THE BUSINESS SCHOOL,

UNIVERSITY OF JAMMU

Evaluation of the Research Study : The effect of alcohol

advertising, marketing and portrayal on drinking
behaviour in young people. By Lesley A Smith and David R Foxcroft 

Title of my study: Impact of Advertising on social

values: A study of The Impact of Alcohol
Advertising and Media Exposure on Alcohol Use

Advertising And Sales Management

Submitted to Submitted by
Dr. Prikshit Singh Manhas Harsh Vardhan Gupta
MBA 3rd Sem
Rollno 10
 The effect of alcohol advertising, marketing and
portrayal on drinking behaviour in young people.

Systematic review of prospective cohort studies

By Lesley A Smith and David R Foxcroft 

School of Health and Social Care, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, OX3 0FL, UK
Published on: 6 February 2009

Review of the Study:

Background
The effect of alcohol portrayals and advertising on the drinking behaviour of
young people is a matter of much debate, mostly focused on the question of
whether advertising increases consumption and risky drinking by young
people. Smith and Foxcoft evaluated the relationship between exposure to
alcohol advertising, marketing and portrayal on subsequent drinking
behaviour in young people by systematic review of cohort (longitudinal)
studies.

Methods
Studies were identified by searches of electronic databases, with no date
restriction, supplemented with hand searches of reference lists of retrieved
articles. Cohort studies that evaluated exposure to advertising or marketing or
alcohol portrayals and drinking at baseline and assessed drinking behaviour
at follow-up in young people were selected and reviewed.

Results
Seven cohort studies that followed up more than 13,000 young people aged
10 to 26 years old were reviewed. The studies evaluated a range of different
alcohol advertisement and marketing exposures including print and broadcast
media. Two studies measured the hours of TV and music video viewing. All
measured drinking behaviour using a variety of outcome measures. Two
studies evaluated drinkers and non-drinkers separately. Baseline non-
drinkers were significantly more likely to have become a drinker at follow-up
with greater exposure to alcohol advertisements. There was little difference in
drinking frequency at follow-up in baseline drinkers. In studies that included
drinkers and non-drinkers, increased exposure at baseline led to significant
increased risk of drinking at follow-up. The strength of the relationship varied
between studies but effect sizes were generally modest. All studies controlled
for age and gender, however potential confounding factors adjusted for in
analyses varied from study to study. Important risk factors such as peer
drinking and parental attitudes and behaviour were not adequately accounted
for in some studies.

Conclusion
Data from prospective cohort studies suggest that there is an association
between exposure to alcohol advertising or promotional activity and
subsequent alcohol consumption in young people.

Critical evaluation

Although the above study suggests that there is an association between exposure to
alcohol advertising or promotional activity and subsequent alcohol consumption in
young people but there have been a number of empirical studies on the effects
of alcohol advertising, the bulk of which indicate that advertising does not
increase alcohol consumption. However, many public health advocacy
organizations do not accept these results. An examination of the methods and
data commonly used in empirical studies provides an explanation for these
divergent opinions.

The key to understanding the empirical problems lies in the advertising

response function and the type of data used to measure advertising.

The advertising response function explains the relationship between

consumption and advertising. A brand-level advertising response function
shows that the consumption of a specific brand increases at a decreasing rate
as advertising of that brand increases. That is, the response function
illustrates a diminishing marginal product of advertising. Ultimately,
consumption is completely unresponsive to additional advertising. The
assumptions of the brand-level advertising response function also can be
applied to industry-level advertising. The industry level includes all brands
and products in an industry; for example, the industry level for alcohol would
include all brands and variations of beer, wine, and spirits. The industry-level
advertising response function is assumed to be subject to diminishing
marginal product, as in the case of the brand-level function. The industry-level
response function is different from the brand-level response function, though,
in that advertising-induced sales must come at the expense of sales of
products from other industries. Increases in consumption come from new
consumers, often youths, or from increases by existing consumers.

The industry-level response function can be defined by measuring advertising

with a time-series of national data. This function also can be defined by
measuring advertising with cross-sectional data from local markets. The
industry-level advertising response functions provide two simple predictions:
first, if advertising is measured at a high enough level, there will be little or no
consumption response; second, the greater the variance in the advertising
data, the greater the probability of measuring the effect of advertising in the
upward sloping section of the response function.

