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Messages in alcohol advertising targeted to youth

Messages in alcohol advertising targeted to youth Objective: To assess young people’s perceived messages in three ads for a vodka-based, pre-mixed alcohol beverage, and to assess the extent to which the ads appeared to be consistent with the industry’s voluntary code. Method: Members of two convenience samples of young people (15-16 and 19-21 years) were each exposed to one of three advertisements. Respondents completed a post exposure questionnaire based on standard advertising copy testing procedures. Results: The most frequently nominated open-ended responses to ‘the main message(s) of the ad’ related to the product delivering mood effects: both removal of negative emotions (e.g. ‘stress reduction’), as well as inducing positive states such as feeling ‘carefree’ and gaining ‘increased enjoyment’. Consumption of the product was perceived to offer ‘self-confidence’, ‘sexual/relationship success’ and ‘social success’. Fewer respondents nominated tangible product characteristics, the main one being ‘easy to drink’. One in four of the 15-16 year olds saw the ads as aimed at ‘people my age’, while almost half of the 19-21 year olds saw the ads as aimed at ‘people younger or much younger than me’. Discussion: These results appear to contravene the Alcoholic Beverages Advertising Code (ABAC) by suggesting that the consumption of alcohol beverages: (i) contributes to social and sexual success; and (ii) contributes to a significant change in mood (stress reduction/relaxation). Implications: Incidental observation of alcohol ads suggests that contravention of the code is more widespread than the number of alcohol advertising complaints would indicate. All 11 such complaints lodged with the Advertising Standards Board between May 1998 and April 1999 were dismissed. Evidence such as that gathered in this study might improve the chances of complaints being upheld. (Aust N Z J Public Health 2001; 25: 126-31) Sandra C. Jones and Robert J. Donovan Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer Control, Curtin University, Western Australia lcohol is a major contributor to unintentional injuries and motor vehicle accidents among young people and has a number of other major negative consequences, particularly in the mid-to-late teens, including: depression; suicidal ideation and behaviour; other substance use and abuse; decreased scholastic, sporting and work performance; aggression and violence; disrupted family and other social relationships; high-risk sexual activity; and delinquent behaviour.1,2 In Australia, alcohol consumption is very much guided by cultural forces, 3 with advertising in particular often being singled out as one of the major factors influencing people’s attitudes and values with respect to products, consumption and lifestyles. 4-6 Movies and TV entertainment programs commonly portray alcohol consumption as a ‘normal’ part of life, usually depicting alcohol as a mood-altering substance, as an aid to socialising and as a stress reducer.7-9 Advertising tells us what products and brands are associated with what lifestyles, what socio-economic status, what attitudes to life, and therefore how we can adopt and maintain a particular self-image.10 It is claimed that advertising has particular influence on the young, especially as to which brands or product categories are ‘in’ or ‘cool’. It is therefore important to monitor what messages the media, and advertising in particular, are sending to young people about the consumption of alcohol. For example, beer advertising, which is far more widespread than spirits advertising, especially on TV both in Australia and elsewhere, has gen, erally focused on the conviviality and camaraderie associated with beer consumption, or on the concept of beer as a ‘reward’ for hard work (manual or mental), and hence an accompaniment – not so much an aid to – relaxation.3,11 Although a causal link is difficult to establish, numerous studies have found a correlation between alcohol advertising and the alcohol knowledge, beliefs and intentions of people under 18 years of age. 12-14 This includes normative beliefs regarding the social acceptability of alcohol,15 expectations of positive outcomes of consumption,16 and perceptions of alcohol drinkers as attractive and successful.8 Several studies have concluded that alcohol advertising encourages young people to drink or reinforces drinking habits.17,18 Similarly, positive social and other expectations of alcohol consumption have been found to be related to consumption.7,19,20,21 Young people, at the time they are beginning to experiment with alcohol, are in the process of learning to establish relationships with peers and with the opposite sex.6 Hence, they could be especially vulnerable to inferences that consuming alcohol will enhance their social and sexual