Removing Positive Social Features From Alcohol Advertisements and Including Health Warnings May Reduce Consumers’ Drinking
Research Society on AlcoholismAdults react differently to alcohol advertisements depending on how explicit or implicit the messaging is about the social pleasure of drinking and the possible health effects, a new study shows. Exposure to alcohol marketing is consistently linked to alcohol use. Research also suggests that alcohol advertising influences attitudes around alcohol, such as social norms or reasons for drinking. Policymakers’ options for lowering alcohol consumption and its harms include content controls on advertising. Restricting sales messages to facts about the product is known to reduce how persuasive it is among consumers. Mandating health warnings also increases consumers’ perceptions of risk and reduces the perceived benefits of drinking. No studies, however, have previously examined the effects of such content controls on consumers in the UK. In addition, most research has focused on young adults, yet adults in midlife and beyond may also be vulnerable to the effects of marketing. For the study i
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