How much have you won or lost? Personalized behavioral feedback about gambling expenditures regulates play

•Subjective recall of gambling spend differs from player-account data.•We provided players with their actual spend and tracked subsequent spend.•Players who under-estimated their losses didn't perceive a change in their spend.•Data on actual play, however, indicated significantly reduced spend.•Providing players with accurate spend information moderates play.

In the current research, we tested the utility of a responsible gambling tool that provides players with personalized behavioral feedback about their play. We hypothesized that when the player's estimated monetary loss is less than their actual monetary loss, subsequent expenditures will be reduced. To this end, players (N = 649) enrolled in a casino-based loyalty program were asked how much they have won or lost over a three-month period whilst using their loyalty card. They were then provided with their player-account data. Results indicated that players who under-estimated their losses (i.e., those who lost more money than they thought at Time 1) did not perceive that they had reduced their play in the 3-month follow-up period. However, data on actual play indicated that they significantly reduced the amount they wagered as well as the amount they lost during the follow-up period. Given that informed decision-making is the raison d'etre of responsible gambling tools, these results suggest that providing players with accurate information about how much they spend gambling can moderate gambling expenditures.