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Gambling advertising and problem gambling: An
interview study (2005-2006) In the
public debate, it is often claimed that gambling advertising contributes
to problem gambling. However, there is as yet little evidence supporting
or refuting this opinion, making the influence of gambling advertising a
relevant topic for research. The premise for this study was that problem
gamblers can to some extent tell what influence gambling advertising has
had on their problems. No other such study had previously been conducted
in Sweden or elsewhere. The study was based on relatively long and
exhaustive interviews with twenty-five individuals with present or past
severe gambling problems. The investigation
was conducted by Per Binde and financed by
The Swedish National Institute of
Public Health. The results are presented in a book in Swedish and in
an article in the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction:
Gambling advertising: A survey of the literature (2004-2005)
This study sums up and discusses
the international academic literature on gambling advertising and
related issues. Subjects that are covered include:
- The possible impact of
gambling advertising on the extent of pathological and problem
gambling.
- Does gambling advertising have
an effect on the extent of gambling in general or does it primarily
affect the market shares of competing gambling products?
- The ethical issues with
respect to gambling advertising.
- Messages and values in
gambling advertising.
- Display of odds in ads and on
lottery tickets.
- The psychology of gambling
advertising.
This survey was conducted by Per Binde and financed by
The Swedish National Institute of
Public Health. The results are presented in Swedish in the book
Att sälja en
dröm: Om spelreklam och dess påverkan (Selling Dreams: On the
Effects of Gambling Advertising) as well as in English in the
articles
Selling dreams – causing
nightmares? On gambling advertising and problem gambling and
Truth, deception and imagination in gambling advertising (submitted
for publication).
The Symbolism and Morality of Gambling (2001-2003)
The research project “The Symbolism and
Morality of Gambling: Anthropological Perspectives on Gambling in
Contemporary Sweden” (2001-2003) was funded by the
Bank of Sweden Tercentenary
Foundation. The project was coordinated by Åsa Boholm, professor in
social anthropology at the School of Public Administration, Göteborg,
and most of the research activities were carried out by PhD Per Binde.
Fieldwork with participant observation was conducted mainly in 2002.
The project focused on “normal” gambling, as distinct
from “pathological” gambling. Gambling in Sweden is viewed as a
phenomenon embedded in Swedish culture. Gambling connects with notions
of fate, the unknown, and transcendence of the everyday self; gambling
is a creator of social belonging and an activity judged according to
moralities derived from the dominating societal modes of reciprocity.
People gamble for a variety of reasons, such as: the
dream of winning a fortune that will change life for the better, to face
an intellectual challenge, to create social belonging and get
opportunities to socialize, and to escape from the dullness or troubles
of everyday life. A wish to make money is thus not the prime mover of
gambling, but money is nevertheless essential for gambling since most
gambling games become trivial and pointless without stakes of money.
This might appear as paradoxical, but is a consequence of money being
the medium through which the chance of winning is expressed. The chance
of winning is here construed as a cultural imagery of suspending the law
of reciprocity, according to which one must give in order to receive.
This vision constitutes the “atom of gambling” – the indivisible core of
all gambling games. It draws symbolic power from other notions of the
joy of receiving without having to give, such as: divine grace, luck,
good fortune, and imageries of abundance.
The publications from the project include the
following five
articles as well as planned future publications drawing on the rich
ethnography and numerous theoretical insights of the project:
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