Corporate Social Responsibility Gambling Industry

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Hancock, Linda, Schellinck, Tony and Schrans, Tracy 2008, Gambling and corporate social responsibility (CSR) : re-defining industry and state roles on duty of care, host responsibility and risk management, Policy and society, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 55-68, doi: 10.1016/j.polsoc.2008.07.005.
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Title Gambling and corporate social responsibility (CSR) : re-defining industry and state roles on duty of care, host responsibility and risk management
Author(s) orcid.org/0000-0003-2953-2353
Schellinck, Tony
Schrans, Tracy
Journal name Policy and society
Volume number 27
Issue number 1
Start page 55
End page 68
Total pages 14
Publisher University of Sydney
Place of publication Sydney, N.S.W.
Publication date 2008
ISSN 1449-4035
Summary During the 1990s, states embraced legalised gambling as a means of supplementing state revenue. But gaming machines (EGMs, pokies, VLTs, Slots) have become increasingly controversial in countries such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand, which experienced unprecedented roll-out of gaming machines in casino and community settings; alongside revenue windfalls for both governments and the gambling industry. Governments have recognised that gambling results in a range of social and economic harms and, similar to tobacco and alcohol, have introduced public policies predicated on harm minimisation. Yet despite these, gaming losses have continued to climb in most jurisdictions, along with concerns about gambling-related harms. The first part of this article discusses an emerging debate in Ontario Canada, that draws parallels between host responsibility in alcohol and gambling venues. In Canada, where government owns and operates the gaming industry, this debate prompts important questions on the role of the state, duty of care and regulation ‘in the public interest’ and on CSR, host responsibility and consumer protection. This prompts the question: Do governments owe a duty of care to gamblers?
The article then discusses three domains of accumulating research evidence to inform questions raised in the Ontario debate: evidence that visible behavioural indicators can be used with high confidence to identify problem gamblers on-site in venues as they gamble; new systems using player tracking and loyalty data that can provide management with high precision identification of problem gamblers and associated risk (for protective interventions); and research on technological design features of new generation gaming products in interaction with players, that shows how EGM machines can be the site for monitoring/protecting players. We then canvass some leading international jurisdictions on gambling policy CSR and consumer protection.
In light of this new research, we ask whether the risk of legal liability poses a tipping point for more interventionist public policy responses by both the state and industry. This includes a proactive role for the state in re-regulating the gambling industry/products; instituting new forms of gaming machine product control/protection; and reinforcing corporate social responsibility (CSR) and host responsibility obligations on gambling providers – beyond self-regulatory codes. We argue the ground is shifting, there is new evidence to inform public policy and government regulation and there are new pressures on gambling providers and regulators to avail themselves of the new technology – or risk litigation
Notes Full title of publication is; Policy & society : journal of public, foreign and global policy
Language eng
DOI 10.1016/j.polsoc.2008.07.005
Field of Research 160510 Public Policy
Socio Economic Objective 970116 Expanding Knowledge through Studies of Human Society
HERDC Research category C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal
Copyright notice ©2008, Elsevier
Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30018005

Document type: Journal Article
Collections: Faculty of Arts and Education
School of International and Political Studies
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We’re delighted to have been announced as a finalist for our first Corporate Social Responsibility Award at the CIPR Excellence Awards 2019. We have everything crossed for tonight’s star-studded event but before we straighten our ties and put our glad rags on, we wanted to share our award-winning entry with you. Gain insight into the impact and engagement our PR and social media teams delivered for a large industry body.

The brief

2012 was a critical year for gambling operators in Macau. This article examines the process of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the Macau Gambling industry. Research results were based on a triangulation between in-depth document review, content analysis of information from the company’s websites, and site visits. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Responsible Gaming (RG) – The Heart of Lottery’s “Why” Some think of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as “doing well by doing right.” Others consider it to be a market-driven imperative, a response to consumer expectations for businesses to give back to society. Relatively low volumes of Corporate Social Disclosure (CSD) and Responsible Gambling (RG) disclosure in the international gambling industry, which can be viewed as a legitimising strategy. Second, in Macao’s gambling industry, it is argued that organisations in this industry tend to place a greater emphasis on positive social impacts, while.

CSR and CSD Related to Government Policies in the Gambling Industry. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) was firstly defined by Bowen (1953) as the obligation of a corporation to pursue its policies, to make its decisions, or to follow its lines of action desirably in terms of the objectives and values of the society (Carroll, 1999). Information about the open-access article 'Measuring Corporate Social Responsibility in Gambling Industry: Multi-Items Stakeholder Based Scales' in DOAJ. DOAJ is an online directory that indexes and provides access to quality open access, peer-reviewed journals.

Corporate Social Responsibility Gambling Industry Practices

The Industry Group for Responsible Gambling wanted a targeted social responsibility campaign to promote responsible gambling amongst customers and the wider public.

