Regulating the Game: Selective attention vs RG advertising
Dr Marla Royne Stafford addresses the challenge of responsible marketing messages and how to utilise theory to ensure consumer attention.
Key points:
– Dr Stafford presents on the uses of psychological theory for developing effective responsible gambling marketing
– Her presentation draws on theories including selective attention and influencer strategy
Regulating the Game 2025 Sydney day 2 saw Professor of Marketing at UNLV, Dr Marla Royne Stafford, explain the increasing difficulties of ensuring effective responsible gambling advertisement in an increasingly over-exposed society.
Indeed, Stafford opened with a statistic that highlighted the fact that an average person sees 6,000 – 10,000 advertising messages a day – whereas only a quarter (or less) of them will be relevant to a given consumer.
Selective attention: Our cognitive gatekeeper
As Stafford detailed in her introduction, information overload makes consumers selective attention all the more important in the modern world. This is because now, the constant requirement to multitask has changed people’s attention span – and statistics show that only 28% of people use one electronic device at a time. Hence, consumers are now ‘multimedia tasking.’
The biggest thing when it comes to responsible gambling marketing messages and selective attention is irrelevancy. The idea of relevancy in marketing and psychology is related to ‘involvement.’
Research shows that most people who see messages about responsible or problem gambling do not relate to it because they do not view themselves as having a gambling problem – in other words, they are not ‘involved.’ However, consumers conflate responsible gambling with problem gambling – despite the fact that responsible practices are not limited to problem gamblers.
Stafford recommended that the gambling industry must now utilise the power of communication in a more positive way – which is a difficult job in a society where there are ads everywhere. The location, source and medium all affect consumer’s exposure to advertising and whether or not they are going to pay attention.
How do we overcome selective attention when it comes to responsible gambling messages?
The first point is that Stafford emphasises is that advertising has to go to the correct market – otherwise it won’t resonate. As an extension, she makes the point that businesses utilise target marketing to high effect, so why can’t responsible gambling do the same?
Good to know: The month of March is responsible gambling month
Further, she details that one of the biggest problems is presented by sports betting, a demographic that can – largely – be broken down to men in their 20s and 30s. Now, when there are influencers out there who are managing to take part in effective advertising campaigns that are getting people to gamble, a strategy could involve utilising celebrities and their platforms to encourage safer play.
Additionally, social media platforms – which can differ depending on the age range of a given target audience – are another tool for not only reaching the right market, but also to use advertising which evokes positive emotion. Utilising advertising via social media requires a credible source so as to ensure consumers trust where the message is coming from – as it is one of the first things they will look for.
An intriguing discourse for the penultimate presentation of Regulating the Game’s second day in Sydney this year – Stafford offers food for thought that, perhaps there is a growing place for psychological theory within responsible gambling advertising moving forward.
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