Recruiting the “Heavy-Using Loyalists of Tomorrow”: An Analysis of the Aims, Effects and Mechanisms of Alcohol Advertising, Based on Advertising Industry Evaluations

Nason Maani Hessari, Adam Bertscher, Nathan Critchlow, Niamh Fitzgerald, Cécile Knai, Martine Stead and Mark Petticrew
Additional contact information
Nason Maani Hessari: Faculty of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1H 9SH, UK
Adam Bertscher: Division of Health Policy and Systems, School of Public Health and Family Medicine, Health Sciences Faculty, University of Cape Town, Anzio Rd, Observatory, Cape Town 7925, South Africa
Nathan Critchlow: Faculty of Health Sciences and Sport, Institute for Social Marketing, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK
Niamh Fitzgerald: Faculty of Health Sciences and Sport, Institute for Social Marketing, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK
Cécile Knai: Faculty of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1H 9SH, UK
Martine Stead: Faculty of Health Sciences and Sport, Institute for Social Marketing, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, UK
Mark Petticrew: Faculty of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1H 9SH, UK

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 21, 1-17

Abstract: Restricting alcohol advertising and marketing is a cost-effective intervention for reducing alcohol harms. However, the alcohol industry maintains that advertising does not affect consumption, claiming that its purpose is to help consumers choose brands, it is not aimed at young people, it only promotes “responsible consumption”, and any relationships with consumption are not causal. We reviewed 39 case studies (1981–2016) published by the advertising industry, which evaluate the effects of alcohol advertising campaigns. We used these to examine these industry claims. 30/39 (77%) of the case studies mentioned increasing/maintaining market share as an objective, or used this to assess the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. Most (25/39, 64%) found that campaigns increased consumption-related outcomes. Some campaigns targeted women, and heavy drinkers (e.g., Stella Artois lager, Famous Grouse whisky). Campaigns often (13/39, 33%) targeted younger drinkers. These data show that advertising does influence market share. Other effects reported in the case studies include changing the consumer profile towards: younger drinkers, women, new/lapsed drinkers, and heavy drinkers. They also present evidence of a causal relationship between advertising and consumption. In conclusion, this analysis, based on industry data, presents significant new evidence on (i) the effects of alcohol advertising on consumption-related outcomes, and (ii) the mechanisms by which it achieves those effects.

Keywords: advertising; marketing; alcohol; public health; commercial determinants of health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/21/4092/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/21/4092/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:21:p:4092-:d:279714

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().