Responsible Gambling Week (RGW) took place across the UK & Ireland, November 1 – 7th, 2018. Our aims and objectives for the campaign were:

  • To raise awareness of the campaign amongst gambling operators and encourage participation
  • Raise awareness amongst customers of how to gamble responsibly
  • Raise awareness of the tools available to help customers gamble responsibly
  • Raise awareness amongst gamblers and in the wider community of where to find help and support for those who need it

Our research and planning

The prevalence of gambling, especially amongst young adults, has become a contentious political issue. Gambling operators have a statutory obligation to ensure their customers gamble responsibly, but they also have a duty as good corporate citizens to go beyond their statutory commitments.

But how do you reach your customers with these responsible gambling messages?

We reviewed research on the subject, including publications by Playing Safe, an independent academic panel working with the casino industry, which suggested an informal, conversational tone has greater cut-through than heavy-handed public health-style messaging. Younger gamblers perceive this as ‘too nanny state’.

We were asked for input into the campaign messaging and it was agreed there would be five central messages:

  • Set your limits for time and money
  • Only spend what you can afford
  • Gambling is not the answer to any problem
  • Gambling shouldn’t interfere with your personal relationships
  • Gambling when angry is not a good idea

In addition, there were 20 ‘conversation starters’, designed for use on social channels and to trigger discussion. Examples included: ‘Just a heads up…. it’s easy to lose track of time when you’re gambling’; ‘Play smart…know your limits’ and ‘What time is it? Keep an eye on the clock’.

We had three primary audiences we set out to target:

  • Gambling operators and staff
  • Regular gamblers
  • Occasional gamblers and non-gamblers

Our brief from the client was to avoid engaging with national media as they would make it a debate about problem gambling rather than responsible gambling. We, therefore, targeted three main media audiences:

  • Trade media
  • Regional media
  • Alternative publishing platforms
Corporate Social Responsibility Gambling Industry

Our strategy was to find a way of creating a national conversation without engaging with conventional national media. The issue of football clubs being sponsored by gambling companies was becoming increasingly sensitive, we used this to approach clubs directly to persuade them it was in their interests to support the campaign.

Corporate Social Responsibility Gambling Industry Companies

We knew if clubs shared our assets through their social channels and at their stadium, we would reach a mass audience, including one of our primary audiences: young, male gamblers. We could also use football clubs’ involvement to spark interest with the regional media.

Strategic tactics

With no budget for commissioning original research or other campaign collateral, PHA conceived and implemented the campaign strategy. Campaign assets were focused on the five key messages about what it means to gamble responsibly, which were created by the Client.

We launched the campaign in the trade press in July to secure buy-in from operators. We maintained momentum through a series of news updates, interviews and thought leadership pieces with John Hagan, chairman of the IGRG. We posted from our Twitter and Facebook channels, creating engaging visual content. We persuaded many Trade titles and online platforms to carry free RGW advertising.

We secured a partnership with the EFL and sponsor Sky Bet, and with individual Premier League clubs.

During Responsible Gambling Week:

A Measurement Scale Of Corporate Social Responsibility In Gambling Industry

  • Free adverts appeared in every EFL match programme and on big screens and LEDs
  • Key responsible gambling messages and videos were promoted on clubs’ social channels and two teams, Swansea City and West Ham, changed their match kits to carry the RGW logo
  • We secured a partnership with the Racecourse Association, involving all leading courses. At a televised Ascot meeting, a race was renamed as the RGW Stakes and the winner’s enclosure was RGW-branded.

Corporate Social Responsibility Gambling Industry Act

Delivery

Our strategy was to make the #RGWeek18 hashtag as widely visible as possible to promote conversation and publicise the responsible gambling messages. We were set a KPI of 10 million impressions – we generated almost 19.5 million.

Corporate Social Responsibility Gambling Industry Definition

A small percentage, around 400,000 impressions, were generated by an Instagram influencer campaign commissioned from another agency, involving former cricketer Graeme Swann and hockey player Sam Quek.

With gambling operators facing a political storm, we felt it was important to include political engagement in the campaign. Our approach was to hold a focused drop-in event for MPs with a strong interest in gambling – supporters and opponents of the industry. The event cost nothing and the client felt it led to more concentrated and useful engagement than in 2018.

Our results

#RGWeek18 generated 19,319,184 total impressions for the campaign period – in comparison to seven million impressions during Responsible Gambling Week 2017.

An external agency, Chrysalis, independently evaluated RGW and found that awareness of the campaign amongst the general population had increased by 2% from 2017 to 2018. The proportion of gamblers who had seen responsible gambling messages in newspapers increased from 9% in 2017 to 17% in 2018.

160 pieces of Media coverage were generated as a result:

  • B2B Trade and Industry: 64.
  • Regional print and online: 62.
  • Regional broadcast: 4.
  • Football Club websites: 26.
  • Racecourse websites: 4.

If you’d like to find out how we can deliver an award-winning campaign for your brand or business please get in touch with us today.