Evidence on alcohol advertising's role in underage drinking

Alcohol Advertisement

Alcohol abuse is a serious issue throughout the world. Many people have been injured and killed as a result of alcohol abuse. Alcoholism also has a negative impact on families and society as a whole. There are many questions surrounding the reasons why people drink excessively. The abuse of alcohol is particularly disturbing amongst young people who drink illegally (McClure, 2006). Underage drinking is a major problem that can lead to serious problems and the use of hard drugs. Some people believe that some underage drinking is due to advertisements that are geared toward young people. The purpose of this discussion is to critically evaluate any evidence that seems to indicate that alcohol advertising and promotion is a contributory factor in the initiation and maintenance of underage drinking.

Advertisements and Underage Drinking

Drinking amongst underaged people is problematic because of the severity of the consequences (Saffer & Dave, 2006). According to Snyder et al. (2006) "Drinkers younger than 21 years, who consume approximately 20% of all alcoholic drinks, imbibe more heavily than adults per drinking episode6 and are involved in twice as many fatal car crashes while drinking. The problem is getting worse, with youth initiating drinking at an earlier age on average than they did in the past (18)." This simply means that when under aged individuals drink, they consume or absorb more alcohol than drinkers who are not under aged. Additionally when underage people drink they are more likely to be involved in car accidents that end in death. In addition, the problem of underage drinking is become more of a problem as the age at which people begin drinking is becoming younger.

For many years research have attempted to uncover the reasons for underage drinking. Their search has led to the investigation of alcohol advertisements. For instance in 1999 the Federal Trade Commission asserted "While many factors may influence an underage person's drinking decisions, including among other things parents, peers and the media, there is reason to believe that advertising also plays a role (Self-Regulation in the Alcohol Industry, 1999)." Since this time numerous studies have found that underage consumption of alcohol can be correlated to alcohol advertisements that target youth.

Martin et al. (2002) explains that the notion that advertising effects the use of alcohol amongst uderaged people is due to the belief advertisement works. The authors assert that if advertisement does not work, companies would not continue to spend so much money each year to advertise products. In their study of the effect of alcohol ads on youth ages 15-26, Snyder et al. (2006) asked several questions. These questions included "How Much Alcohol Advertising Is There" and "Does Exposure to Alcohol Advertisements Matter to Youths Aged 15 to 26 Years."

The authors also explain that over a billion dollars is spent each year on the advertisement of alcohol products. Te authors report that in 19997 an analysis found that the majority of alcohol advertising dollars went to television ads. The research also found t that beer advertisements were the dominant types of advertisements on television and radio. The research also discovered that there is a substantial likelihood that youth will see beer advertisements on television. For instance data gathered in December of 1997 found that most beer advertisements shown nationally were shown during sports programs. In fact half of all beer advertisements shown on television are shown on Saturday and Sunday during sports programs. These programs are frequently viewed by children and underage individuals.

The facts reported in regards to the prominence of alcohol advertisements in the media demonstrates the ways in which people who are underage are exposed to alcohol use. It is unclear whether or not Alcohol companies are aware of the audiences that view their ads as it pertains to young people. The fact that children are exposed to these advertisements during sports programming may be coincidental because adult males are also a target audience for advertisers and as such running ads at this time makes complete business sense. On the other hand, many adult males are watching sports programming with their children. As such children are exposed to alcohol and drinking at a younger age than should be expected or permitted. This exposure could lead to the consumption of alcohol at a much earlier age than is legal or acceptable. As such companies should be more mindful of when and where these advertisements are shown.

The other question asked by Snyder et al. (2006) was "Does Exposure to Alcohol Advertisements Matter to Youths Aged 15 to 26 Years." According to the authors found that exposure to alcohol advertisement leads to more reports of alcohol exposure which results in greater consumption of alcohol. This is true of both young people and older people. The fact that exposure to alcohol advertisement results in greater exposure to alcohol was examined by comparing markets that have a greater amount of advertising to markets that have a lower amount of advertising. As a result of these comparisons it becomes obvious that within all markets in the United States there is some amount of advertisement of alcohol because some campaigns are national. However some areas of the United States have a greater amount of advertising than others because some campaigns are exposed on a local level. As such there are differences in the levels of advertising which means that some areas of the country receive more advertising. The test to determine the level of advertisement in any given area is a simple one. Basically the researcher examines the ways in which local advertising makes a difference in reported exposure that outpace the same impact of national advertisements in various markets. Then "If the national advertisements already reach some critical threshold of effects, then the amount of advertisements in each market may not contribute much to either self-reported exposure or to alcohol use (Martin et al., 2002, 902)."

Another relationship in the simple model of alcohol advertising effects is involves the concept of self-reported exposure to advertising and alcohol use. Some literature has found a small relationship between exposure to advertising and alcohol use as it pertains to teens, children, and college students (Adlaf and Kohn, 1989; Aitken et al., 1988; Atkin et al., 1983, 1984 cited in Martin et al., 2002, 902 ). However there is some difficulty associated with the question "do alcohol advertisements cause drinking, or does drinking cause noticing of advertisements." The authors explains that increased drinking amongst youth can be caused because by advertisements that stimulate that desire. It is also likely that young people who consume alcohol tend to be more attentive to alcohol advertisements when they see them which could result in the same level of correlation between drinking and exposure. The authors further explain that,

"To investigate the reciprocal effects between alcohol advertising and drinking among adolescents and young adults, a longitudinal model was tested that included three time points. Market advertising levels were computed from the total advertising expenditures on television, radio, newspapers, and billboards per market for the prior 6 months, by use of industry data. Self-reported exposure consisted of a battery of items on the youth survey asking about exposure in last 4 weeks to distilled spirits and beer advertisements. Alcohol use was measured by combined frequency, quantity, and maximum quantity items for any alcoholic beverage in the last 4 weeks (or 6 months for infrequent drinkers) (Martin et al., 2002, 902 )."

