Slot machine-style graphics, leader boards and lists of popular stocks are among the novel forms of digital engagement under study. The SEC is looking at how digital design itself could be construed as giving investment advice — a business that is subject to regulatory oversight. When you’re reinforcing that activity, it starts to rewire a person’s brain, and translates to habit that for some leads to addiction Felicia Grondin, Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey Experts say that certain apps appear designed to encourage habits that are difficult to shake. “Gamification is about hooking and holding,” said Natasha Schüll, professor at New York University and author of Addiction by Design, about machine gambling in Las Vegas.

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