dc.description.abstract |
Kenya is ranked as the country with the highest number of youth who engage in sports
betting activities in Africa with an estimated 76% of its youth engaging in sports betting.
Advertising of sports betting has been a common phenomenon in Kenya, and despite
regulation and enactment of laws to control it in the mainstream media young people access
sports betting messages through unregulated social media channels. This has led to rising
cases of young people who get into betting addiction, engaging in criminal activities, family
strife, bankruptcy and other betting related social ills. There exists little research on
advertising of sports betting messages and its influence on the behavior of young people in
Kenya and thus this study aimed to examine this scenario. Specifically, the study sought to
answer three research questions: How do young people access communication messages
regarding sports betting? How do media advertisements regarding betting shape young
people's betting behaviors? and, How do young people make sense of communication
messages aimed at regulating sports betting activities? The study was guided by two
theories viz.; reception theory and theory of reasoned action and employed a qualitative
research design to collect and analyze data. Purposive sampling was used to select 24
participants from selected sports betting cyber cafes within Eldoret town. Data was
generated through in-depth interviews which were recorded and thereafter transcribed and
coded through three coding stages; open coding, axial coding, and selective coding. Data
was analyzed thematically and presented in narrative form. The study findings revealed that
despite government regulation, betting advertisements are available and accessible in the
mainstream media and unregulated social media channels. Some young people have
acquired wealth and achieved celebrity status through sports betting outcomes, thereby
acting as a motivation and create curiosity to other young people. In addition, frequent
betting advertisements have driven young people into financial instability through loan
borrowing. The study further revealed that young people believe that government
regulations on sports betting advertisements infringe on their freedom of access to betting
information. Sport betting is often perceived as harmless and can be done for leisure and
financial gain. The study concludes that unregulated access to sport betting messages
exposes young people to risks and harmful betting behaviors. Owing to the difficulty in
regulating social media advertisements, the study recommends that the government
establishes training programs to enlighten young people on the risks associated with
consumption of sport betting messages and the consequences of engaging in these activities. |
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