attractiveness. Regulation of alcohol advertising in Australia Regulation of alcohol advertising in Australia is based on a comparatively new voluntary system of self-regulation. Following the demise of the Advertising Standards Council in 1996, the main industry body, the Submitted: May 2000 Revision requested: December 2000 Accepted: January 2001 Correspondence to: Ms Sandra C. Jones, Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer Control, Curtin University of Technology, GPO Box U1987, Perth, Western Australia 6845. Fax: (08) 9266 2608; e-mail: rjonessc@cc.curtin.edu.au AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH 2001 VOL. 25 NO. 2 Drugs and Alcohol Messages in alcohol advertising targeted to youth Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA), developed the Advertiser Code of Ethics (which applies to all forms of advertising) and established the Advertising Standards Board (ASB) and the Advertising Claims Board (ACB) to deal with complaints and breaches of the code. The AANA allowed the alcohol industry to separately develop its own code, the Alcoholic Beverages Advertising Code (ABAC), and its own complaints management system, the Alcoholic Beverages Advertising Code Complaints Adjudication Panel. This panel reports to the Alcoholic Beverages Advertising Code Management Committee, which is responsible for overseeing the ABAC. Both the ABAC and the complaints management system operate under the structure developed by the AANA. Under the ABAC, advertisements for alcohol must: a) present a mature, balanced and responsible approach to the consumption of alcohol beverages and, accordingly ... b) not have a strong or evident appeal to children or adolescents and accordingly i) adults appearing in advertisements must be over 25 years of age and be clearly depicted as adults … c) not suggest that the consumption or presence of alcohol beverages may create or contribute to a significant change in mood or environment and, accordingly i) must not depict the consumption or presence of alcohol beverages as a cause for or contributing to the achievement of personal, business, social, sporting, sexual or other success; and ii) must not suggest that the consumption of alcohol beverages offers any therapeutic benefit or is a necessary aid to relaxation; Individuals who are unhappy with alcohol advertisements are able to lodge a formal complaint with the Advertising Standards Board, which passes the complaint on to the ABAC Complaints Adjudication Panel for determination. Of 11 alcohol advertising complaints lodged with the ASB between May 1998 and April 1999, all were determined ‘case dismissed’ (personal communication, Advertising Standards Bureau). It has been reported that complaints lodged with the ASB are almost always based on the complainant’s opinion and not backed by any objective evidence. The present study sought to provide objective evidence for a series of radio advertisements for a pre-mixed drink brand, which at face value appear to contravene the ABAC. In particular, the study primarily aimed to answer these questions: 1. What are the perceived main messages of the advertisements? 2. What is the perceived target age group of the advertisements? The UDL radio advertisements Three advertisements were selected from a series of five radio advertisements for the UDL brand drink. The selection of ads was based solely on opportunistic recording when the ads were broadcast. The ads were played on at least one Perth radio station (96FM) that has a predominantly younger audience: 41% of 1017 year old radio listeners and 32% of 18-25 year old radio listeners.23 The ads were heard during both the breakfast show (6.00am to 10.00am) and the evening ‘kiddie countdown’ (7.00pm to 10.00pm) during the month of April 1999. The actual media schedule is not known. Each of the advertisements features a narrative where the ‘hero’, a young man or woman, faces a ‘problem’ situation that causes, or is likely to cause, some form of emotional distress if not solved satisfactorily. In each case, a can of UDL is introduced to the situation, resulting in an ‘attitudinal’ change (more assertive/selfconfident) on the part of the ‘hero’ after consuming the drink and the situation being resolved by subsequent events. This is a classic problem-solution advertising format, although UDL is not presented explicitly as the solution. Ad 1: (young man’s voice): “Last weekend I went to this barbecue and it’s really hot so everyone starts jumping in the pool and pretty soon I’m the only one on dry land and I’m getting this ‘come-on-in’ pressure but I remember the only clean undies I had left this morning were the Mickey Mouse y-fronts that my Grandma gave me last Christmas, and while I’m contemplating my embarrassment I take a sip of my UDL vodka and orange and think ‘if only the rest of my life was as uncomplicated as this drink which says vodka and orange