Regulation of advertising for gambling, cigarettes, and alcohol: A systematic review of the literature

Abstract

This PRISMA-compliant systematic review provides the first comparative analysis of gambling, tobacco, and alcohol advertising regulation across both traditional and digital media environments and across three regulatory levels: state, industry self-regulation, and platform policies, representing a multi-industry, multi-level, and interdisciplinary synthesis at the intersection of communication studies, public health, and regulatory policy. This study aims to synthesize existing research on these three main regulatory mechanisms. Following PRISMA 2020 guidelines, a comprehensive search was conducted across four academic databases, covering publications from 1984 to 2024. After applying the inclusion criteria and a three-stage screening process, 29 peer-reviewed articles were selected. The corpus includes studies published in both English and Spanish, reflecting regulatory contexts in Europe, North America, Australia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America. A narrative synthesis was used. The results indicate that tobacco was the most extensively studied sector, followed by alcohol and gambling, with a strong emphasis on digital media. Three levels of regulation were identified, with state regulation being the most prevalent. However, the findings reveal significant limitations. State frameworks differ widely between countries and struggle to keep pace with digital innovations. Industry self-regulation, largely based on voluntary codes, is often ineffective due to weak enforcement and conflicts of interest. Platform policies, although increasingly sophisticated, are applied inconsistently and can be circumvented through indirect advertising, particularly via influencers and user-generated content. In conclusion, in most of the reviewed regulatory contexts, current frameworks demonstrate significant limitations in addressing modern digital advertising practices, though enforcement effectiveness varies considerably by context.