Assessing the Effectiveness of a Responsible Sports Betting Public Service Announcement (PSA): The Role of Message Processing and Audience Characteristics

Abstract

With the expansion of legalized sports betting in North America, sport organizations increasingly rely on public service announcements (PSAs) to promote responsible gambling. Guided by the elaboration likelihood model, this study examines how central and peripheral message processing relate to perceived PSA effectiveness and positive play outcomes, and whether these relationships vary by sports fandom and betting experience. Using a between-subjects experiment with 734 National Football League fans, multivariate multiple regression analyses indicate that central route processing is the dominant driver of perceived PSA effectiveness across informational, emotional, and behavioral dimensions, while peripheral processing plays a more limited role. Moderation analyses show that sports fandom and betting experience exert small, selective amplifying effects on the relationship between central processing and responsible gambling intentions, but do not broadly alter PSA effectiveness. These results offer practical guidance for operators and regulators, emphasizing the value of informative, direct messaging over celebrity-driven or emotionally evocative appeals in fostering responsible, positive play.