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Understanding and measuring consumer trust in the gambling industry - Full technical report

The understanding and measuring consumer trust in the gambling industry full technical report from The Gambling Commission.

Published
23 July 2026

Last updated
23 July 2026 - Changes

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Contents

Scoping phase

Yonder conducted a desk research phase, analysing existing models and frameworks relating to consumer trust to inform the scope of the exploratory qualitative research.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Framework on Drivers of Trust in Public Institutions1

This framework identifies drivers of trust in government institutions. This framework informs research on how gambling companies can build trust by ensuring fair play, clear and accessible terms and conditions, and high ethical standards in advertising and customer relations. It helps guide questions into how perceptions of integrity and fairness in gambling influence customer confidence, especially in mitigating potential gambling harms.

Financial Sector Model (Moin, Devlin and McKechnie)2

This model highlights reliability, transparency, empathy, and competency as critical in establishing consumer trust in the financial sector. It explores different dimensions of trust, including interpersonal, propensity to take risk, and institutional trust, all of which can be applied to the gambling sector.

Yonder Reputation Model

This examines corporate reputation based on public perception, customer experience, and social responsibility, assessing companies on authenticity, societal impact, and alignment with consumer expectations. The framework contributes to how a gambling company's reputation is shaped by its commitment to responsible gambling practices, customer service quality, and communication. It provides a basis for understanding consumer responses to ethical practices and social responsibility in gambling, emphasising the importance of reputation in building long-term trust.

Edelman Trust Barometer3

This survey measures global trust across sectors and institutions, focusing on competence, ethical behaviour, and transparency, and highlighting trends in consumer trust. This tool can help benchmark gambling industry trust levels against other sectors and informs research on how broader societal attitudes influence trust in gambling companies, providing guidance on effective communication and transparency.

Other measures of trust

Yonder explored further published sources of trust in the following sectors:

  • government and institutions (including public governance and cultural, economic and political drivers)
  • charities
  • financial services
  • pharmaceutical industry
  • UK Food sector
  • articles published aligned to factors that may relate to trust in the gambling industry, such as consumer attitudes towards advertising.

Finally, Yonder also reviewed and took guidance from:

Thematic analysis of these sources was conducted via a framework developed in Microsoft Excel, where key common findings were drawn to focus on the most pertinent areas for exploration. This analysis was intended to provide thorough immersion into readily available literature and adjacent category best practise to guide theme and stimulus development for forthcoming primary research phases but not to introduce any ranking or rating of framework elements.

Following desk research, 4 overarching themes were identified relevant to the gambling industry, which formed the basis of areas to explore and validate in primary research.

These were:

  • the importance of independent regulation from gambling operators
  • maximising the perceived effectiveness of regulation
  • transparency and integrity of the industry
  • customer interaction.

More detail of these themes are included in the published narrative report.

References

1 OECD Trust in Government Survey Framework (opens in new tab).

2 Moin et al, Introducing a composite measure of trust in financial services, The Service Industries Journal, 2021.

3 Edelmen Trust Barometer (opens in new tab).

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