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Report

Exploring consumer journeys using gambling promotional offers and incentives

The Gambling Commission’s report on consumer interactions with online promotional offers and incentives.

Published
24 November 2023

Last updated
24 November 2023 - Changes

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  1. Contents
  2. 2 - Methodology

2 - Methodology

Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were used, starting with a quantitative survey between 27 June and 3 July 2023, followed by a qualitative phase comprised of a three-day online community running between 31 August to 1 September 2023, and accompanying triads (interview groups of three respondents) between 11 to 15 September 2023.

Quantitative phase

Quantitative research was conducted first to understand the shape of the marketing and promotional offer landscape, and to inform the qualitative approach. The sample was recruited via Yonder’s proprietary online panel and consisted of 1,002 adults (those aged 18 years and over) who had gambled online within the last four weeks.

For this research we excluded respondents who had only gambled on the following activities:

  • in-person betting (that is, not online)
  • the National Lottery
  • scratch cards
  • private betting.

The research focused on 6 types of promotional offers and incentives:

  • free spins
  • free bets
  • bets with boosted odds
  • cashback rewards
  • deposit based offers
  • sign-up and welcome offers.

We also captured respondents' Problem Gambling Severity Index score (PGSI), calculated by participants self-reporting the severity of their gambling behaviour and risk to gambling related harm. More information on how the PGSI is calculated is available on our 'problem gambling screens' research and statistics page.

Qualitative phase

To explore the perception, motivations and experience of playing promotional offers, 27 respondents who use promotional offers at least once a month were recruited, stratified by the type of promotional offers they engaged most with. The three-day online community required respondents to upload video content showing how they receive and interact with promotional offers, and gather top-level, in-the-moment perceptions. This was followed by 5 × 90-minute sessions with three respondents per session to discuss their attitudes towards and experiences with offers, and to explore whether offers influence their gambling activity.

Limitations of this research

We targeted a specific sample of gamblers that we felt would be most relevant to the objectives of our research. The views and experiences voiced by our sample may not be reflective of the wider gambling community. Our qualitative screening criteria specified participants must have used at least one form of online promotional offer within the last month, so this research excludes views of consumers engaging with promotional offers less frequently, or those who have never engaged with them. Our insights are based on self-reported behaviour rather than observed behaviour, meaning insight is limited to what participants felt comfortable revealing to us in the research setting.

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Introduction - Consumer understanding of online gambling promotional offers and marketing Next section
Summary of findings - Exploring consumer journeys using gambling promotional offers and incentives
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