2023
Macey, Joseph R.; Abarbanel, Brett L.; Castrén, Sari; Hamari, Juho J.; Salonen, Anne H.
Public Opinions and Attitudes toward a State Monopoly: A Study of the Finnish Gambling System Journal Article
In: BMC Public Health, vol. 23, no. 2012, 2023.
Abstract | Links | Tags: ATGS, Gambling, Harm reduction, Monopoly, Public Opinion, Regulation
@article{Macey2023,
title = {Public Opinions and Attitudes toward a State Monopoly: A Study of the Finnish Gambling System},
author = {Joseph R. Macey and Brett L. Abarbanel and Sari Castrén and Juho J. Hamari and Anne H. Salonen },
url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-16917-9
https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-023-16917-9#citeas},
doi = {10.1186/s12889-023-16917-9},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-10-16},
urldate = {2023-10-16},
journal = {BMC Public Health},
volume = {23},
number = {2012},
abstract = {Background: Gambling regulated through a state monopoly is often justified for reasons of public health, that is, that monopolies are a more effective means of reducing potential harm. This focus on harm prevention has increased in recent years, particularly as a result of pressures arising from the growth of online gambling and of legislation designed to promote competition. While prior works have examined the role of stakeholders in influencing policy decisions and in public discussions of the monopoly systems, attention has been focused on those with direct financial interests; the opinions of the public have largely been absent from these discussions. In 2017 Finland restructured its monopoly order to improve efficacy of addressing gambling related harms; this restructuring offers a valuable insight into public perceptions of and attitudes toward the suitability of the Finnish system to address gambling-related harm.
Methods: This work uses Structural Equation Modelling and compares attitudes toward the Finnish system between 2015 (pre-restructuring) and 2019 (post-restructuring).
Results: Overall public opinion of the Finnish system as being suitable for addressing gambling harms declined between 2015 and 2019, despite the restructuring. Several predictors of attitudes were identified, however, the majority had small effect sizes, while the model explained little variance.
Conclusion: This work concludes that existing approaches to examining public opinions of gambling regulation should be amended to include additional predictors. Furthermore, it is likely that context-specific predictors should be included in models, in order to reflect the socio-cultural history of the population being investigated. Such predictors should be determined in respect to the population of interest but, for example, could include items measuring trust in authority, political orientation, cultural acceptance of gambling, or religious affiliation.},
keywords = {ATGS, Gambling, Harm reduction, Monopoly, Public Opinion, Regulation},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Background: Gambling regulated through a state monopoly is often justified for reasons of public health, that is, that monopolies are a more effective means of reducing potential harm. This focus on harm prevention has increased in recent years, particularly as a result of pressures arising from the growth of online gambling and of legislation designed to promote competition. While prior works have examined the role of stakeholders in influencing policy decisions and in public discussions of the monopoly systems, attention has been focused on those with direct financial interests; the opinions of the public have largely been absent from these discussions. In 2017 Finland restructured its monopoly order to improve efficacy of addressing gambling related harms; this restructuring offers a valuable insight into public perceptions of and attitudes toward the suitability of the Finnish system to address gambling-related harm.
Methods: This work uses Structural Equation Modelling and compares attitudes toward the Finnish system between 2015 (pre-restructuring) and 2019 (post-restructuring).
Results: Overall public opinion of the Finnish system as being suitable for addressing gambling harms declined between 2015 and 2019, despite the restructuring. Several predictors of attitudes were identified, however, the majority had small effect sizes, while the model explained little variance.
Conclusion: This work concludes that existing approaches to examining public opinions of gambling regulation should be amended to include additional predictors. Furthermore, it is likely that context-specific predictors should be included in models, in order to reflect the socio-cultural history of the population being investigated. Such predictors should be determined in respect to the population of interest but, for example, could include items measuring trust in authority, political orientation, cultural acceptance of gambling, or religious affiliation.
Methods: This work uses Structural Equation Modelling and compares attitudes toward the Finnish system between 2015 (pre-restructuring) and 2019 (post-restructuring).
Results: Overall public opinion of the Finnish system as being suitable for addressing gambling harms declined between 2015 and 2019, despite the restructuring. Several predictors of attitudes were identified, however, the majority had small effect sizes, while the model explained little variance.
Conclusion: This work concludes that existing approaches to examining public opinions of gambling regulation should be amended to include additional predictors. Furthermore, it is likely that context-specific predictors should be included in models, in order to reflect the socio-cultural history of the population being investigated. Such predictors should be determined in respect to the population of interest but, for example, could include items measuring trust in authority, political orientation, cultural acceptance of gambling, or religious affiliation.
