The impact of pop-up warning messages of losses on expenditure in a simulated game of online roulette: a pilot study

Background: ‘Pop-up’ warning messages have potential as a Responsible Gambling tool, but many warning messages in the literature are generic. The present study simulated digital roulette to compare the effectiveness of expenditure specific, generic and control messages, during online roulette. Methods: Forty-five casual gamblers participated in a laboratory setting. Gambles were ‘rigged’ such that participants suffered a net loss. Total ‘play money’ wagers from individual bets after the presentation of the messages were measured. Results: Expenditure-specific warning messages demonstrated significant reductions in wager amounts compared with other message types - Generic (p = .035) and Control messages (p .05). Thus expenditure-specific warning messages about current losses were more effective than generic messages for reducing expenditure. Conclusions: Expenditure-specific warning messages exhibit potential for ameliorating potentially harmful gambling behaviour. Expenditure-specific messages should be tested in a broader range of gambling contexts to examine their generalizability and potential for implementation in the gambling industry. Keywords: Responsible gambling, Pop-ups, Warning messages, Electronic gaming machines, Harm minimisatio