Report
Initial findings from new data on consumer trust – GSGB
Initial findings from new data on consumer trust – GSGB
Details and methodology
Trust statements and survey question
The 2024 research identified 5 overarching themes and used a range of qualitative and quantitative techniques to identify, test and refine a series of statements that were underpinned by consumers’ own experiences, perspectives and language to measure consumer trust. These themes are:
- regulation and accountability
- protection and safety measures
- transparency and fairness
- advertising and promotion
- customer experience and support.
The 8 statements mapping to the 5 themes were developed to form the new survey question. 5 of these statements (1 to 5) were focused on the core drivers identified in the research and will be used on a permanent basis to monitor trends over time using a composite score. A further 3 statements (6 to 8) were added to the question which were related to current and emerging themes that drive trust. These 3 statements can be changed and adapted as regulatory priorities change, without impacting on the headline composite score and trend data.
The following question was asked to anyone who has gambled in the last 12 months:
Thinking about all activities you have engaged in (such as betting, casino, bingo and lottery), both online and in person, how much do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
- Gambling companies are held accountable by a regulator if their conduct falls short of standards
- Gambling companies are free from corruption
- Gambling games and machines are fair and free of errors
- Activities, offers and odds provided by gambling companies are clear, easy to understand and not misleading
- Effective measures are in place to protect young, and other vulnerable, people when gambling
- Gambling companies have effective checks in place before they allow people to gamble (e.g. ID checks, financial checks)
- Gambling promotions and incentives don’t encourage excessive gambling
- It is quick and easy to withdraw and collect my winnings.
Participants indicated the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with each statement on a 5-point scale from ‘agree strongly’ to ‘disagree strongly'. 'Neither agree nor disagree’ and ‘don’t know’ responses were also available.
Data collection
The Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB) is conducted via a push-to-web methodology, with data collected from 20,000 adults aged 18 and older living in Great Britain. Fieldwork is carried out in 4 waves running quarterly. The new question was first piloted on the online survey in wave 4 of the 2024 survey, which was in field from October 2024 to January 2025. Following the pilot, we added it to the online and paper questionnaire at the start of 2025 and it has been asked in every wave since.
This report details initial GSGB findings from data collected between January 2025 and January 2026 (waves 1 to 4 of the 2025 survey). The combined sample size of respondents who had gambled in the last 12 months is 12,194. Statistics are reported from the base of past 12 month gamblers, with the exception of analysis by gambling activity which uses the base of past 4 week gamblers. Past 4 week gambling activity captures more active players and allows more meaningful comparisons between those engaging in different activities.
Going forward, the data will be published on an annual basis. The data in this report should not be compared with previous data on trust as a different methodology and questions have been used.
Composite trust score
Statements 1 to 5 feed into an overall composite trust score (a composite index). This allows multiple responses to be aggregated into a single metric, which gives a fuller picture of trust in the gambling industry which can be tracked over time.
The index works by assigning a ‘score’ to each statement based on the response given. This is then averaged and creates an overall composite score (0 to 100) reflecting trust. The higher the score, the higher the measure of trust.
The scores for each response option are shown in the following table.
Table 1: Composite trust scores
| Response | Score |
|---|---|
| Agree strongly | 100 |
| Agree slightly | 80 |
| Neither agree nor disagree | 60 |
| Disagree slightly | 40 |
| Disagree strongly | 20 |
| Don't know | 0 |
For example, if a respondent selected ‘Agree strongly’ for 3 statements, and ‘Disagree strongly disagree’ for the other 2, the calculation would be as follows:
If a respondent selects ‘Don’t know’, then that statement does not receive a score for their respondent-level index, and the index is calculated by taking an average of the remaining statements. An example of this is as follows, using the same responses as before, except for ‘Don’t know' and 'Not applicable’ instead of the final ‘Strongly disagree’.
If ‘Don’t know’ is the response for 3 or more statements per respondent, then that respondent does not contribute to the index score at the overall dataset-level.
Further details on the calculation of the trust score can be found in the technical report.
The findings in this report include the analysis of the trust question statements and the composite score, alongside a range of other variables.
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Initial findings from new data on consumer trust - Initial findings
Last updated: 23 July 2026
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