UKGC examines gambling journey in “Path to Play” survey

The UK Gambling Commission continues to deliver interesting insights into the industry in the United Kingdom. The latest is a big data dump that reveals how consumers interact with operators in the regulated market and what their "journey" with gambling brands is usually like. Called "Path to Play," this research sheds valuable information on consumer behavior and what stimulates people to play or continue playing.

To streamline the communication of information, the regulator has broken down the journey into six steps. The research uses a sort of meta-language to describe the journey, calling the steps "passive influences, external triggers, internal impulses, active search, play experience and play outcome."

In terms of passive influences, gamblers admitted that winning big or hearing about another person winning big was a huge deciding factor for them and their further commitment to gambling. Out of those interviewed, 28% said that if they won, they would consider placing another bet. But the effect is measurable to just hearing about another person placing a bet and winning.

Another 27% said that they would still consider betting even if they only heard about another person winning, provided that this person was someone they knew. A sort of peer pressure forms when someone in a gambler’s social circle wins, it seems. The research found that 19% of people were influenced by the so-called background noise, used to describe gambling advertisements.

The internal impulses segment is what is described in the person as their true motivation to gamble. For example, 43% of gamblers said that they gambled in order to win – even a small amount would be enough to satisfy this, it seems. Then again, 38% of those interviewed said that they were mostly there to have fun and nothing else.

"Active search" is used to refer to gamblers who are deciding whether they should gamble in the first place. Here, familiarity with a game proved to be the greatest driver. A gambler admitted that they had gambled on an instant win game because they could relate that experience with a "positive experience" they had to play Candy Crush. The game in question resembled a popular mobile game.

Naturally, winning a game was the strongest positive experience a person could have with a game. All of this offers minor but important glimpses into the psyche of gamblers. While most of these findings are known to us as individuals on a visceral level, their quantification as part of a bigger study is an important helpful hand when regulators try to figure out what policies to follow best.

The UKGC commented on the survey and what it is meant to mean: "The intention is to explore this journey specifically from the gambler’s perspective, which may be different from an operator or regulator’s perspective."

The regulator stood firmly behind the idea that by running such research it would be able to better understand the consumer gambling experience and the factors that drive people. This way the policies that follow will be better designed to address any underlying issue while leaving recreational gamblers alone.

Even with such extensive work, though, the UKGC fears that gamblers are too individual and unique to fit single definitions. As such, regulators and policymakers need to stay vigilant and adjust the industry as need is. The UKGC concluded by arguing that the six steps are just cornerstone moments that people experience during the process of gambling but that it was not exactly accurate to rely on these definitions to try and completely understand gamblers’ motivations or triggers.

Image credit: Glassdoor