Research carried out by The Behavioral Insights Team has revealed that there is a clear lack of understanding of current returns to player (RTP) statements for players playing online slots and that this can lead them to take more risks than they normally would.Simplified odds in £ terms led to greater understanding and less willingness to take risks
For the study, the Behavioral Insights Team created an online slot game and studied the gaming activity of 5,311 participants as they played. The group was divided into segments, each of which was presented with RTP information in a variety of formats. This included simpler odds presented as potential losses in total £ and small changes such as making the RTP information more prominent or highlighting/changing the color of the RTP text.
Half of all participants were also given free spins to see how this would affect their activity and whether it encouraged players to take more risks than usual.
The research found that simplified odds information led to a 3% increase in risk understanding to 14% of all players in the segment. This led to the number of people willing to continue playing the game dropping by 7% to 68% of the segment.
Researchers also noted that presenting RTP information as it is currently presented by the industry increased misunderstanding of the risks by 11% up to 32% of the segment’s participants.
Meanwhile, free spins encouraged even those who understood the odds and risk to play more. According to the research, this resulted in 75% of participants choosing to play, up from 70% in the segment without free spins.
According to the study, while simpler odds information led to fewer non-problem gamblers choosing to gamble, the change had no significant impact on those with a history of problem gambling.
Based on the findings of the report, The Behavioral Insights Team has recommended that RTP statements should be banned or radically revised to help improve players’ understanding of the risks. It has also suggested that odds should be listed in £/€/$ terms which are clearly visible and presented before any other betting information.
The full report is available for download.
