Finnish survey: Attitudes on gambling 1994-2012 9th European Conference on Gambling Studies and Policy Issues 2012 Club Hotel Casino Loutraki, Loutraki, Greece Parallel Session 3 Research September 21, 2012 RAY, Finland s Slot Machine Association Anssi Airas, Research Manager 13.9.2012 1
Finnish Gaming Scene 2012 Three + one operators with exclusive rights, both land based & online Operator Purpose / Funding Forms of gaming RAY Since 1938 Veikkaus Since 1940 Fintoto Supports voluntary public health & welfare organisations (NGO s) Supports Finnish arts, sports, science and youth work (via Finnish Ministry of Education) Promotes horse breeding & racing Slot machines Casino table games Casino operations Lotteries Scratch cards Sports betting Tote betting PAF (on Åland Islands only) Supports local NGO s All forms of gaming on the Åland Islands, ferries and Internet. Not on mainland. 13.9.2012 2
Finnish survey: Attitudes on gambling 1994-2012 Source & method: Nationally representative face-to-face interviews on Finns by the Finnish market research company Taloustutkimus 1000 face-to-face interviews on Finns eight times a year Interviews among 15-79 year old population Sample is nationally representative and is formed by quota sampling (gender, age, area and community) RAY a customer since 1994 114 rounds so far Eight rounds a year since 2002 (earlier four rounds per year) Altogether 115 000 answers so far A sample of unique lenght carried out with an identical method More on CAPI-OMNIBUS method: http://www.taloustutkimus.fi/in-english/products_services/omnibus_surveys/ Similar benchmarking surveys are also carried out e.g. in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Estonia, Netherlands, Spain, Great Britain, Germany and Australia. 13.9.2012 3
% among adult population 13.9.2012 4
The consumption on games per capita in Finland is among the highest in the world. A much higher proportion of the population plays slot machines than in almost any country. The share of those having played during 12 months peaked a decade ago. Especially the share among young people has dropped. Decline has mostly hit occasional players. 13.9.2012 5 Age of 15-17 included until 12/2011
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Our acceptability is measured e.g. with the enclosed question In Finland, acceptability improved steadily from the early 1990s to 2002. Lately the situation has taken a slight turn for the worse. The number of slots has increased only very moderately. The amount of POS s has actually decreased from over 9000 down to less than 7500. One probable reason could be the rearrangements in the POS s for better surveillance on the minors: The slots are more visible nowadays. During the past few years, the number of those answering don t know has rapidly increased in many countries. This is partly explained by the fact that, in many countries, slot machines have fallen deeper into the margins: fewer people play with them, and thus they are less visible in the media. 13.9.2012 7
A large proportion of the pensioners play problematically much on slot machines Australia -98 Germany -06 Britain -11 Britain -06 Denmark -11 Denmark -05 Sweden -07 Spain -11 Spain -05 Spain -00 Spain -95 Netherlands -04 Norway -04 Finland -11 Finland -10 Finland -05 Fully/Somewhat agree Dont t know Fully/Somewhat disagree 13.9.2012 8
New age limit of 18 for all slot machines written in the law taking effect from 1 st of July 2011 to be seen in the change of attitudes. The false image of especially female pensioners playing the slots remains. 13.9.2012 9
Claims to have played a slot machine during last 12 months Women 60+ ys the only group under 20 % 13.9.2012 10
Claims to have played a slot machine during last last week Women 60+ ys the only group under 10 % 13.9.2012 11
Images on gaming machines 1996-2012 Extreme statements/ images on scale 1-10 Hardly any changes on images over the years Bipolar extreme statements/images on slots Great/Lousy product Losses for charity is important/not important Acceptable/Disgraceful Stylish/Unstylish slots Winning/Amusement is important Pleasant/Unpleasant Positive/negative image on players Joyful /Serious Exciting/Boring Pleasant/Unpleasant surroundings Best alone/in good company Nice/annoying to play along random acquaintances Expensive/Inexpensive Good/Poor chances to win 13.9.2012 12
Playing the slot machines leads to an undesiderable lifestyle Britain -11 Denmark -11 Denmark -05 Spain -11 Spain -05 Finland -11 Finland -10 Finland -05 13.9.2012 13
I have a more negative image of slot machine players than on Finns/Danes/ on average Denmark -11 Denmark -05 Spain -11 Spain -05 Australia -98 Sweden -07 Netherlands -04 Germany -06 Norway -04 Britain -11 Britain -06 Finland -11 Finland -10 Finland -05 13.9.2012 14