and delivers it without any pretentious posers in tight briefs, and as I look over the top of that icy UDL can, I notice that cute brunette has a small tattoo of Minnie Mouse on her back so I take off my jeans and think ‘hey, some things are meant to be’.” Ad 2: (young woman’s voice): “I’m getting ready to go out and I ask my flatmate if my capri pants make my bum look too big, and she says ‘are you saying that because my arse looks fat?’, and I say ‘no’ but she starts fretting and that sets me off so I go get a jumper to tie around my waist and I look in the mirror and wonder whether people are going to see that jumper and instantly assume I’m self conscious about the size of my butt, and while I’m tossing things up I sip on my can of UDL vodka and cranberry and think ‘if only the rest of my life was as uncomplicated as this drink which says vodka and cranberry and delivers it without pedal pushing any unrealistic dietary messages’, and as I finish that first UDL can of the night I decide I’m so over capri pants and change into a little black dress instead.” Ad 3: (young woman’s voice): “I was watching TV and one of my friends asked me if Rob, the guy I met Saturday night, has rung and I say ‘no’ but add ‘it’s only Tuesday and he probably doesn’t want to look desperate by calling too early in the week’, and Jill says that her boyfriend rang her the very next day after they first met and that puts me in a panic and I think ‘maybe I should call him’. So I open a can of UDL vodka-lemon-limesoda and think ‘if only the rest of my life was as uncomplicated Method Overall study design Following standard commercial advertising pre-test procedures,22 a monadic, independent samples design, with random assignment to conditions was used to assess a convenience sample of young people’s perceptions of messages contained in three advertisements for the UDL brand, vodka-based pre-mixed-drink. 2001 VOL. 25 NO. 2 AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH Jones and Donovan Article Table 1: Unprompted perceived messages (number of mentions). 15-16 19-21 year olds year olds (n=44) (n=43) Mood enhancement via problem removal/solution Reduce stress/forget/solve problems/worries Relax/become calm Make life simple/easier Escape reality Total Positive mood enhancement Be carefree/easygoing/lose inhibitions Have fun/good time Life is good/make life good Excitement/things happen Total Social/self approval Be more cool/confident Opposite sex/relationships Look cool/be popular/fit in Total Product characteristics Simple/easy to drink Good/taste good Sugar/caffeine Total Characteristics of UDL drinkers Positive: fun-loving, cool, sexy, energetic Negative: stressed out, weird, stupid, uncool Young Female Total 9 7 5 1 22 1 5 1 3 10 6 3 – 9 8 5 1 14 4 – 12 – – 4 20 75 18 7 6 2 33 9 2 2 – 13 12 4 7 23 9 1 – 10 9 – 4 5 – 2 20 99 as this drink which says vodka-lemon-lime-soda and delivers it without any mindless model with messages of love’, and as I sip on that cold UDL the phone rings and it’s Rob who asks me out tomorrow, and I say ‘no’ because I don’t want him to think I’m just sitting around waiting for him to call.” While the ads do not expressly state that consumption of the UDL leads to success or relaxation, the temporal inference is quite clear. Young people are presented in a social situation where they feel uncomfortable. They then drink their UDL and the situation improves. Ads 1 and 3 make direct references to (perceived or expected) success with the opposite sex immediately following consumption of UDL, and all three ads, but particularly ad 2, present a situation where subsequent to consuming the alcohol, the characters are more relaxed and confident. The questionnaire A self-completion questionnaire was constructed. This was adapted from a research agency’s procedure (ADTEST), which is based on standard, published advertising pre-test measures.22 The ADTEST procedure has been used extensively in pre-testing advertising for both commercial products and health and social issues.24,25 Perceived main messages in the ads Total (all responses) Table 2: Prompted perceived messages (% of respondents answering in the affirmative). % 15-16 % 19-21 year olds year olds (n=44) (n=43) Make me feel carefree Reduce my anxieties in a social situation Help me feel confident about myself Help me have a great time Make me more sociable and outgoing Make me the centre of attention Help me act cool Help me not worry about how I look Help me be successful with the opposite sex Make me less inhibited about approaching the opposite sex Notes: * p 0.01 ** p 0.05 *** p 0.10 Respondents’ perceptions of the ads’ messages were measured in two ways: Respondents were first asked the open-ended question: “Apart from telling you to drink UDL, what do you think was the single main message of the ad? What was the ad trying to tell you about UDL and the people who drink UDL?” This is called ‘unprompted message take-out’. The responses to this open-ended question were post-coded into major themes (see Table 1). Respondents were then presented with the statements in Table 2 and asked “can you remember which – if any – of these messages were in the ad?” This is called ‘prompted message take-out’. The statements shown in Table 2 were based on the authors’ decoding of the ads via a theme analysis of the actor’s words, the symbolism of the situation and the overall contextual meaning in each ad. It should be noted that each statement was not intended to be applicable to all ads. For example, ‘help me not worry about how I look’, was far more applicable to ads 1 and 2 than to ad 3. Perceived target audience for the ads The perceived target audience for the ads was measured by: “In your opinion, would you say the ad was aimed at people older than you, in your age group, or younger than you?” 84* 72*** 81* 65 67* 16*** 51 70* 46** 51* Respondents Respondents were recruited from two locations: a local high school in a high-medium SES area, and a university campus. In all cases, the survey was conducted in classrooms, with teacher consent, and respondents were invited to take part in a study on radio advertising. In both cases there were three concurrent classes, and classes were randomly allocated to one of the ads. After listening to the ad twice (after Krugman26), respondents were asked 2001 VOL. 25 NO. 2 AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH Drugs and Alcohol Messages in alcohol advertising targeted to youth to complete the questionnaire. The high school sample consisted only of Year 11 students (15-16 years old); the university sample consisted only of third-year students (19-21 years old). These two age groups were chosen to assess communication effects among youth both under and over the legal age for purchasing and consuming alcohol on licensed premises. Results A total of 44 high school students and 43 university students took part in the study. There were equal proportions of male and female respondents. The results were analysed by age group across all ads combined. Unprompted message take-out Respondents’ answers to the open-ended message take-out question were categorised into six main themes: mood enhancement via removal of anxieties/problems; positive mood enhancement per se; social interaction enhancement; self-confidence enhancement; product characteristics; and user imagery. Examples of these are shown in Table 1 and elaborated below. Mood enhancement via problem removal/solution was the most frequently mentioned message, and is illustrated in the following verbatim quotes: “A drink of UDL can remove all your problems, stresses and anxieties of a situation and let you enjoy yourself” (female, 20); “By drinking it, all your problems will go away and you’ve got nothing to worry about” (female, 16). This theme also encompasses elements of UDL ‘making life easier’ (“Drinking alcohol is a way to simplify your life. They don’t need anything else to be content” (male, 20+), and allowing an ‘escape from (harsh) reality’ (“You can be having the worst day ever, and it doesn’t really matter if you drink UDL” (male, aged 16)). Positive mood enhancement per se, was illustrated in the following: “People who drink it have fun” (female, 16); “Their life is great” (female, 20+); “Good things happen to those who drink it” (female, 20+). As for mood enhancement, enhanced self-confidence primarily related to the boosting of low self-confidence rather than boosting self confidence per se: “Once you drink UDL, you won’t care about what you look like so you can wear anything which you feel self conscious in” (female, 16). “Makes you feel good about yourself when you’re having an anxiety attack” (female, 20+). Social interaction enhancement had an opposite sex/relationships sub theme as well as a general ‘popularity/social acceptance’ sub theme: “Help you pull guys or chicks if you drink UDLs” (female, 20+); “Drinking UDL will make you more socially acceptable – will help you fit into a crowd” (female, 20+). Product characteristics were relatively infrequently mentioned, with the most common mention relating to the product being “... simple and easy to drink” (female, aged 16). This characteristic is important to young people who find many alcoholic drinks “not easy” or “difficult” (to drink and to carry). User imagery (characteristics of UDL drinkers ) appeared to 2001 VOL. 25 NO. 2 be influenced by the fast delivery of the monologue, with both positive (e.g. “energetic”) and negative (e.g. “highly strung/ hyper”) implications: “people who drink UDL are fast paced, energetic and fun people” (female, 16); “highly strung and drink UDL to relax” (female, 20+). Younger students nominated more negative than positive responses, and vice versa for older students. It is apparent from the comments listed above that messages being taken