Public is confused, survey finds

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Camelot is confusing the public with too many games and new launches, according to the results of the latest attitudes survey undertaken by the lottery regulator the NLC. 62% of respondents agreed that there are ‘too many different games’ and two-thirds of lottery players have not tried anything other than the main Lotto game. Among those who had played other games (such as Thunderball, Hotpicks and Lotto Extra), 13% preferred these games to Lotto –mainly because they thought the odds of winning were better. Lotto is preferred for its big prizes and its simplicity. Mark Slattery, head of public affairs at the NLC, said the research finding that people think there are too many games was ‘disturbing’. ‘This isn’t good news because the traditional response of lottery operators to declining sales is to keep launching new games, to refresh the portfolio. It’s possible that Camelot many need to think about removing as well as adding games.’ The survey also asked whether players agreed that ‘On the whole, the money from national lottery games goes to good causes.’ Two out of five players (40%) endorsed this view (meaning, presumably, they regarded the causes personally as worthwhile). As this was the only attitudinal question in the survey about lottery funding, we can glean very little meaningful from it. Moreover, the survey’s timing, late August, coincides with the first wave of adverse reporting of the Community Fund’s award to the NCADC anti-deportation campaign.
The NLC’s Report on Participation, Expenditure and Attitudes(November 2002) can be viewed or downloaded free from www.natlotcomm.gov.uk