The ‘Betting on Digital’ report issued by digital marketing firm IgnitionOne and polling organisation ComRes reveals that two thirds of the British public are concerned about the amount of advertising for online gambling. The digital marketing firms have polled over 2,000 people, 604 of which are active or previous online gamblers, and conducted interviews with 11 senior marketers in the sector.
The majority of marketers interviewed in the report placed great emphasis on the need to target the right audience, while the perceived success of this among the public is limited, with just 21% stating that advertising for online gaming targets the right audience.
The report also found that the public still identifies television as a valuable medium in advertising as it drives strong brand awareness and web traffic, but marketers feel television is competitive and expensive, while it is more difficult to measure online traffic originating from the medium.
In terms of other factors that drive people when gambling online, the public cited easy user experience (73%), quality of the game (69%) and regular discounts (65%) as key points.
In addition to advertising influence and usability, corporate responsibility also rated highly with the British public.
Almost half of the public would be likely to bet on a website if they knew the brand was contributing financially to the research, education and treatment of problem gambling, while 61% think this would help increase public awareness of problem gambling.
In addition to charitable contributions, 50% of those that have gambled previously said imposing limits on spending is an important factor in driving them to a website.
Other factors driving people to gambling websites include word of mouth, either in person (46%) or via social media (26%), while 46% of the public said the brand name is a key driver behind which site they select.