Most prior studies of alcohol advertising use annual or quarterly national

aggregate expenditures as the measure of advertising, probably because this
type of data was, at one time, the least expensive available. These time-series
studies generally find that advertising has no effect. The oligopolistic nature of
the tobacco and alcohol industries results in competition for market share
with advertising (and other marketing) rather than with price. Indeed, price
competition may set off a price war in which all firms will lose revenue.
Alternatively, the "share of voice" -- that is, the percent of industry-level
advertising undertaken by one firm -- is directly proportional to the share of
market. The advertising-to-sales ratios for tobacco and alcohol companies are
about 6 to 9 percent while the average American firm has an advertising-to-
sales ratio closer to 3 percent. Aggregate national advertising may well be in
the range of near-zero marginal product. The advertising response function
predicts that studies using national aggregate data are not likely to find much
effect of advertising, and the empirical work supports this prediction.
Local advertising, known as spot advertising, is a function of local cost
conditions, demographics, regulations, and other local factors. As a result,
local advertising varies more than aggregate national advertising. Studies
using cross-sectional measures of advertising generally find that is has
positive effects; this is consistent with measurement in the upward sloping
portion of the response function. A few prior studies used cross-sectional
advertising data measured at the individual or local level. These studies
generally found that advertising had positive effects. One possible explanation
for the results from the time-series studies is that the national-level data,
being more aggregated, has less variance and thus leads to insignificant
effects.

The one other common type of research on advertising is the study of

advertising bans. The effect of a ban on the use of one or more media is
substitution into the remaining non-banned media and into other marketing
techniques. This does not necessarily reduce advertising expenditures. Bans
can, however, lower the average product of a given advertising budget.
Advertising and other marketing expenditures may increase to compensate
for the loss of sales attributable to the downward shift of the response
function. If the bans are comprehensive enough, they may reduce
consumption. The empirical work finds some evidence that bans do reduce
consumption.
My Study:
Title: Impact of Advertising on social values: A study of The Impact
of Alcohol Advertising and Media Exposure on Alcohol Use

Aim: To determine the impact of alcohol advertising and media exposure on

alcohol consumption by young people.

Methodology: Different studies like the longitudinal, cross sectional,

econometric ones etc were reviewed to get to conclusion.

Studies reviewed were:

 Alcohol Portrayal on Television Affects Actual Drinking Behaviour
By Rutger C. M. E. Engels, Roel Hermans, Rick B. van Baaren, Tom Hollenstein,
Sander M. Bot

 Impact of Alcohol Advertising and Media Exposure on Adolescent

Alcohol Use: A Systematic Review of Longitudinal Studies

By Peter Anderson, Avalon de Bruijn, Kathryn Angus, Ross Gordon;

Gerard Hastings

 Banning alcohol ads won’t cure alcoholism

By Basham and Luik

 Measuring the Contribution of Advertising to Growth in Demand: An

Econometric-Accounting Framework.

By Martyn Duffy
Journal: First published in: International Journal of Advertising, 1989, 8
(2), 95-110.

 Alcohol Advertising: What Makes It Attractive to Youth?

 By Meng-Jinn Chen, Joel W. Grube, Melina Bersamin, Elizabeth Waiters,
Deborah B. Keefe
Journal: Journal od Health Communication, 2005, 10, 553-565. 

 Description:

Researchers study the effects of tobacco and alcohol advertising because the
consumption of these substances is known to have potentially adverse health
consequences. It has been found out that about nine out of 10 adults use
alcohol in limited amounts with no adverse outcomes. The other one in ten
abuses alcohol, which results in a range of negative health and social
outcomes including an estimated 100,000 premature deaths per year.

