ABSTRACT

An important part of the industrial complex that drives the expansion of commercial gambling is the expanding business of gambling advertising. As gambling consumption increases, companies invest more in advertising and other promotional activities. For example, in Australia, clubs, pubs, taverns, and bars with gambling facilities increased their expenditure on advertising, marketing, and promotion from an average in 1994-1995 of $16,837 per business to $49,741 per business by 1997-1998, a threefold increase over approximately 3 years.1 For the same period, total annual expenditure on the advertising, marketing and promotion on Australian casinos rose from $71 million to $102 million (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2002). Similar proportions are observable in other locations. For example, in the Canadian province of Ontario, with a total net expenditure on gambling of $5.04 billion, the total expenditure in 2004 on marketing, promotions, and “promotional allowances” was $466 million, about 9.3% of expenditure.2 Despite the scale of increased investment, little is available in the public domain on the role this advertising plays in the behavior of gamblers. Some researchers have commented generally on the important part advertising plays in assisting in the proliferation of gambling (see Becona et al., 1995; Lorenz, 1990). For example, Pugh and Webley (2000) surveyed 256 adolescents in the United Kingdom and found that 56% had participated illegally in National Lottery online gambling and that watching the TV show was one of the best predictors of participation. Nonetheless, the small amount of research specifically into gambling advertising has focused very little attention on the processes by which gambling advertising achieves its effects. Public domain research has yet to explore the nature and function of mechanisms employed in making gambling advertisements a worthy investment.