Beer Mats Attract Punters
For those betting companies wondering what's the best way to attract new punters, the answer is simple: beer mats. Or so conclude researchers at market research firm MRS Group. Their success rate might be attributed to prevalence, since most pub goers tended to notice the beer mats that were held down by a glass of their favorite brew. In comparison, a less successful advertising effort involved the outcome of all that beer drinking--a visit to the nearby washroom.
MRS researchers studied which forms of ambient advertising were successful and then questioned pub goers. It seems that only 8 percent actually recall seeing promotional posters placed in washroom stalls, while nearly 70 percent of those questioned remembered the beer mat advertisements.
It just goes to show that pub crawlers care more about what's accompanying their beer, than checking out their surroundings while taking, ahem, a necessary break from drinking.
GRB Report Includes Punter Survey
As part of the just-released Gambling Review Body's all-encompassing report on gambling in the United Kingdom, some interesting survey figures were quoted regarding punters who participated in pools or pari-mutuel betting. For example, survey results from two studies cited in the GRB report indicate that pools betting was two times as popular with men as women. In one study, 9 percent of the respondents had participated in pools-style betting during the past year, slightly more than the amount who played bingo and scratch cards. The youngest and oldest age groups reported the least amount of pools gambling; while the biggest group of gamblers was in the 55-64 age group, which had a 13 percent participation rate.
In terms of popularity, one pools company stood head and shoulders above the competition: Littlewoods Pools was determined to be the largest pools operator in Britain, serving 80 percent of the market.
A study also found that the typical bettor spends £3 per week for either football pools or fixed-odds betting, and men spent more on average (£3.30) than women (£2). Another study reported that more than 90 percent of its participants had spent less than £5 for pools gambling during the previous week. Another 3 percent gambled on average between £10.02 and £20, while a mere 1 percent of male respondents admitted to gambling more than £50 on pools during the previous week. (Findings cited in the report came from studies by Prevalence, ONS and Littlewoods Pools, as well as other sources.)
Whither Interactive Gambling?
Researchers from Schema examined the interactive medium and contemplated what its success drivers will be during the next few years. The answer, in large part, is gambling, say Schema analysts. Based upon information gathered from more the 6,000 European users and 70 industry figures, Schema's "Interactive Entertainment: Delivering Revenues in the Broadband Era" predicts that the interactive entertainment (IE) industry will probably be worth $38 billion during the next five years. They further predict that 40 percent of that income will be derived from gambling activities.
"The IE market in Europe is set to boom, with gambling, gaming and video and film services driving potentially phenomenal growth of high speed data," Schema Director and Interactive Entertainment Project Manager Jo Piggot told Net Imperative. "In fact, European consumers will spend as much on interactive entertainment in 2005 as they will on print media or on package holidays."
Currently the percentage of the U.K. population that uses digital services is twice as high as percentages in other parts of Europe, a study by the group said. This was based upon the region's early adoption of digital television and use of online betting services.
Piggot cautioned, however, that there are some caveats on the path to success for the IE industry. "Due to the rapid penetration of digital TV around Europe, this medium is possibly best placed to take advantage of opportunities for new interactive entertainment services. The rewards for the winners are great, but market players must adopt winning positions in order to compete effectively," she said.
Schema's report costs £5,000 and can be ordered online at www.schema.co.uk.
Hong Kong Gambling Continues to Grow
People in yet another region of the world are participating more and more in online gambling activities. The latest figures from NetValue show that Hong Kong's cyber casino scene is hotter than ever with more Internet users there spending time on betting sites in May than they did at the beginning of the year. Plus, Hong Kong players are spending more time at gambling information sites, where they can research betting tips and reviews of the top gambling sites on the Web.
"Although the number of users visiting gambling sites has stayed relatively stable, we are seeing an increase in the length of time users spend on these sites, which is one of the key factors of concern the increased accessibility online gaming brings," commented Clayton Fitts, NetValue Limited's vice president of sales and marketing.
NetValue reports, for example, that the percentage of Hong Kong Internet users visiting the gambling sector has remained stable since January, hovering between 39 percent and 40 percent during the past five months. Yet the amount of time they've spent on sites like macauslot.com has increased. In January, visitors spent about 140 minutes on average at the macauslot.com site, which was rated the number one gambling site for both January and May. By May, however, that time had increased with visitors having spent on average 180 minutes at the site.
