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Adapting in times of crisis: how social media marketing of gambling changed in response to major shifts in the gambling landscape
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Frederic Boy ,
Alexander Bradley ,
Richard J. E. James ,
Heather Wardle ,
Simon Dymond
Information, Communication & Society, Pages: 1 - 17
Swansea University Authors:
Frederic Boy , Simon Dymond
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© 2025 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
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DOI (Published version): 10.1080/1369118x.2025.2572025
Abstract
Gambling marketing on social media in countries like Great Britain (GB) is relatively well understood. Little is known, however, about how such marketing is impacted by major changes to the gambling landscape, like the COVID-19 pandemic. Here, we assessed changes in the frequency, sentiment, and con...
| Published in: | Information, Communication & Society |
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| ISSN: | 1369-118X 1468-4462 |
| Published: |
Informa UK Limited
2025
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| Online Access: |
Check full text
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| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa70656 |
| Abstract: |
Gambling marketing on social media in countries like Great Britain (GB) is relatively well understood. Little is known, however, about how such marketing is impacted by major changes to the gambling landscape, like the COVID-19 pandemic. Here, we assessed changes in the frequency, sentiment, and content of gambling marketing on Twitter by Great Britain (GB) gambling operators and affiliates. We analysed n = 353,134 tweets from 10 operators and affiliates posted between January 2020 and July 2022. Using machine learning, we categorised tweets based on content and tracked how social media use by operators and affiliates changed during the pandemic. Findings revealed decreases in the frequency of tweets posted during the first national lockdown, particularly for affiliates, and a greater proportion of sports content related tweets, compared to direct advertising, as the pandemic continued. Postings by affiliates tended to include more positive sentiments. Our findings highlight the speed at which gambling operators and affiliates adapted their social media marketing campaigns to large structural changes like the COVID-19 lockdowns. |
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| Keywords: |
Gambling marketing; social media; operators; affiliates; machine learning; sentiment analysis |
| College: |
Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences |
| Funders: |
This work was supported by British Academy: [Grant Number SG2122\211340]. |
| Start Page: |
1 |
| End Page: |
17 |