TELEVISION BETTING ADVERTISEMENTS AND THE GAMBLING BEHAVIOR OF UNDERGRADUATE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS AGED BETWEEN 18 AND 25 YEARS IN KIAMBU COUNTY KENYA

Purpose: The study sought to establish the effects of television betting advertisements on the gambling behaviour of undergraduate university students aged between 18 and 25 years in Kiambu County, Kenya. Materials and Methods: This study applied a descriptive research design. The study targeted the Public Chartered Universities that are in Kiambu County. The respondents were the undergraduate students from the School of Communications & Development Studies (SCDS) and the school of business. More specifically, the study targeted the students between 18 and 25 years of age, those who have mobile betting accounts and those who have gambled at least once in the past 12 months to be eligible to participate in this research. The study adopted a stratified random sampling technique to select the sample size. Thus, the sample frame included 384 students from the universities. The study used questionnaires to collect the data from the target respondents. This majorly involved quantitative and qualitative data where 384 semi-structured questionnaires were issued. Analysis was done by use of SPSS software (v22.0). The quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics (Chi-square tests & binary logistic regression). Results were then presented in tables, diagrams and charts. Qualitative data collected from the open-ended part of the questionnaire were analyzed using content analysis and the results were presented in thematically. Results: The findings indicated that there is a positive and significant moderating effect of legal framework on the effect of frequency of television betting advertisements and brand ambassadors on gambling behaviour. However, there is a negative but insignificant moderating effect of legal framework on the effect of context of betting advertisements on gambling behaviour. Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: The study recommended that the government needs to ensure that the policies and regulations governing the gambling in Kenya are equitable and just to all market players. The study advocates for the fair taxation on the betting firms in Kenya and do not tax even the consumer on their stakes but only on the profits. This was cited in the findings as one of the major setbacks of the industry.