The results of the research found that levels of advertisement could be correlated with a small positive effect on exposure. The authors also found it important to note that this exposure was connected to increases in use. In addition there was no evidence that use caused increases in exposure. The increase in alcohol use was also connected to life experiences and certain activities . For instance, there were increases in uses connected to more hours worked, greater levels of education and amongst those who were not African-American. Additionally the model for underage youths (aged 15 to 20 years) reflected "similar results to the model for youths aged 15 to 26 years (Martin et al., 2002, 902 )."

Overall the researchers concluded that there is a strong prevalence of alcohol advertisement in the media at both the national and local levels. In addition the research found that in the aftermath of removing the ban on distilled spirits advertising the number of advertisements of alcohol on television and radio are now growing at an alarming rate. This rate of growth effects young people disproportionately because of the amount of television they are exposed to. In addition the research found that for people aged 15-26 old could actually recall their exposure to many alcohol advertisements, particularly the advertisements that were seen on television. Overall the researchers found that

"The amount of alcohol advertising in each market had a small positive effect on self-reported exposure. This effect was over and above any effect resulting from national advertisements. The more alcohol advertisements that were played in each market, the more youths reported exposure to alcohol advertisements. Seeing more advertisements had a stronger effect on drinking than drinking had on noticing advertisements. The effect of alcohol advertising exposure on youth drinking was small and positive. The advertising effects were similar for the subset of underage respondents (Martin et al., 2002, 902 citing Snyder et (2006)."

In addition to Snyder et al. (2006) other researchers have examined the impact of alcohol advertisements on underage youth. For instance, in their study entitled "Alcohol Advertising and Youth: A Measured Approach," Jernigan et al. (2005) examined the advertisement of alcohol companies and the manner in which they expose youth to such advertisements. The study involved the impact of alcohol advertisements on youth age 15-20. The research found that most alcohol advertisement occurred in places where youth were more likely to see them than adults. In addition the research found that "much of this excess exposure of youth to alcohol advertising in the United States could be eliminated if alcohol companies would adopt a threshold of 15% (roughly the proportion of 12-20 years-old in the population 12 and above) as the maximum youth audience composition for their advertising. Although adoption of such a threshold would still leave much youth exposure to alcohol marketing in such "unmeasured" activities as sponsorships, on-premise promotions and campus marketing, it would assist alcohol companies in reaching their intended audiences more efficiently while reducing overall youth exposure to their advertising (Jernigan et al. 2005, 312)." These finding demonstrate that alcohol advertisements more likely than not have viewers who are underage. This means that if alcohol companies truly cared about youth there are ways in which they could advertise that would decrease the likelihood that youth would be exposed to such advertisements. In addition such reductions would serve the purpose of allowing alcohol companies to more effectively target the correct audiences.

Other research indicates that the impact of alcohol advertisement on youth is not just an American problem. Indeed, researchers from all over the world have investigated this topic. According to a report published by the ELSA project in the Netherlands, Alcohol advertisement to youth is a problem throughout Europe. In some respects advertisement of alcohol is different in certain European communities because the consumption of alcohol is less taboo and legal drinking ages are lower than in the United States. For instance, in some European nations such as Germany the legal drinking age is 18 as opposed to 21. Nevertheless alcoholism and underage consumption is still a problem in Europe. According to the report, alcohol advertisement to youth is likely to occur in Europe because such advertisements are poorly regulated ("The Impact of Alcohol Advertising"). The research also insists that alcohol advertisements shape the opinions of youth about alcohol and increase their desires to consume alcohol. The report asserts that

"…the content of advertisements is related to expectancies about the use of alcohol amongst young people and the role of alcohol in their lives. Young people are particularly drawn to elements of music, characters, story and humour. Young people who like advertisement believe that positive consequences of drinking are more likely, their peers drink more frequently, and their peers approve more of drinking. These beliefs interact to produce a greater likelihood of drinking, or of intention to drink in the near future ("The Impact of Alcohol Advertising," 8)."

The report also explains that the fact that alcohol advertisements increase the likelihood that a young person will consume alcohol are not surprising because the primary purpose of such advertisements is to increase the consumption of alcohol. In fact the report points out the French LoeEvin that restricts what is contained in alcohol advertisement This law places limits on the messages and images placed in alcohol advertisements so that only the quality of the product can be referred when advertising.

This article also focuses on why adolescents are more likely to be vulnerable to such advertisements. According to the report the adolescent brain is in the process of a great deal of growth as such young people are much more prone to being impulsive and have an increased sensitivity to reward and pleasure ("The Impact of Alcohol Advertising"). That is the idea of receiving a reward or pleasure from certain actions, outweighs the consequences that are likely to occur from these actions (Pechmann, 2005). In addition the report points out the when some young people already have issues with alcohol amongst their family or friends, they are more likely to be effected by alcohol advertisement. This vulnerability actually increases as the individual increases the amount of alcohol that they consume ("The Impact of Alcohol Advertising," ). With these things understood the report explains that alcohol advertisement actually takes advantage of the vulnerability of young people by "shaping their attitudes, perceptions and particularly expectancies about alcohol use, which then influence youth decisions to drink ("The Impact of Alcohol Advertising," 10)." Such vulnerabilities are made more severe by the constant exposure to alcohol advertisement in the media. The report points out that this media is no longer just in the form of television or radio but also cell phones and the internet ("The Impact of Alcohol Advertising"). The constant advertisement causes young people to desire alcohol at increasingly younger ages (Jefferis, 2005).