The use of different qualitative methodologies in analysing online sports betting adverts

Over the last decade, the amount of gambling advertising has increased substantially both in the UK and elsewhere in the world. One growing area of research in the gambling studies field concerns the content of gambling advertisements (henceforth 'adverts') and how the narrative strategies used by the advertising industry may influence individuals to gamble on their products. This case study examines research we have carried out into the potential psychosocial impact and narratives of online sports betting adverts. This involved the analysis of 135 online sports betting adverts collected over a two-year period. The case study highlights a number of different ways in which the data were analysed to provide new insights in an area with few published studies. The types of data analysis that were employed by the research team included (i) content analysis, (ii) grounded theory analysis, and (iii) conceptual metaphor analysis