An interesting side note from NetValue researchers: While macauslot.com is an information site that's achieved No. 1 status in NetValue's last two reports, its sister site, macau-slot.com, which is listed as offering hard betting, is doing quite well too. This seems to indicate that users are researching their gambling options on the information site before heading to the other site where the actual gambling takes place.
"There is no doubt that gambling is--and will continue to be--a dominant sector on the Internet among users in Hong Kong," Fitts added. "Figures reveal that online hard betting has begun to take off in a city that is famous for placing as much value on the excitement of social interaction during gambling as putting the bets on the table. Essentially, to local Internet users, gambling is a passion which exists both online and offline."
NetValue listed the top ten gambling sites, based upon duration of usage, in Hong Kong:
January 2001
- macauslot.com (139.9 minutes) **
- macau-slot.com (38.8 minutes) *
- appleracing.com.hk (25.8 minutes) **
- hongkongjockeyclub.com (7.1 minutes) *
- prizecrazy.com (2.7 minutes)
- clubchance.com (1.4 minutes)
- windough.com (1.4 minutes)
- iwin.com (1.1 minutes)
- speedyclick.com (1.1 minutes)
- onlinegamblingreview.com (1.0 minutes)**
* Indicates betting website
** Indicates gambling information website.
This same list changed somewhat five months later, with some new names being added and Internet users spending more time at the sites:
May 2001
- macauslot.com (179.3 minutes) **
- macau-slot.com (80.9 minutes)*
- appleracing.com.hk (19.0 minutes) **
- hongkongjockeyclub.com (6.7 minutes) *
- ladbrokes.co.uk ((6.0 minutes) *
- goldenpalace.com (3.5 minutes) *
- clubchance.com (1.3 minutes)
- trustedcasinos.com (1.2 minutes) **
- onlinegamblingreview.com (1.1 minutes) **
- a1players.com (0.7 minutes) **
* Indicates hard betting website
** Indicates gambling information website.
Fitts explained, "Earlier this year, Hong Kong Internet users were just warming up to the idea of cyber casinos and they tested the waters by going to a lot of soft betting sites, which are sites that offer games but no monetary transaction."
"Now, users seem to be growing more confident about gambling on hard betting sites, which is evident from the growth in the number of such sites in the top ten for May. This, and the big leap in duration for the top two gambling sector sites in January and May all point to the trend that Hong Kong users have matured in terms of identifying and accessing those sites which are particular to their specific needs. It is interesting that a degree of self-regulation from users is taking place as two review sites have now entered the top ten," he added.
"Online betting is becoming a staple activity among Hong Kong users who visit the gambling sector, and its potential to grow in the market is high. Reasons for this are because the regulations and barriers for businesses to enter this arena are lenient, and gambling sites do not discriminate against age groups. The real challenge that lies ahead for these sites is in developing customer loyalty, considering the wide range of gambling site choices that are available," Fitts concluded.
Pathologic Gambling May Be A Chronic Medical Condition
Yale researchers, in the July 11 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), suggest that pathological gambling, just like drug and alcohol abuse, should be considered a chronic medical condition.
"Pathological gambling should be conceptualized as a chronic medical illness so that we can gain better understanding of the biological, genetic and environmental factors that contribute to the problem, develop better treatment strategies and treat individuals with the disorder within a medical context," said Marc Potenza, M.D., the principal investigator and an assistant professor of psychiatry at Yale.
He indicated that there has been a large increase in the availability of gambling in the U.S., which goes hand-in-hand with an increasing number of problem and pathological gamblers. For example, in 1998 it was estimated that 86 percent of the general adult population had gambled at least once, a huge leap over the 68 percent reported in 1975. And while the more traditional forms of gambling in casinos, on lotteries and on horse racing is addictive, Potenza contends that newer forms like video poker and Internet gambling are proving to be even more habit-forming, probably due to their greater rapidity of action and ability to be done privately.
"Gambling has gone from being considered a sin to being a vice to being just bad personal behavior and only recently has been conceptualized within a psychiatric or medical context," Potenza said. "It is estimated that one of every five individuals with pathological gambling attempts suicide."
Potenza explained the difference between problem gambling and pathological gambling. Problem gambling generally refers to gambling which interferes significantly with basic functioning in occupation, interpersonal relationships and finances. Pathological gambling, however, is more severe and refers to a psychiatric disorder with specific diagnostic criteria.