away from the ads include that drinking UDL (i.e. alcohol) will result in positive mood enhancement, primarily via the removal of problems/anxieties, and hence offers a therapeutic benefit as an aid (although perhaps not a necessary aid) to relaxation; will boost self-confidence; and will contribute to the achievement of social and opposite-sex relationship success. While the numbers are too small to carry out meaningful statistical tests on these open-ended responses, the data suggest that older youth are more likely to perceive mood enhancement/ stress reduction and social/self approval messages than are younger youth. There were no meaningful differences by gender. Prompted message take-out The results in Table 2 confirm and extend the unprompted message take-out findings with respect to mood change, opposite sex interactions, socialising and self-confidence. In both age groups, the most frequently perceived prompted messages relate to UDL making the drinker: • feel carefree; • feel self-confident; • feel less anxious in social situations; and • have a good time. However, the absolute percentages nominating these messages are vastly different for the two age groups, and statistically significant for most (see Table 2). With one exception (‘make me the centre of attention), the older age group is far more likely than the younger age group to agree that each of these messages is indicated in the ads. The more frequent nomination of all the remaining messages by the older group may reflect their greater sophistication in decoding ad messages. This may be a function of age or differences in cognitive ability. Nevertheless, substantial proportions of the younger groups perceive each of these messages in one or more of the ads, and the rank order of the perceived messages is generally similar for the two age groups. The major gender difference of note was that 15-16 year old young women were far more likely than young men of this age to perceive the ‘help me not worry about how I look’ message: 64% vs. 16%. However, there was no difference in the older age group. As noted above, not all of these messages were relevant to all ads. It can be noted that the figures in Table 2 under-state the potential message take-out of the advertising campaign, given that each respondent listened to only one advertisement in the series in this study, but could be exposed to all three on air. AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH Jones and Donovan Article Table 3: Perceived target audience (% of respondents). % 15-16 year olds (n=44) Much older than me Slightly older than me In my age group Slightly younger than me Much younger than me Total 2 67 27 2 0 100 % 19-21 year olds (n=43) Perceived target audience for the ads Combining across ads, just over one in four 15-16 year olds (27%) felt that the advertisements were aimed at their age group (see Table 3). Virtually all of the remainder stated that the ads were aimed at people a little bit older (67%), rather than a lot older than themselves (2%). Among the 19-21 year olds, 42% felt that the advertisements were aimed at their age group, and 49% that the target audience was people younger than themselves: 26% slightly younger; 23% much younger. Not unexpectedly given the scale, Table 3 shows a clear age difference in perceptions of the ads’ target audience (p<0.05). Overall, Table 3 suggests that approximately one in four respondents (29% of 15-16 year olds; 23% of 19-21 year olds) perceive the target audience for the ads as being teenagers or young people below the age of 18 years; i.e. below the legal age for purchase and consumption of alcohol on licensed premises. Discussion These data suggest that the targeting of these ads may be outside the industry guidelines in that they suggest that consumption of alcohol can lead to a significant change in mood, can contribute to sexual success and has a therapeutic benefit in aiding relaxation, and are perceived by a substantial proportion of the sample as targeting youth under 18 years. Although based on only small convenience samples, such samples are often used by advertisers to pre-test advertising executions. Furthermore, we used the same sorts of pre-testing measures as major advertisers and, given that the data were limited to message take out (i.e. comprehension) – not brand attitude or purchase intention – we can be confident that similar results would be obtained with other samples of young people in these age groups. However, the university students did report slightly more unprompted perceived messages than the high school students, and were significantly more likely to nominate the prompted messages. It may well be that young people with lower educational achievements would not perceive the same or as many messages as higher educated youth. On the other hand, both alcohol consumption1 and the ability to decode television advertising27 seem