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Friday, October 2, 2009

Does marketing communication impact on the volume and patterns of consumption of alcoholic beverages, especially by young people? - a review of ongitudinal studies
Scientific Opinion of the Science Group of the European Alcohol and Health Forum

The European Alcohol and Health Forum requested scientific advice from the Science Group on the impact of marketing communication on the volume and patterns of consumption of alcoholic beverages, especially by young people. The opinion of the Science Group noted that marketing communications are just one aspect of determinants of alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harm, and that it can be difficult to isolate the impact of one aspect from another. The opinion also noted that a total marketing strategy includes not only marketing communication and promotional activities, but also product development, pricing, physical availability, and market segmentation and targeting, factors not considered in the available published studies.

The Science Group considered the advantages and disadvantages of a number of different methodologies that could be used to inform answers to the question “does marketing ommunication impact on the volume and patterns of consumption of alcoholic beverages, especially by young people”, including:

1. Qualitative studies that investigate the relationship between exposure to portrayals of alcohol use in the mass media and drinking expectancies of children and adolescents;

2. Econometric Studies that investigate the relationship between the amount of alcohol advertising and the amount of drinking taking place in a particular jurisdiction using econometric methods;

3. Cross-sectional studies which take a snapshot of advertising exposure (awareness and/or appreciation) and levels of drinking, and look for correlations between the two;

4. Experimental studies, in which exposure to alcohol in commercials or in movies is linked to immediate and observed use of alcohol;

5. Case studies, where changes in regional, national or international law that affect the volume or content of marketing communication have been studied and reported for their impact on changes in the use of alcoholic beverages; and

6. Longitudinal studies which measure exposure at time A, and how this relates to drinking at future time B .

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