The Promise of Unhappiness. The Television Advertising of Gambling in Italy

Journal title SOCIOLOGIA E RICERCA SOCIALE
Author/s Silvia Leonzi, Giovanni Ciofalo, Antonio Di Stefano, Stefano Barricella
Publishing Year 2016 Issue 2016/110
Language Italian Pages 22 P. 41-62 File size 248 KB
DOI 10.3280/SR2016-110004
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

The following article results from a research focused on the television advertising of gambling in Italy. Gambling is considered a cultural object as well as a media one, and the symbolic efficacy is analyzed through Schudson’s dimensions, which allows to «measure» the force of a given cultural product. As a result of gambling addiction becoming a social problem, institutionalized by recent political interventions, some of the commercials analyzed show the development of a narration where the promise of happiness (presented as excitement linked to the game as a performance and a potential win) seems to flourish paradoxically through the very risk of unhappiness related to gambling

  1. AA.VV. (2011), Ma a che gioco giochiamo? Il gioco d’azzardo da problema sociale e di dipendenza, a interessi economici, politici e criminali, Edizioni A Mente Libera, Reggio Emilia.
  2. C. Albarrán Torres, G. Goggin (2014), «Mobile Social Gambling: Poker’s Next Frontier», Mobile Media & Communication, 2 (1), pp. 94-109, DOI: 10.1177/2050157913506423
  3. B. Amey (2001), People’s Participation in and Attitudes to gaming, 1985-2000: Final Results of the 2000 Survey, Wellington (NZ), Department of Internal Affairs.
  4. A. Bandura (1977), Social Learning Theory, Englewood Cliffs, Prentice Hall.
  5. U. Beck (1986), Risikogesellschaft: Auf dem Weg in eine andere Moderne, Frankfurt am Main, Surbrkamp Verlag; tr. it., La società del rischio, Roma, Carocci, 2000.
  6. P. Binde (2013), «Why People gamble: A Model with Five Motivational Dimensions», International Gambling Studies, XIII, 1, pp. 81‐97, DOI: 10.1080/14459795.2012.712150
  7. P. Bourdieu (1972), Esquisse d’une théorie de la pratique, Genève, Droz; tr. it., Per una teoria della pratica, Milano, Raffaello Cortina, 2003.
  8. G.P. Brunetta (2003), Guida alla storia del cinema italiano 1905-2003, Torino, Einaudi.
  9. R. Caillois (1967), Les jeux et les hommes. La masque et le vertige, Paris, Gallimard; tr. it., I giochi e gli uomini. La maschera e la vertigine, Milano, Bompiani, 2010.
  10. N. Couldry (2012), Media, Society, World: Social Theory and Digital Media Practice, Cambridge, Polity Press; tr. it., Sociologia dei nuovi media, Milano, Pearson, 2015.
  11. M. Csikszentmihalyi (1990), Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, New York, Harper & Row.
  12. M. D’Agati (2004), «Gioco d’azzardo e modernità: una prospettiva sociologica», Rassegna italiana di sociologia, XLV, 1, pp. 79-102.
  13. M. D’Agati (2005), «La sociologia del gioco d’azzardo: bilanci, prospettive e ambizioni di un campo di studi “in progress”», Rassegna italiana di sociologia, XLVI, 4, pp. 687-97.
  14. J. Derevensky, A. Sklar, R. Gupta, C. Messerlian (2010), «An Empirical Study Examining the Impact of Gambling Advertisements on Adolescent Gambling Attitudes and Behaviors», International Journal of Mental Health Addiction, 8, pp. 21-34.
  15. E.C. Devereux (1980), Gambling and the Social Structure: A Sociological Study of Lotteries and Horseracing in Contemporary America, New York, Arno Press.
  16. P. DuGay, S. Hall, L. Janes, H. Mackay, K. Negus (1997), Doing Cultural Studies: The Story of the Walkman, London, Sage/Open University.
  17. E. Durkheim (1912), Les formes élémentaires de la vie religieuse, Paris, Alcan; tr. it., Le forme elementari della vita religiosa, Roma, Meltemi, 2005. L. Dyall (2004), «Gambling: A Social Hazard», Social Policy Journal of New Zealand/Te Puna Whakaaro, 21, pp. 22-40.
  18. U. Eco (1979), Lector in fabula, Milano, Bompiani.
  19. L. Ede, A. Lunsford (1984), «Audience Addressed/Audience Invoked: The Role of Audience in Composition Theory and Pedagogy», College Composition and Communication, XXXV, 2, pp. 155-171.