Brief Overview of studies:

Alcohol Portrayal on Television Affects Actual Drinking Behaviour --

By Rutger C. M. E. Engels, Roel Hermans, Rick B. van Baaren, Tom Hollenstein,
Sander M. Bot

Aims: To determine whether portrayal of alcohol images in movies and

commercials on television promotes actual drinking.
Methods: In a naturalistic setting (a bar lab), young adult male pairs watched
a movie clip for 1 h with two commercial breaks and were allowed to drink
non-alcohol and alcoholic beverages. These participants were randomly
assigned to one of four conditions varying on the type of movie (many versus
few alcohol portrayals) and commercials (alcohol commercials present or
not).
 Results: Participants assigned to the conditions with substantial alcohol
exposure in either movies or commercials consume more alcohol than other
participants. Those in the condition with alcohol portrayal in movie and
commercials drank on average 1.5 glasses more than those in the condition
with no alcohol portrayal, within a period of 1 h. 
Conclusions: This study—for the first time—shows a causal link between
exposure to drinking models and alcohol commercials on acute alcohol
consumption.
Impact of Alcohol Advertising and Media Exposure on Adolescent
Alcohol Use: A Systematic Review of Longitudinal Studies
By Peter Anderson, Avalon de Bruijn, Kathryn Angus, Ross Gordon; Gerard
Hastings

Aims: To assess the impact of alcohol advertising and media exposure on

future adolescent alcohol use. 
Methods: They searched MEDLINE, the Cochrane Library, Sociological
Abstracts, and PsycLIT, from 1990 to September 2008, supplemented with
searches of Google scholar, hand searches of key journals and reference lists
of identified papers and key publications for more recent publications. They
selected longitudinal studies that assessed individuals' exposure to
commercial communications and media and alcohol drinking behaviour at
baseline, and assessed alcohol drinking behaviour at follow-up. Participants
were adolescents aged 18 years or younger or below the legal drinking age of
the country of origin of the study, whichever was the higher. 
Results: Thirteen longitudinal studies that followed up a total of over 38,000
young people met inclusion criteria. The studies measured exposure to
advertising and promotion in a variety of ways, including estimates of the
volume of media and advertising exposure, ownership of branded
merchandise, recall and receptivity, and one study on expenditure on
advertisements. Follow-up ranged from 8 to 96 months. One study reported
outcomes at multiple time-points, 3, 5, and 8 years. Seven studies provided
data on initiation of alcohol use amongst non-drinkers, three studies on
maintenance and frequency of drinking amongst baseline drinkers, and seven
studies on alcohol use of the total sample of non-drinkers and drinkers at
baseline. Twelve of the thirteen studies concluded an impact of exposure on
subsequent alcohol use, including initiation of drinking and heavier drinking
amongst existing drinkers, with a dose response relationship in all studies
that reported such exposure and analysis. There was variation in the strength
of association, and the degree to which potential confounders were controlled
for. The thirteenth study, which tested the impact of outdoor advertising
placed near schools failed to detect an impact on alcohol use, but found an
impact on intentions to use. 
Conclusions: Longitudinal studies consistently suggest that exposure to
media and commercial communications on alcohol is associated with the
likelihood that adolescents will start to drink alcohol, and with increased
drinking amongst baseline drinkers. Based on the strength of this association,
the consistency of findings across numerous observational studies,
temporality of exposure and drinking behaviours observed, dose-response
relationships, as well as the theoretical plausibility regarding the impact of
media exposure and commercial communications, they concluded that alcohol
advertising and promotion increases the likelihood that adolescents will start
to use alcohol, and to drink more if they are already using alcohol.

Banning alcohol ads won’t cure alcoholism

By Basham and Luik

Aim: To evaluate the effect of advertising expenditures compared to price and

income on alcohol consumption in the UK during 1964 and 1983.

Design: econometric study

Participants: national expenditure figures of alcohol expenditures of distilled

drinks, wine, and beer / prices of these alcoholic drinks / income of the
population / consumption rates between 1964 and 1983 in the UK are used.

Methods: An econometric model is used to explain alcoholic drinks demand by

income, price and advertising. Differences between beer, wine, and distilled
drinks are distinguished. 

