intends to use the findings to inform future policy, regulation, and education designed to reduce gambling-related harm.