  20. P. Fischer, D. Krugman, J. Fletcher, B. Fox, J. Rojas (1993), «An Evaluation of Health Warnings in Cigarette Advertisements using Standard Marketing Research Methods: What does it mean to warn?», Tobacco Control, 2, pp. 279-85.
  21. J. Fiske (1992), The Cultural Economy of Fandom, in L.A. Lewis (ed.), The Adoring Audience:
  22. Fan Culture and Popular Media, London-New York, Routledge.
  23. H.G. Gadamer (1965), Wahrheit und Methode, Mohr, Tübingen; tr. it., Verità e metodo, Milano,
  24. Bompiani, 1983.
  25. A. Giddens (1990), The Consequences of Modernity, Stanford, Stanford University Press; tr. it., Le conseguenze della modernità, Bologna, il Mulino, 1994.
  26. A. Grasso, M. Scaglioni (2003), Che cos’è la televisione. Il piccolo schermo fra cultura e società: i generi, l’industria, il pubblico, Milano, Garzanti.
  27. M.D. Griffiths (2005), «Does Gambling Advertising contribute to Problem Gambling?», International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 3, pp. 15-25.
  28. W. Griswold (1994), Cultures and Societies in a Changing World, London, Sage; tr. it., La sociologia della cultura, Bologna, il Mulino, 2005.
  29. K. Gutschoven, J. van den Bulck (2005), «Television Viewing and Age at Smoking Initiation: Does a Relationship exist between Higher Levels of Television Viewing and Earlier Onset of Smoking?», Nicotine and Tobacco Research, VII, 1, pp. 381‐5.
  30. S. Hall (1997), The Work of Representation, in S. Hall (ed.), Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices, London, Sage.
  31. M. Hardt, A. Negri (2012), Questo non è un Manifesto, Milano, Feltrinelli.
  32. S. Hilgartner, C.L. Bosk (1988), «The Rise and Fall of Social Problems: A Public Arenas Model», American Journal of Sociology, 94, pp. 53-78.
  33. S. Hjarvard (2008), «The Mediatization of Society. A Theory of the Media as Agents of Social and Cultural Change», Nordicom Review, 29 (2), pp. 105-34.
  34. J. Huizinga (1938), Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play Element in Culture, Boston, Beacon Press; tr. it., Homo ludens, Milano, Il Saggiatore, 1983.
  35. Istat (2014), Annuario statistico italiano: Cultura e tempo libero, Roma.
  36. C.G. Jung (1935), «Über die Archetypen des kollektiven Unbewussten», Eranos-Jahrbuch 1935, pp. 179-229; tr. it., Gli archetipi dell’inconscio collettivo, Torino, Bollati Boringhieri, 1977.
  37. M. Kallick-Kaufmann (1979), «The Micro and Macro Dimensions of Gambling in the United States», Journal of Social Issues, XXXV, 3, pp. 7-27.
  38. Libera (2012), Azzardopoli – Dossier di Libera sul gioco d’azzardo in Italia, http://www.vittimemafia.it/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=961:azzardopoli-dossierdi-libera-sul-gioco-dazzardo-in-italia-2012&catid=34:articoli.
  39. F. Lindsay (2014), The Seven Pillars of Storytelling, http://www.sparkol.com/engage/getyour-free-ebook-the-seven-pillars-of-storytelling
  40. S. Livingstone (1998), The Active Viewer, in Making Sense of Television, London, Routledge; tr. it., Lo spettatore attivo, in A. Marinelli, G.B. Fatelli (a c. di), Tele-visioni. L’audience come volontà e come rappresentazione, Roma, Meltemi, 2000.
  41. S. Livingstone (2009), «On the Mediation of Everything: ICA Presidential Address 2008», Journal of Communication, LIX, 1, pp. 1-18, DOI: 10.1111/j.1460-2466.2008.01401.x
  42. P. Lockwood, Z. Kunda (1997), «Superstars and me: Predicting the Impact of Role Models on the Self», Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, pp. 91-103. D.R. Loseke (1999), Thinking about Social Problems: An Introduction to Constructionist Perspectives, New York, Aldine de Gruyter.
