Norsk Tipping Study Confirms Measurable Impact of Personalised Calls on At-Risk Gambling Behaviour

A new study has found that personalised intervention calls to at-risk gamblers can produce measurable reductions in gambling activity. The research focused on the state-owned monopoly operator Norsk Tipping and its duty-of-care programme.

According to reporting by Focus Gaming News, the operator analysed account data from 4,752 customers contacted between 2022 and 2024. Researchers compared gambling activity across the 12 weeks before and after call attempts. Of those reached, 68.2 per cent answered at least one call and 57.3 per cent completed a full conversation.

Consistent declines appeared across multiple indicators: days gambled, total wagers, net losses, theoretical loss, and number of deposits. The most pronounced drops occurred in days gambled, net losses, and theoretical loss. Stronger results emerged among customers flagged by the Spillepuls risk-assessment tool, which targets heavy losses among young players and new customers with large losses, as well as those showing recent high-risk escalation.

During the calls, which employ a motivational interview approach with up to three attempts per customer, 43.7 per cent of participants lowered their loss limits. Another 12.6 per cent opted for self-exclusion and 0.7 per cent chose a temporary break. Self-referring customers showed higher rates of limit reduction at 60.7 per cent. Those who adjusted limits recorded sharper subsequent declines than those who did not.

Norsk Tipping first launched these personalised calls in 2015. Triggers include significant losses within specific age groups, high losses among newly registered players, and alerts from its Playscan monitoring tool. The study noted that players with entrenched high-risk patterns responded less readily to a single outreach.

Early Risk Signals Drive Stronger Engagement

The data show that action on early indicators such as Spillepuls flags, self-referral, or recent escalation produced higher completion rates and larger behavioural shifts. In contrast, more established high-risk customers proved harder to reach with one call. These patterns align directly with the operator’s existing triggers and underscore the importance of timing in intervention design.

The Operational Case for Proactive Outreach

This evidence supplies operators with concrete metrics on what personalised, data-triggered contact can achieve within a regulated monopoly framework. The reductions in activity and uptake of limit changes offer a practical benchmark for programmes that must balance harm reduction against customer retention. As regulators increasingly scrutinise demonstrable outcomes, approaches like Norsk Tipping’s warrant close review for potential adaptation where similar tools and data are available.

Reporting: Study backs Norwegian gambling operator’s personalised intervention measures (focusgn.com)