The slot machine operators are trustworthy Britain -11 Spain -11 Spain -05 Denmark -11 Denmark -05 Finland -11 Finland -10 Finland -05 13.9.2012 15
The slot machines offer a fair payout Britain -11 Spain -11 Spain -05 Denmark -11 Denmark -05 Finland -11 Finland -10 Finland -05 13.9.2012 16
"Only the state and charities should have control over the slot machine business" (Finland: "The operation of gaming machines should be restricted to RAY") Fully agree Somewhat agree Don't know Somewhat disagree Fully disagree Finland 6/2012 47 23 10 9 10 Finland 2005 52 23 7 10 8 Britain 2011 14 30 8 31 17 Spain 2011 31 26 23 11 9 Spain 2005 22 25 23 14 15 Denmark 2011 31 15 13 14 27 Denmark 2005 32 15 13 13 28 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% 13.9.2012 17
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New age limit of 18 for all slot machines written in the law taking effect from 1 st of July 2011 to be seen in the change of attitudes. 2004-6/2011: The law states that persons under 15 years of age are only allowed to play a slot machine with the presence and allowance of an adult family member. 10/2011-> The law states that persons under 18 years of age are is not anymore allowed to play a slot machine, not even with the presence and allowance of an adult family member. Do you think the law is applied/implemented [in praxis properly] Also some other visible improvements and rearrangements has been conducted since 2005 in the POSs e.g. for better surveillance on the minors. 13.9.2012 19
In our country, there s a large proportion of people who play problematically much on slot machines Australia -03 Germany -06 Britain -11 Britain -06 Denmark -11 Denmark -05 Sweden -07 Spain -11 Spain -05 Netherlands -04 Norway -04 Finland -11 Finland -10 Finland -05 Fully/Somewhat agree Dont t know Fully/Somewhat disagree 13.9.2012 20
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The problems associated with playing slot machines are minor Denmark -11 Denmark -05 Spain -11 Spain -05 Britain -11 Finland -11 Finland -10 Finland -05 Finland -00 13.9.2012 22
Measuring slot machine problem gamblers The result is based on the following propositions I play problematically much on slot machines (=Problematic) Someone else living in the same household plays problematically much on slot machines. 13.9.2012 23
National surveys on gambling Conducted by The National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) since 2003 Main observations on last survey (2011) During last 12 months 78 % of Finns (M83 %/F73 %) have played for money (2007: 74 %) 2/3 thinks gambling creates serious problems in Finland 6/10 thinks problems caused by gambling have increased during the last years 3/4 thinks the Finnish system of state operated exclusive rights is a good way to limit the problems caused by gambling PG rate has come down ( a bit ) to 2,7 % (2007: 3,1 %) of which 1,0 % are pathological. Gambling of minors and PG has decreased due to the absolute new age limit of 18 on all forms of gaming. National surveys use SOGS-methods on PG rates, interpretation varies and the results are not fully comparable per se, described to be mainly of guiding nature (year, PG %, pathologicals %) 2003 2,8 % (1,5 %) 2007 3,1 % (1,0 %) 2011 2,7 % (1,0 %) %. 13.9.2012 24
Comparing RAY slot machine PG rates with national survey rates standardized by Williams-Volberg-Stevens to standardize problem gambling prevalence rates so as to facilitate comparisons between jurisdictions as well as within the same jurisdiction over time. the examination of the impact of methodological differences on obtained problem gambling prevalence rates. The main methodological elements influencing obtained problem gambling prevalence are: a) which assessment instrument is used; b) the time frame used to assess the presence of problem gambling (i.e., past year, lifetime); c) how the survey is described to prospective participants; d) how the survey is administered (i.e., face-to-face, telephone, selfadministered); and e) the threshold criterion that determines when problem gambling questions are asked. The methodological approach (within each of these elements) that produced the most valid prevalence rate was identified, as well as weighting factors that could be applied to obtain rates that would have been obtained using the more valid approach. 13.9.2012 25
Comparison on Finnish Slot machine PG surveys (by RAY), National PG surveys for all forms of gambling (by THL) National PG surveys, rates standardized by Williams-Volberg-Stevens (5/2012) 2,8 % 3,1 % 2,4 % 2,7% 2,1 % 1,5 % 1,5 % 1,0 % 1,0 % 13.9.2012 26
More research in this area is needed. Luckily something has also already been done. Thank you for your attention. Questions, comments & discussion Further information and contacts anssi.airas@ray.fi 13.9.2012 27