  43. P. Macry (1997), Giocare la vita. Storia del lotto a Napoli tra Sette e Ottocento, Roma, Donzelli.
  44. M. Mazzucato (2014), Lo Stato innovatore, Roma-Bari, Laterza.
  45. D. McQuail, S. Windahl (1993), Communication Models for the Study of Mass Communications, London, Routledge.
  46. G.H. Mead (1934), Mind, Self, and Society from the Standpoint of a Social Behaviorist, Chicago, The University of Chicago Press; tr. it., Mente, sè e società, Milano, Giunti, 2010.
  47. J. Meyrowitz (1985), No Sense of Place: The Impact of Electronic Media on Social Behavior, Oxford, Oxford University Press; tr. it., Oltre il senso del luogo, Baskerville, Bologna, 1995.
  48. S. Monaghan, J. Derevensky (2008), «An Appraisal of the Impact of the Depiction of Gambling in Society on Youth», International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 6, pp. 1557-74.
  49. E. Morin (1962), L’esprit du temps 1. Nevrose, Paris, Grasset & Fasquelle; tr. it., Lo spirito del tempo, Roma, Meltemi, 2010.
  50. S. Orgad (2012), Media Representation and the Global Imagination, Cambridge, Polity Press.
  51. M. Pedroni (2014), «The “Banker” State and the “Responsible” Enterprises. Capital Conversion Strategies in the Field of Public Legal Gambling», Rassegna italiana di sociologia, LV, 1, pp. 71-97.
  52. G. Reith (2007), «Gambling and the Contradictions of Consumption – A Genealogy of the “Pathological” Subject», American Behavioral Scientist, 51, pp. 33-55, DOI: 10.1177/0002764207304856
  53. C. Salmon (2007), Storytelling, Paris, La Déouverte; tr. it., Storytelling. La fabbrica delle storie, Roma, Fazi, 2008.
  54. R. Sassatelli (2004), Consumo, cultura, società, Bologna, il Mulino.
  55. M. Schudson (1984), Advertising, the Uneasy Persuasion, New York, Basic Books.
  56. M. Schudson (1989), «How Culture works: Perspectives from Media Studies on the Efficacy of Symbols», Theory and Society, 18, pp. 153-80; tr. it., Come funziona la cultura: prospettive dallo studio dei media, in M. Santoro, R. Sassatelli (a c. di), Studiare la cultura. Nuove prospettive sociologiche, Bologna, il Mulino, 2009.
  57. J. Séguéla (1982), Hollywood lave plus blanc, Paris, Flammarion; tr. it., Hollywood lava più bianco. Il manifesto della pubblicità spettacolo, Bologna, Lupetti, 1985.
  58. R. Silverstone (1994), Television and Everyday Life, London, Routledge; tr. it., Televisione e vita quotidiana, Bologna, il Mulino, 2000.
  59. D. Spanier (2001), The Hand I played: A Poker Memoir, Harpenden, Oldcastle Books.
  60. A. Swidler (1986), «Culture in Action: Symbols and Strategies», American Sociological Review, 51 (2), pp. 27386; tr. it., La cultura in azione: simboli e strategie, in M. Santoro, R. Sassatelli (a c, di), Studiare la cultura. Nuove prospettive sociologiche, Bologna, il Mulino, 2009.
  61. R.H. Thaler, C.R. Sunstein (2012), Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness, London, Penguin Books; tr. it., Nudge. La spinta gentile. La nuova strategia per migliorare le nostre decisioni sul denaro, salute, felicità, Milano, Feltrinelli, 2014.
  62. J.B. Thompson (1995), Media and Modernity, Cambridge, Polity Press; tr. it., Mezzi di comunicazione e modernità, Bologna, il Mulino, 1998.
  63. C. Vogler (2007), The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers, Studio City, Michael Wiese Productions; tr. it., Il viaggio dell’eroe, Roma, Dino Audino, 2010.
  64. M. Wakefield, B. Flay, M. Nichter, G. Giovino (2003), «Role of the Media in Influencing Trajectories of Youth Smoking», Addiction, 98 (1), pp. 79-103.
  65. D. Winnicott (1971), Playing and Reality, London, Tavistock; tr. it., Gioco e realtà, Roma, Armando, 1974.

Silvia Leonzi, Giovanni Ciofalo, Antonio Di Stefano, Stefano Barricella, giochi (d’azzardo) e gli spot. La pubblicizzazione televisiva del gambling in Italia in "SOCIOLOGIA E RICERCA SOCIALE " 110/2016, pp 41-62, DOI: 10.3280/SR2016-110004