Emotional advertising to attenuate compulsive consumption: qualitative insights from gamblers

Compulsive consumption behaviours such as smoking, drinking, and gambling are serious public health concerns that impact consumers globally. Research examining emotional advertising appeals that specifically induce help-seeking in the problem gambling context remains limited. A qualitative study through the use of focus groups was conducted to inductively explore gamblers’ perceptions of effective health messages, investigating how, why, and which emotional advertising appeals would best impact on their decision to seek help. Participants proposed that positive, negative, and mixed emotional appeals can be utilised to most effectively communicate with gamblers. In addition, response efficacy (the extent people believe a recommended response effectively deters or alleviates a health threat), self-accountability (an assessment of the degree to which oneself is responsible for the situation), and perceived benefits (beliefs about the positive outcomes associated with help-seeking behaviour) are also highlighted as important message elements. This study should serve as a starting point to develop effective health messages in compulsive consumption contexts, including gambling.