2022
Macey, Joseph; Cantell, Mikko; Tossavainen, Tommi; Karjala, Antti; Castrén, Sari
How Can the Potential Harms of Loot Boxes Be Minimised?: Proposals for Understanding and Addressing Issues at a National Level Journal Article
In: Journal of Behavioral Addictions, vol. 11, iss. 2, pp. 256–66, 2022, ISSN: 2062-5871.
Abstract | Links | Tags: Convergence of gambling and gaming, Gambling, Harm minimisation, Loot boxes, Regulation, Video gaming
@article{Macey2022c,
title = {How Can the Potential Harms of Loot Boxes Be Minimised?: Proposals for Understanding and Addressing Issues at a National Level},
author = {Joseph Macey and Mikko Cantell and Tommi Tossavainen and Antti Karjala and Sari Castrén},
url = {https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2022081154134},
doi = {10.1556/2006.2022.00016},
issn = {2062-5871},
year = {2022},
date = {2022-04-20},
urldate = {2022-04-20},
journal = {Journal of Behavioral Addictions},
volume = {11},
issue = {2},
pages = {256–66},
abstract = {Background and aims
Loot boxes are in-game items which distribute rewards to players via random-number generation; many games require players to make in-game payments to access their contents. The combination of financial outlay and random rewards has raised concern about similarities to gambling. This debate paper presents a series of themes identified by an inter-institutional working group in Finland, alongside suggested actions, and are presented with the intention of stimulating debate among stakeholders.
Methods
This work uses an exploratory research approach to gather data from a range of sources, including state-of-the-art reports from several fields and qualitative content analysis of invited presentations from a range of stakeholders, including affected individuals, practitioners, and field-specific experts.
Results and Discussion
Several significant themes emerged from the work and are presented alongside a series of proposed action points. Based on this preliminary exploration we propose a series of, non-exhaustive, actions for both primary and secondary prevention. Furthermore, the group identified the potential for responsible gaming practices to be adopted which would help to minimize the harm from overspending in gaming activities. Finally, we identified the need for further research in the field, for example the use of player data and both longitudinal and qualitative studies.
Conclusions
The emergent themes are discussed in relation to both the views of the presenters and existing research in the field and are intended to promote discussion concerning the viability of context-specific approaches to an issue of global reach and significance.},
keywords = {Convergence of gambling and gaming, Gambling, Harm minimisation, Loot boxes, Regulation, Video gaming},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Background and aims
Loot boxes are in-game items which distribute rewards to players via random-number generation; many games require players to make in-game payments to access their contents. The combination of financial outlay and random rewards has raised concern about similarities to gambling. This debate paper presents a series of themes identified by an inter-institutional working group in Finland, alongside suggested actions, and are presented with the intention of stimulating debate among stakeholders.
Methods
This work uses an exploratory research approach to gather data from a range of sources, including state-of-the-art reports from several fields and qualitative content analysis of invited presentations from a range of stakeholders, including affected individuals, practitioners, and field-specific experts.
Results and Discussion
Several significant themes emerged from the work and are presented alongside a series of proposed action points. Based on this preliminary exploration we propose a series of, non-exhaustive, actions for both primary and secondary prevention. Furthermore, the group identified the potential for responsible gaming practices to be adopted which would help to minimize the harm from overspending in gaming activities. Finally, we identified the need for further research in the field, for example the use of player data and both longitudinal and qualitative studies.
Conclusions
The emergent themes are discussed in relation to both the views of the presenters and existing research in the field and are intended to promote discussion concerning the viability of context-specific approaches to an issue of global reach and significance.
Loot boxes are in-game items which distribute rewards to players via random-number generation; many games require players to make in-game payments to access their contents. The combination of financial outlay and random rewards has raised concern about similarities to gambling. This debate paper presents a series of themes identified by an inter-institutional working group in Finland, alongside suggested actions, and are presented with the intention of stimulating debate among stakeholders.
Methods
This work uses an exploratory research approach to gather data from a range of sources, including state-of-the-art reports from several fields and qualitative content analysis of invited presentations from a range of stakeholders, including affected individuals, practitioners, and field-specific experts.
Results and Discussion
Several significant themes emerged from the work and are presented alongside a series of proposed action points. Based on this preliminary exploration we propose a series of, non-exhaustive, actions for both primary and secondary prevention. Furthermore, the group identified the potential for responsible gaming practices to be adopted which would help to minimize the harm from overspending in gaming activities. Finally, we identified the need for further research in the field, for example the use of player data and both longitudinal and qualitative studies.
Conclusions
The emergent themes are discussed in relation to both the views of the presenters and existing research in the field and are intended to promote discussion concerning the viability of context-specific approaches to an issue of global reach and significance.