Wiley, online Library; May 2024; Nathan Critchlow, Crawford Moodie, Karine Gallopel-Morvan;
https://doi.org/10.1111/acer.15327
Abstract
Background
Statutory options for restricting alcohol advertising include limiting it to product-orientated information and requiring health warnings. We assess the impact of removing positive contextual factors from alcohol advertising and including a health warning among adults in the United Kingdom (UK).
Methods
We conducted a 2 × 2 online between-group experiment with adults (18+) (n = 2421) recruited from a non-probability research panel in the United Kingdom. Participants were randomized to see an alcohol (vodka) advertisement (advert) which varied by context (no context vs. imagery depicting positive social interactions around alcohol) and message (multiple text health warning vs. “drink responsibly”). The multiple text health warning, based on recent legislation in Ireland, comprised three separate warnings (liver disease, cancers, drinking during pregnancy) and a web address for alcohol-related information and support. The “drink responsibly” control reflected the self-regulatory messages commonly used by alcohol companies. Participants rated the advert on 7-point scales for advert attractiveness, product appeal, trial intentions, perceived harm, and whether it made drinking alcohol seem enjoyable.
Results
Removing the positive social context reduced positive advert and product reactions (difference in estimated marginal means [EMM]: −1.57 [makes drinking alcohol seem enjoyable] to −0.23 [intention to try]). Including the multiple text health warning also reduced positive advert and product reactions (difference in EMM: −0.55 [advert attractiveness] to −0.25 [intention to try]) and increased perceived product harm (difference in EMM: +0.25). There were no interactions between advert context and message for any outcome.
Conclusions
Restricting content and including a multiple text health warning (compared to a “drink responsibly” message) may attenuate the persuasive impact of alcohol advertising and increase perceived product harm. Further research is needed to examine different degrees of content restrictions, alternative warning content and design, generalizability to different alcohol products and advert formats, and whether the impact of content controls varies among population subgroups.
Graphical Abstract
A 2×2 online between-group experiment was used to examine the impact of content controls for alcohol advertising among adults in the United Kingdom. Removing the positive social context from the advert and including a multiple-text health warning (vs. ‘drink responsibly’ message) reduced positive advert and product reactions, while the multiple text health warning also increased perceived product harm. Further research is required to fully understand the impact of different types of content controls and how effect varies among population subgroups.
