GC survey: 61% say free bets/bonuses don’t influence gambling
Over two thirds of online gamblers have received some form of offer in the past 12 months, but the majority claim free bets or bonuses do not influence their gambling.
According to a consumer survey conducted by the the Gambling Commission, 65% of respondents said they had received an incentive to gamble in the past year, with the most common being free bets or spins.
These accounted for 58% of reported incentives, but sign-up offers trailed closely behind at 54% while “reminders to gamble with a bonus included” came in third at 41%.
Emails were the most commonly reported route via which companies sent offers, with 47% of consumers saying this was how they had received them.
Targeted social media ads accounted for 21%, text messages 17%, gambling app notifications 16%, targeted search engine ads 15% and non-gambling app notifications 8%.
In terms of frequency, 84% of those who answered email reported receiving an offer at least once a month, 51% said they had received an offer at least once a week and only 8% said they had received daily offers. A similar trend occurred across the four chief forms of communication.
In addition, gamblers were reportedly more likely to receive incentives for online betting than any other activity, with 73% of respondents citing this as most common.
Online slots, bingo and casino came in second, third and fourth, at 39%, 37% and 30% respectively.
Moreover, those aged between 18 and 44 were more likely to agree that they liked receiving offers, but according to the Gambling Commission’s data, were also most likely to agree that free bets or bonuses encourage them to gamble more than they want to.
But an outright majority (61%) agreed with the statement: “Free bets/bonuses don’t change the amount I gamble.”
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