Journal of Gambling Issues, 2021; Safer by design

The policy paper explains product risk, outlines barriers to effective regulation, and proposes principles to progress this area.

Categories

The research explores how gambling product features contribute to risky play and harm, and proposes a collaborative, evidence-based framework for assessing and mitigating product-related risk. Key findings:

• Product Features Are Key Antecedents: Alongside player and environmental factors, product design (e.g. game speed, stake variability, visual effects) plays a significant role in influencing gambling behavior and risk.
• Current Risk Assessment Protocols Are Limited: Existing tools like ASTERIG and GAMGaRD lack sensitivity, clarity, and real-world applicability. They often oversimplify risk factors and fail to account for interactions between features.
• Regulatory Interest Is Growing: Governments and regulators (e.g. UK, Netherlands, Australia) are increasingly focused on product safety, with debates around stake limits, game design, and affordability checks.
• Whole Systems Approach Needed: Effective harm reduction requires integrating product risk assessments with broader strategies like affordability checks, spend limits, and responsible gambling tools. Overlapping or conflicting measures can lead to unintended consequences.
• Recommendations for Better Protocols:

• Use real-world data and high-quality evidence.
• Define product features clearly and consistently.
• Explain how features contribute to risk.
• Ensure sensitivity to different levels of risk.
• Make protocols practical and actionable for industry.

These insights support the development of a more robust, transparent, and collaborative framework for gambling product safety, aligning industry innovation with player protection. For full details, please refer to the complete document.