The Perceptions and Receptiveness to Responsible Gambling by College Men who Sports Bet: A Focus Group Study

Responsible Gambling (RG) includes prevention messages aimed at mitigating harms. Research examining the experiences of college students who sports bet is lacking, hindering efforts to tailor messaging to college students. This qualitative study explored how college men who sports bet perceive and respond to existing RG messages, gathering their feedback on the characteristics of messages they find effective. Online focus groups were conducted with college men who sports bet (N = 12) using a semi-structured interview guide. The discussions were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using an open coding Thematic Analysis approach. Codes were independently identified and analyzed resulting in 12 sub-themes that were consolidated into 4 primary themes. Themes included 1) stakeholder perspectives on RG such as their conceptualization of RG, 2) acknowledgment of RG including their awareness of RG, 3) reproval of operator practices and RG messaging through their negative perceptions and insufficient sentiments of existing RG, and 4) desired RG messaging improvements including through personalized feedback. The findings provide valuable insights into the views of college men who sports bet regarding RG messages, offering guidance for developing more effective and tailored RG strategies for this demographic.