Exposure to alcohol ads ups teen drinking

Researchers have found that exposure to alcohol advertising changes teens’ attitudes about alcohol and can cause them to start drinking. In the study researchers used a framework developed to show causality between tobacco advertising and youth smoking and applied it to alcohol advertising.

Youth are particularly vulnerable to the influence of advertising due to their potential for forming brand loyalties at an early age, limited skepticism, and high use of social media – where alcohol marketing is increasingly found.

“The association of alcohol and tobacco advertising exposure and adolescent perceptions, knowledge of, and use of these substances are remarkably similar, adding to the much-needed evidence that the association between alcohol advertising and teen alcohol use is causal in nature,” said the study’s researcher Michael Weitzman from New York University in the US. They found that, in every aspect studied, the influence of tobacco and alcohol advertising on teenagers were analogous. For instance, both tobacco and alcohol companies have used mascots in advertisements, which research shows are easily recognised and trusted by children.

In addition, both tobacco and alcohol companies use or have used movies, television, and sporting events as opportunities for advertising and product placement, with studies showing that exposure to smoking and drinking increases the risk for youth initiation.