The specter of inflation is haunting the world economy and, according to a recent survey of UK gamblers, it’s going to have a huge impact on the gaming industry. The survey, conducted by YouGov on behalf of the Department of Trust (DoTrust), a UK-based open banking solutions provider, found that a full 50 percent of UK gamblers are ready to cut back, or eliminate entirely, their gambling habits as the value of the money in their pockets decreases due to inflation.
The YouGov survey polled 700 British residents who identified themselves as gamblers about how the increased prices of goods and services is impacting their gambling habits. Approximately 18 percent of respondents said that inflation is causing them to cut out gambling entirely. Another 32 percent of respondents said higher prices would cause them to limit their gambling.
On a brighter note, approximately 49 percent of those questioned said that inflatiwon would not impact their gambling habits at all. Oddly, one percent of respondents said that inflation would actually cause them to increase their gambling habit. (These are clearly the problem gamblers who no credible operator would market to anyways.)
In a statement reported on by iGamingBusiness, DoTrust chief executive and founder Charles Cohen stressed that the underlying message of the survey was that consumers are hurting, and that operators have a responsibility to those folks during times like these. “Inflation is at levels not seen for decades and this is translating into a fast moving affordability crisis for the gambling industry,” he said.