How Do Young Adult Drinkers React to Varied Alcohol Warning Formats and Contents? An Exploratory Study in France

Gloria Thomasia Dossou (), Morgane Guillou-Landreat, Loic Lemain, Sophie Lacoste-Badie, Nathan Critchlow and Karine Gallopel-Morvan
Additional contact information
Gloria Thomasia Dossou: LUMEN (ULR 4999), ILIS, Faculty of Engineering and Health Management, University of Lille, 42 rue Ambroise Paré, 59120 Lille, France
Morgane Guillou-Landreat: EA 7479 SPURBO, School of Medicine, University Bretagne Occidentale, 5 Avenue Camille Desmoulins, 29200 Brest, France
Loic Lemain: EA 7479 SPURBO, School of Medicine, University Bretagne Occidentale, 5 Avenue Camille Desmoulins, 29200 Brest, France
Sophie Lacoste-Badie: LUMEN (ULR 4999), IAE Lille, University School of Management, University of Lille, 104 Av. du Peuple-Belge, 59000 Lille, France
Nathan Critchlow: Institute for Social Marketing and Health, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, Scotland, UK
Karine Gallopel-Morvan: CNRS, Inserm, Arènes-UMR 6051-U 1309, EHESP, School of Public Health, University of Rennes, 15 Av. du Professeur Léon Bernard, 35043 Rennes, France

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 15, 1-19

Abstract: Research on alcohol warnings has increased in the last decade, providing key evidence to governments on warning format and contents. The bulk of this research, however, has been conducted in Anglosphere countries, whereas fewer studies have focused on other countries which have high per capita alcohol consumption, and where the high social acceptability of drinking is liable to affect how people accept and react to prevention measures. Since France has one of the highest per capita alcohol consumption rates in the world according to the World Health Organization (WHO), we therefore explore how young adults in France react to warnings on alcoholic beverage advertisements. We conducted 25 in-depth interviews, in 2017, with 18–25-year-old drinkers in France. Respondents were asked open-ended questions on the perceived impact of various warning contents (i.e., on health risk, social-cost risk, and on short- vs. long-term risk) and formats (text only vs. larger text combined with colored pictograms). Warnings that targeted youth-relevant risks (i.e., road accidents or sexual assault) were considered to be the most meaningful and credible, although warnings communicating longer term risks (i.e., brain, cancer) were also thought to be influential. Less familiar risks, such as marketing manipulation and calorie intake, elicited the most negative reactions. Larger text-and-pictogram warnings were considered to be the most effective format in capturing attention and increasing awareness. Regardless of format and content, however, these warnings were not perceived as effective for decreasing alcohol consumption.

Keywords: alcohol; warnings; France; drinking culture; young adults (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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