Mellan fri vilja och datadriven exploatering: En studie om drivkrafter, medvetenhet, makt och ansvar inom onlinecasinomarknaden

Abstract

This essay examines the limits of marketing strategies in the online casino industry, focusing on how data-driven and advanced marketing practices influence consumer behavior and contribute to problematic gambling consumption. By observing the online casino industry, the study identifies how companies use sophisticated data analysis methods and psychological techniques to attract and retain customers, raising significant ethical and social issues. The study highlights three key perspectives: the consumer's, the producer's, and the legislator's. From the consumer's perspective, it explores how various consumer behaviors, from responsible gambling to problematic overconsumption, are influenced by marketing and gaming experiences. This includes an analysis of how cognitive limitations and psychological biases can lead to irrational decisions and an increased risk of gambling addiction. From the producer's perspective, it examines how gambling companies use marketing strategies and technologies to increase profitability and what incentives they have to take social responsibility according to modern Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) principles. It appears that companies do not see CSR as a business goal beyond the risk of current and future regulatory compliance requirements and policy changes. From the legislator's viewpoint, the current regulatory framework for the gambling industry is discussed, including the changes that occurred in 2019 when the special monopoly form we had in Sweden was transformed into a license market. It is highlighted that measures such as the introduction of the self-exclusion register Spelpaus and the extensive duty of care have had positive effects, but that further measures may be needed to protect consumers from increasingly effective marketing strategies and subconscious influence. The study demonstrates a growing power asymmetry between marketers, consumers, and legislators in the online casino industry. It emphasizes the need for further research and policy development to balance corporate economic interests with consumers' health and societal welfare. The study calls for continued discussion on the ethics and limits of marketing in digitally driven industries like online casinos. Finally, the study suggests statutory knowledge tests and a risk-weighted balance index as forward-looking measures. This index can help the legislator relate consumer risk from a welfare perspective between markets.