Relationship between an Australian Casino Rewards Program and Problem Gambling
We were commissioned to investigate the relationship between an Australian casino’s loyalty programs and problem gambling or harm, an under-researched area.
Context
Very few studies have examined the relationship between gambling venue loyalty programs and problem gambling/harm. Arcadia Social Research was commissioned to design and deliver a study to investigate the relationship between an Australian casino’s loyalty programs and problem gambling/harm.
Approach
A literature review was first undertaken to ensure the study design was built on existing understanding of how loyalty programs work in general, and in the context of gambling, and the relationships that gambling venue loyalty programs can have with problem gambling/harm. A survey was designed and implemented among a large sample of loyalty program members for each casino. The forthcoming data was merged with player data, enabling any patterns in the player data associated with higher problem gambling risk to be identified.
A separate survey of the broader gambling population relevant to each venue was also undertaken to enable a comparison of members and non-members and provide a broader population benchmark. All surveys included measures of problem gambling risk/harm as well as a wide range of attitudes, perceptions and behaviours relating to different features of the loyalty programs in question, co-morbidities, and demographics. A range of analytic techniques were used in analysing the data, including machine learning methods, structural equation modelling and multivariate regression.
Social & Policy Area
Methods
Quantitative surveys
Merging of survey and player data
Advanced analytics
Note
This project was completed when operating as 3arc Social.