The Marketing of Legal but Potentially Harmful Products and CSR: The Gaming Industry View

Lester Johnson, Melbourne Business School

Abstract

A number of industries sell products such as tobacco, alcohol and gambling that, although legal, are considered potentially harmful to some members of society. Unlike other products that attract no attention when using strategies to increase market share, many of these potentially harmful products attract criticism from concerned members of society and often governments when their markets increase. Corporate scandals in recent times have led to greater calls for social responsibility to be embraced by all businesses, but the call is most pronounced towards organisations providing products that are detrimental to certain members of society. This paper investigates gaming industry perceptions of compliance with the precepts of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the marketing of electronic gaming machines (EGMs).