Gambling Commission Chooses Four Research Companies to Enhance Consumer Voice Framework

The UK’s Gambling Commission has teamed up with research firms to bolster its consumer voice framework, which seeks to explore in greater detail the behaviors of gamblers.

This initiative is aimed at enhancing the Gambling Commission’s research capabilities and has led to collaborations with four research support companies dedicated to deepening understanding of gambling motivations and demographics.

The updated gambling consumer voice framework will now benefit from the expertise of Yonder Consulting, a mixed-methodology research firm; Humankind Research, specializing in qualitative research; Savanta, a market research consultancy; and the UK-based Behavioural Insights Team.

“Behavioural Insights Team combines a deep understanding of human behavior with evidence-led problem solving to improve people’s lives,” stated Senior Advisor Eleanor Collerton. She elaborated, “We’re excited to contribute our expertise in experimental research to generate new insights, address key evidence gaps, and help ensure consumer voices shape meaningful and effective gambling policy, building on more than five years of work to reduce gambling harms in GB.”

Yonder Consulting has already established a relationship with the Gambling Commission through previous studies examining the unlicensed market and the impacts of bonus offers.

Each supplier has been granted a two-year contract, extendable up to 2029, with the Gambling Commission.

“With these four partners, we’re better equipped to commission high-quality research swiftly and utilize a variety of approaches to address emerging trends or risks,” said Laura Carter, the Gambling Commission’s head of research. “The Consumer Voice program is fundamental in ensuring our decisions are based on the actual experiences of all consumers and the changing realities of gambling.”

### Gambling Survey for Great Britain Support

In conjunction with its national Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB), the consumer voice framework augments the research efforts of the Gambling Commission.

The latest GSGB study, published on 22 May, indicated a decrease in overall gambling participation in the UK from September 2024 to January 2025, dropping three percentage points from the preceding three months. The study noted that the participation rate in gambling activities in the last four weeks stood at 46%, down from 49% in the preceding survey ending in October 2024.

After the survey faced questions regarding its reliability, the UK’s Office for Statistics Regulation, a regulatory arm of the UK Statistics Authority, conducted a review. Coinciding with the release of the latest results, the Office for Statistics Regulation published a report recommending improvements in the GSGB study, including more detailed information on quality assurance and validation processes, and clearer communications about potential biases in statistical releases.

Through engaging these outside firms, the Commission intends to enhance its grasp on gambler behaviors.