Dr. Marla Stafford: “The key challenge is to get the attention of gamblers”

Dr. Marla Stafford, one of the co-authors of the Responsible Gaming Intervention Effectiveness Scale (RG-IES), has developed a new tool aimed at promoting responsible gambling. Designed to assist both scholars and practitioners, the RG-IES helps create and evaluate effective messaging strategies targeted at gamblers. The core objective is to foster safer gambling habits and prevent problem gambling by offering a structured approach to communication. While challenges, such as engaging gamblers’ attention, remain, Dr. Stafford is optimistic that the RG-IES could become a key industry standard for responsible gambling messaging.

Q: Dr. Stafford, thank you for this opportunity. Could you introduce the Responsible Gaming Intervention Effectiveness Scale (RG-IES) you and Dr. Jonathan Ross Gilbert have developed, and explain its significance within the current landscape of legalized gambling?

The RG-IES was developed to assess responsible gaming messages designed to appeal to gamblers. The scale measures whether or not a message appeal is effective on its own, or whether it is more or less effective than other messages. It is designed to assess responsible gaming messages across all forms of gambling. With current attention focused on ensuring that players engage in safe and responsible gambling, the tool has the potential to help prevent problem gambling, as long as it is used appropriately and follows the guidelines provided. Hence, it is a significant tool that has an important place in the responsible gaming space.

Q: Analyzing how gambling companies communicate with their audiences is an intriguing area of focus. What led you to pursue this line of research, and why did you believe it was a valuable avenue for your efforts?

As a marketing scholar, one of my key areas of interest is to research how marketing and advertising contribute to an individual’s well-being. Marketing and advertising have not only the power, but in my opinion, the responsibility, to affect society in a positive manner. So much of my endeavors have been focused in this area overall. When I came to UNLV more than five years, I became particularly interested in how marketing and advertising can play an important role in affecting responsible gaming. This led to a direct interest in marketing and advertising efforts to help influence positive gaming behaviors. Given the growth of gambling, and concomitantly, the growth of problem gambling, I became very interested in strategies and tactics to encourage responsible play – or preventing individuals – from reaching levels of gambling that can cause problems. The development of this tool is a step in that direction.

Q: In your view, what are the main challenges in effectively communicating responsible gaming messages to sports betting and casino audiences presently? Is the industry making progress, or is there significant room for improvement?

One key challenge is getting the attention of gamblers who generally disregard messages related to responsible gambling because they often equate responsible gambling with problem gambling. They are, in fact, two completely different things. Responsible gambling has to do with prevention – ensuring that those who gamble play in a healthy and safe way, and never reach the levels of a problem gambler. So it is important for responsible gaming messages to target all players and in a positive way, so that the message is processed. There is considerable discussion in the industry right now about responsible gaming; they are definitely moving in the right direction. Yes, there is still room for improvement, but the industry is welcoming the discourse as they recognize the importance of supporting their customers.

Q: Do you anticipate that the RG-IES will be widely adopted, and could it play a transformative role in shaping future responsible gaming campaigns across the industry?

Our hope is that the scale will be widely adopted because it has such strong potential to help develop effective responsible gaming messages that will reach and influence gamblers. Indeed, if it is adopted industry-wide, it absolutely can play a transformative role in building RG campaigns. A key challenge for the industry is developing messages that can engage attention among gamblers, and this is just one of the dimensions captured in this scale.

It is important to remember that this scale can be used across gambling types and media types. It can also be used along with a range of different characteristics, so that different message appeals can be tested to assess if certain messages are more effective for certain target markets. Therefore, if the scale is used to its full capacity, along with other factors, it has the potential to inform the industry in many ways, and help create communications that affect the industry in a very positive way.

Q: Looking ahead, what are your aspirations for the RG-IES? How do you plan to measure its success in the context of responsible gaming communication?

I hope that both scholars and practitioners find the scale helpful as they engage in research on effective message strategies to reach gamblers. While the scale is a tool that can help increase knowledge in the gambling literature, more importantly, it has significant practical applications for gambling operators and their marketing and advertising agencies as they develop new creative approaches to reach their customers and promote responsible gambling behaviors. If the scale is used by gambling organizations in their development of communications, and ultimately, those communications are received and processed by the audience, then indeed, we can consider this tool a success. And the ultimate goal is, of course, to help adult recreational gamblers maintain a healthy and safe level of play.

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