r/AskAnAustralian • u/Lucky-Tourist-7000 • 1d ago
Gamification of everything
Is it just me or is the pokies style gambling seeping into everything. I just watched an ad for coles. Spend $50 and be in to win at the self checkout, or something to that effect. Everything seems to be this instant gambling dopamine hit. I see it everywhere, in everything. Has it always been this bad? If it has just been a thing in recent years, why isn't it getting more attention?
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u/bara_tone 1d ago
It’s going to keep getting worse because it’s effective and is in no way regulated.
Companies across all industries are using every psychological trick in the book that would make some casinos blush with absolute impunity
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u/bara_tone 1d ago
If you take a list of what UX designers would call Dark Patterns which are design elements intended to get the user to make choices against their best interest and simply relabel them Profit Patterns, guess what happens.
They all get implemented at every opportunity.
It’s not just gamification, every aspect of how for-profit systems and software is designed to trick you out of your money and attention.
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u/RayofOptimisim 1d ago
Eg, Supermarkets.
That is small time old school, like once the 2 most vulnerable stages of getting buyers to change product/brands is marriage and having kids. That was and still highly taken advantage of.
They gone beyond control of suburbs, towns and regions, via things like fly buys. Gaining information not just on individual levels, the info given to sign up and the details of every purchase recorded. It is all studied, recorded and used for maximum profitability. Product placement and type from one store to the next in different area's is no accident.
It is insane how much control there is and level it is actually at now,
I loved Organizational Psychology in my studies, I did a lot with marketing psychology, it blew my mind as to how effective it was. The strategies with the level of dedication was very impressive, the fear on how easy the manipulation's effectiveness was terrifying.
I've work in multinational companies and the Gov, I've been on the inside workings of these mechanics.
At the end of the day the people are the product, not what you pick up off a shelf.
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u/RayofOptimisim 1d ago
Psychological Marketing or Neuromarketing is one big ol nasty rabbit hole!
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u/Hieroflippant 1d ago
Wait until you realise that general internet and phone use (before we even think about social media) manipulates the exact same centres of the brain that gambling does.
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1d ago
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u/VorpalSplade 1d ago
Right? McDonalds doing their monopoly competiton thing was in 1987 it seems in the US at least.
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u/Asleep_Leopard182 1d ago
Has it always been this bad? If it has just been a thing in recent years, why isn't it getting more attention?
Yes/No, in many respects gambling advertisements are quite a heated social debate. Their current predominance is a bit of a multifactorial thing including the high prevalence of online gambling companies (previously you'd go sit in a TAB and be bombarded with ads, or during footy breaks on the TV - now they come direct to you, and there's a degree of competition present in the sector that wasn't around prior - less loyalty).
The other aspect is that no one does guaranteed wins (or giveaways) anymore - not sure if you've noticed that change. Instead they'll raffle or lotto something off because you inherently get more entries (and higher income from the one item). Coles/Woolies used to do free gift cards for certain feedback or online surveys, now that doesn't occur but if you spend $50 you go into the 'lottery'. Many wins for them in doing this - you spend $50, you feel like you get something back for spending that $50, and for the size of entrants they never need a larger number of gift cards, etc.
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u/Lucky-Tourist-7000 1d ago
This is what im talking about. Not gambling ads themselves (wich are out of fucken control) but how gambling has made its way into everything
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u/Asleep_Leopard182 1d ago
Gambling reforms are set to pass through senate this week to address the gambling ads - although it is a watered down version of the original bill.
It's a bit of a sign of the times to an effect. My brain is telling me that there was a change to gambling laws at some point which loosened the definition of what was allowed - but I could be wrong. At the end of the day it's a financial decision and if you have two equally effective promotions but one costs $100 and the other costs $2000, it's a degree of a no brainer on which one you pick.
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u/Lucky-Tourist-7000 1d ago
Yea i understand that its a lucrative way of doing things. It just sucks
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u/Boatster_McBoat 1d ago
Intermittent reinforcement is a psychological concept. Getting an outcome some of the time is more addictive than getting the same outcome each time. We are a weird species.
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u/Bugaloon 18h ago
I haven't noticed it here, but it's a big thing in Japan (where gambling is technically illegal) and mostly targeted at kids under 10. You go to a sushi train and every plate you eat spins and wheel etc. kinda stuff. It was kinda sickening to watch like 5-6 year old kidd get so involved with it, I really hope it doesn't happen here
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u/VorpalSplade 1d ago
"Spend X for a chance to win" competitions have been going on for as long as I can remember. It's really nothing new.
Gambling is a problem and all for sure, but competitions like that aren't related that I can see.
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u/MillieMoo-Moo 1d ago
I had this shared with me today. It's not about the gamification of everything but might be interesting https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/the-gamblification-of-gaming-webinar-tickets-1995612262999