TY - GEN
T1 - The Marketing of legal but potentially harmful products
AU - Buchanan, June
AU - Johnson, Lester W.
PY - 2007
Y1 - 2007
N2 - A number of industries sell products such as tobacco, alcohol and gambling that, although legal, are considered potentially harmful to certain members of society. Unlike non-controversial products that attract no attention when using strategies to increase market share, many of these potentially harmful products attract backlash from concerned members of society and often governments when their markets increase. This paper investigates a number of marketing mix strategies (the 7 Ps of services marketing) used by operators of one form of gambling services, namely electronic gaming machines (EGMs) in order to ascertain the extent to which their organisation includes corporate social responsibility (CSR) in their marketing. Thirty-seven face to- face and/or telephone interviews were undertaken with EGM manufacturers, gaming consultants, managers of gaming establishments and casino operators in Nevada (USA) and New South Wales (Australia), along with management of the gaming regulatory authority in New South Wales (NSW). We found that the major gaming operators in Nevada are aware of, and practice, CSR to a significantly higher degree than do gaming operators in NSW. In terms of regulatory constraints, a blanket ban exists on all external advertising of EGMs in NSW, whereas Nevada has very little restriction. Interestingly, Nevada operators choose to focus on venue facilities, such as entertainment, food and particularly on the Las Vegas Strip, accommodation, in spite of their freedom to advertise more broadly.
AB - A number of industries sell products such as tobacco, alcohol and gambling that, although legal, are considered potentially harmful to certain members of society. Unlike non-controversial products that attract no attention when using strategies to increase market share, many of these potentially harmful products attract backlash from concerned members of society and often governments when their markets increase. This paper investigates a number of marketing mix strategies (the 7 Ps of services marketing) used by operators of one form of gambling services, namely electronic gaming machines (EGMs) in order to ascertain the extent to which their organisation includes corporate social responsibility (CSR) in their marketing. Thirty-seven face to- face and/or telephone interviews were undertaken with EGM manufacturers, gaming consultants, managers of gaming establishments and casino operators in Nevada (USA) and New South Wales (Australia), along with management of the gaming regulatory authority in New South Wales (NSW). We found that the major gaming operators in Nevada are aware of, and practice, CSR to a significantly higher degree than do gaming operators in NSW. In terms of regulatory constraints, a blanket ban exists on all external advertising of EGMs in NSW, whereas Nevada has very little restriction. Interestingly, Nevada operators choose to focus on venue facilities, such as entertainment, food and particularly on the Las Vegas Strip, accommodation, in spite of their freedom to advertise more broadly.
KW - Gambling, Gaming, Electronic Gaming Machines, Marketing of Potentially Harmful Products, Social Responsibility
KW - gambling
KW - gaming
KW - electronic gaming machines
KW - marketing of potentially harmful products
KW - social responsibility
M3 - Conference proceeding contribution
SN - 9781872058146
T3 - Research paper series
BT - Marketing theory into practice
PB - Kingston Business School
CY - Kingston, UK
T2 - Academy of Marketing Conference (2007)
Y2 - 3 July 2007 through 6 July 2007
ER -