Findings: The data in the studies shows the unconditional demand elasticities

for alcoholic drinks. The total consumption of alcoholic beverages (eg beer) in
the UK benefit more from an increase in income (elasticity = .707 with stnd
error=.151) and a decrease in prize (elasticity = -.360 with stnd error=.116)
than an increase in advertising expenses (elasticity = .047 with stnd
error=.022). Decomposition of the intra-group relative advertising
expenditure effects on consumption rates show that these weak overall effect
of advertising on demand is not due to substitution terms of beer, spirit and
wine. It shows for example that an increase in beer advertising increases not
only the consumption of beer (.089) the consumption of spirits (.033) and
wine (.006) as well. 

Conclusion Authors’: 
The results show that the great expansion of alcohol consumption between
1963 and 1984, particularly of spirits and wine, owes little (if anything) to
advertising of these products.

Remarks:
The study shows that the effect of advertising on the alcohol consumption of a
population is small compared to the effect of income and price. It shows the
importance of availability of alcohol on a general population. However, does
not tell us anything on the effect of advertising on young people. 

Alcohol Advertising: What Makes It Attractive to Youth?

By Meng-Jinn Chen, Joel W. Grube, Melina Bersamin, Elizabeth Waiters,
Deborah B. Keefe

Aim: To examine the responses of specific features in alcohol advertisements

its effect on the willingness and likeliness purchase of the alcoholic beverage. 
Design: Cross-sectional study
Participants: respondents (N=253) between 10 and 17 years of age in
California, USA.
Methods: Respondents were exposed to a tape with television advertisements
of soft drinks and alcoholic beverages. Additionally, respondents were asked
to rate specific features of these advertisements. In addition, it was examined
whether the attractiveness of beer advertisements affects the overall liking of
the advertisements which in turn could predict the effectiveness of the ads
(indicated by willingness to purchase the alcoholic beverage and likeliness to
buy the brand).

Findings: Perceived likeability of beer advertisements is a function of the

positive affective responses evoked by the specific elements featured in the
advertisements. Attractive elements were liking of elements in the story
(standardized factor loading= .98), humour (standardized factor loading= .
90), and to less extend people characters, animal characters, and music
(standardized factor loading= .77, .73, and .45 respectively). Liking of specific
elements featured in beer advertisements significantly increases the overall
attractiveness of these advertisements (β = .97, with P<.001) and
subsequently to advertising effectiveness (β = .68, with p<.001) indicated by
purchasing intent of product (standardized factor loading= .90) and brand
promoted by these advertisements (standardized factor loading= .89).
Advertisements that focus primarily on product qualities or send a message of
legal drinking age were rated less favourably and evoked less desire to
purchase the product.

Conclusion Authors’: Likeable advertisements are more effective in persuading

young people to want to purchase the brand or alcoholic beverage. Humour
and a nice story are the most attractive elements in ads. A description of the
product was not rated favourably by young people and evoked less desire to
purchase the beverage or brand. 

Remarks : 
-One of the main conclusions of the authors is that contrary to the use of
humour and using an attractive story, the use of mainly product information
in advertisement is perceived by young people as less attractive and
subsequently evokes less willingness to buy the brand or the beverage.
Unfortunately, the authors do not include the effect of product information in
the structural equation model, therefore we can not measure the size of this
effect. It would be interesting to include (the lack of) product information as
an indicator of the latent variable Ad Attractiveness. Similar comment can be
made on the effects of including a message of legal drinking age.

Findings: Although most of the studies indicated the positive relationship

between the alcohol advertisements and consumption pattern of alcohol, but
there are certain areas to which we need to have attention. The study is
generally effected by the type of data collected and also the advertising
response function. The scope of the study also impacts the conclusion
derived. Taking small size population from a particular region depicts higher
degree of correlation between alcohol advertisement and consumption
behavior and on the other hand, large size population from different regions
averages out the overall impact of alcohol advertisements. Also, in this world,
there are lot many cultures having different orientations, feeding different
values to people with different cultures. Thus in this complex scenario, data
from a particular cultural group or from a group of cultures does not
represent the actual picture and is restricted to that particular group only.
Also, different types of studies like the longitudinal one, the cross sectional
one and the econometric one yield different results which makes it difficult
to get into any conclusion.

Conclusion: Netting out the outcomes of different studies analysed, we can

come to the conclusion that alcohol advertisements do affect the consumption
behaviour of people but the degree of influence depend on different factors
discussed above.