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ALCOHOL MARKETING AND YOUNG PEOPLE
Children and young people constitute an important target group for the alcohol industry because they
represent the market of tomorrow, the drinkers of the future. Creating brand allegiance among children
and young people is an investment the industry is sure to cash in on later.

Alcohol Advertising
Content analyses of the appealing features used in alcohol advertisements suggest that drinking is
portrayed as being an important part of sociability, physical attractiveness, masculinity, romance,
relaxation and adventure. Many alcohol advertisements use humour, rock music, animation, image
appeals, celebrity endorsement and animal characters, which increase their popularity with underage
television viewers (Chen, M. J. et al, 2005). Not surprisingly, alcohol commercials are among the most
likely to be remembered by teenagers and most frequently mentioned as their favourites.
A recent study of the impact of alcohol advertising on teenagers in Ireland (Dring & Hope, 2001)
found that:
- Alcohol advertisements were identified as their favourites by the majority of those surveyed
- Most of the teenagers believed that the majority of the alcohol advertisements were targeted at
young people. This was because the advertisements depicted scenes - dancing, clubbing, lively music,
wild activities - with which young people could identify,
- The teenagers interpreted alcohol advertisements as suggesting -contrary to the code governing
alcohol advertising- that alcohol is a gateway to social and sexual success and as having mood altering
and therapeutic properties.

Also, children are aware of alcohol advertising and find such commercials attractive. For example,
according to a survey carried out by the Center on Alcohol Advertising, elementary school children
are more familiar with the Budweiser frogs that they are with cartoon cereal characters such as Tony
the Tiger (Centre Marketing Advertising, USA).

By definition, alcohol advertising is one-sided and presents alcohol consumption as a safe and
problem-free practice, de- emphasizing the potential health risks and negative consequences. Through
its messages, alcohol advertising maintains the social desirability of drinking, overlooks the risk of
alcohol to individual and public health, and contradicts prevention objectives.
Both, article 15 and 3 g (e) of the new AVMS Directive, seek to protect minors by prohibiting the
specific targeting of minors. However the ubiquity of alcohol advertising means that it can hardly be
missed by them. Indeed, the reality is that, regardless of whether alcohol advertisements are
specifically targeting minors, children and young people are still are aware of them and tend to
remember them.

A growing body of research shows that exposure to and enjoyment of alcohol commercials cause
minors to develop more positive expectancies and attitudes towards alcohol, which in turn influences
the onset of drinking age, as well as patterns and levels of alcohol consumption.
The relationship between alcohol marketing and alcohol consumption is rather complex and the
scientific debate is still heated. Most of the research focuses of the impact of alcohol
advertisement rather than the cumulative effect alcohol marketing.

Most econometric studies provide little evidence of an effect of alcohol advertising (Hastings et al.,
2005). These studies generally look at the expenditure on advertising in a given market and the effect
that has on the sales of alcoholic beverages. These econometric studies, however, tell us nothing about
the effect of marketing on youngsters, since all conclusions are drawn at the population level.
Observational studies have been used to study the differences within a specific age group. These
studies have examined whether a higher exposure to alcohol marketing (advertisement) increases
alcohol consumption among adolescents. Studies with a structural equation models sometimes find a
reciprocal effect between exposure to alcohol advertisement and alcohol use; heavy drinkers are often
more aware of alcohol advertisements and appreciate these advertisement more.
It is important to examine the effects of alcohol marketing through longitudinal studies in order to
establish causality (Smith & Foxcroft, 2007).

Longitudinal studies mainly conducted in New Zealand (eg Connolly et al., 1994; Casswell & Zhang,
1998) and the US (eg Collins et al., 2007; Ellickson et al. 2005, Fisher et al., 2007; Stacy et al., 2004)
consistently suggest that exposure to alcohol advertisement is associated with the likelihood of
adolescents to start to drink alcohol (Sargent et al., 2006; Fisher et al., 2007), and with increased
drinking amongst baseline drinkers (Snyder et al., 2006; Stacy et al., 2004; ).

Alcohol Marketing and ‘new media'
The research shows that the effect of less traditional types of marketing practices is even greater.
A recent longitudinal study shows that the effect of possessing a promotional item is bigger than
exposure to televised or printed alcohol advertisement (Collins et al. 2007).
Alcohol use in movies is also found to be a predictor of prevalence and initiation of alcohol use
(Sargent et al., 2006). A study with a cross-sectional design by McClure et al (2006) comes to similar
conclusions. Hastings et al. (2005) argue that the effects found in these studies are possibly
underestimating the true size of the effects since in reality alcohol advertisers use a combination of
different marketing strategies.

References:
-Casswell, S. and Zhang J. F, (1998). Impact of liking for advertising and brand allegiance on drinking and alcohol-related aggression: a
longitudinal study. Addiction, 93(8),1209-17.
-Centre on Alcohol Advertising, USA
-Chen, M. J. et al, (2005). Alcohol advertising: What makes it attractive to youth? Journal Health Communications 10.
-Collins, R.L., Ellickson, P.L., McCaffrey, D. and K. Hambarsoomians 2007). Early Adolescent Exposure to Alcohol Advertising and its
Relationship to Underage Drinking. Journal of Adolescent Health, 40, 527-534.
-Connolly, G.M., Casswell S, Zhang J. F, and Silva P. A, Alcohol in the mass media and drinking by adolescents: a longitudinal study.
Addiction, 1994; 89(10):1255-63.
-Dring, C, Hope, A, (2001). The Impact of Alcohol Advertising on Teenagers in Ireland. Health Promotion Unit, Department of Health &
Children.
-Ellickson, P.L., Collins R. L, Hambarsoomians K, and McCaffrey D. F., 2005). Does alcohol advertising promote adolescent drinking?
Results from a longitudinal assessment. Addiction, 100(2), 235-246.
-Fisher, L.B., Williams I., Austin B., Camargo C.A., and Colditz G.A. (2007). Predictors of Initiation of Alcohol Use Among US
Adolescents. Findings from a Prospective Cohort Study. Arch Pedriatr Adolesc Med, 161, 959-966.
-McClure, A.C., Chin, S.D., Gibson,J. and J.D. Sargent, (2006). wnership of Alcohol-Branded Merchandise and Initiation of Teen Drinking.
American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 30 (4), 277-283.
-Sargent, J.D., T.A. Wills, Stoolmiller M, Gibson J, and X. Gibbons F,(2006). Alcohol use in motion pictures and its relation with early-onset
teen drinking. J Stud Alcohol, 67, 54-65.
-Snyder, L.B., S.M. Milici F. F, Sun H, and Strizhakova Y, (2006). Effects of alcohol advertising exposure on drinking among youth.
Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, 160(1), 18-24.
-Stacy, A.W., Zogg J. B, Unger J. B, and Dent C. W, (2004). Exposure to televised alcohol ads and subsequent adolescent alcohol use.
American Journal of Health Behaviour, 28(6), 498-509.
-Hastings, G. Anderson, S., Cooke, E. & R. Gordon (2005). Alcohol marketing and Young People's Drinking: A Review of the Research.
Journal of Public Health Policy, 26, 296-311.
-Smith & Foxcroft (2007). The effect of alcohol advertising and marketing in drinking behaviour in young people: A systematic review.

(Articolo pubblicato dal CUFRAD sul sito www.alcolnews.it)