A scoping review of experimental manipulations examining the impact of monetary format on gambling behaviour

Abstract

Gambling involves monetary bets and prizes, but the money can take a range of formats, including cash, chips, ticket-in ticket-out vouchers, and digital options including banking cards. As societies move toward cashless payment for many goods, the question arises of how emerging payment technologies might impact gambling-related harms. We performed a scoping review following PRISMA guidelines to identify research testing the effects of monetary format in gambling. Our eligibility criteria focused on controlled experimental manipulations, to best establish the causal impact of monetary format. We sought to characterize different types of monetary manipulations that have been studied in a gambling context. We identified 19 eligible articles, comprising 23 individual experiments. These experiments were organized according to four distinct manipulations. The most common design (12 experiments), compared gambling under the presence or absence of money. Smaller numbers of experiments were identified manipulating monetary salience, testing Responsible Gambling tools, and testing the impact of promotional inducements. We identified no studies that compared gambling using cash against digital payment forms. Our review highlights a paucity of research testing the possible impact of digital and cashless payment options on gambling related harms, using experimental designs that would permit causal conclusions to be drawn.