widespread across young people of all socio-economic groups, and there were few differences in the themes identified by our high school and university students. Target audience perceptions are defined with reference to the perceived characteristics of the person in the ads and the situations in which they are depicted. As Windschuttle28 states, in order to determine the age group to which an advertisement is targeted, we should look not just at the age of the actors, but at the ‘social meaning’ of the context. The UDL advertisements that are the subject of this paper feature young people in social situations which are common among people in their mid to late teens. Interestingly, Windschuttle points out that in the 1970s, vodka mixed with soft drink was very popular among under-age drinkers. This is also true today, with a not infrequent reason being that the addition of soft drink makes the high alcohol spirits much ‘easier’ to drink by neutralising the strong ‘burn’ of the alcohol. It may well be that this ‘easy to drink’ characteristic is particularly appealing to younger students and, even if unintentional rather than deliberately included in the UDL message, appears inconsistent with at least the spirit of the industry guidelines. Finn and Strickland29 undertook a content analysis of alcohol advertising and found that the ads associated alcohol consumption with social camaraderie, relaxation, escape, romance and elegance. Our results are generally consistent with these, with the predominant messages of these UDL ads relating to mood enhancement effects, and primarily by the removal of anxieties/ problems. They also ‘promise’ self-confidence enhancement, and social and sexual success. Overall then, while we are not in a position to comment on the intended messages of the UDL ads, the messages perceived by (perhaps impressionable) young people are that drinking alcohol solves problems and contributes to relaxation, happiness and social/relationship success, and that these benefits can, and do, apply to people under the legal drinking age. Under Australian legislation, the alcohol industry has its own advertising code and its own complaints management system. As with any such self-regulation, the question is often asked as to the effectiveness of this system in ensuring that advertisers comply with the regulations. The results of this study suggest that the self-regulation system is not functioning effectively. While we are not proposing a return to the 2250BC Code of Hammurabi, which made selling anything to children a crime punishable by death, there is clearly a need to lobby for more stringent enforcement of the alcohol advertising standards and questioning of the efficacy of self-regulation, especially where it applies to young people. As Chapman has demonstrated in the smoking area,30 the use of small-scale consumer surveys can be influential in achieving desired policy changes. The results of this study will be forwarded to the Advertising Standards Board for comment. Acknowledgements The authors thank: Nick Randall, of the Department of Human Movement & Exercise Science at the University of Western 2001 VOL. 25 NO. 2 AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH Drugs and Alcohol Messages in alcohol advertising targeted to youth Australia, for assisting with recruiting the subjects for this study; and Penelope Kennish, of NFO Donovan Research, for advice and assistance with the development of the questionnaire. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health Wiley

Messages in alcohol advertising targeted to youth

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References (34)

Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
2001 The Public Health Association of Australia Inc
ISSN
1326-0200
eISSN
1753-6405
DOI
10.1111/j.1753-6405.2001.tb01833.x
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Objective: To assess young people’s perceived messages in three ads for a vodka-based, pre-mixed alcohol beverage, and to assess the extent to which the ads appeared to be consistent with the industry’s voluntary code. Method: Members of two convenience samples of young people (15-16 and 19-21 years) were each exposed to one of three advertisements. Respondents completed a post exposure questionnaire based on standard advertising copy testing procedures. Results: The most frequently nominated open-ended responses to ‘the main message(s) of the ad’ related to the product delivering mood effects: both removal of negative emotions (e.g. ‘stress reduction’), as well as inducing positive states such as feeling ‘carefree’ and gaining ‘increased enjoyment’. Consumption of the product was perceived to offer ‘self-confidence’, ‘sexual/relationship success’ and ‘social success’. Fewer respondents nominated tangible product characteristics, the main one being ‘easy to drink’. One in four of the 15-16 year olds saw the ads as aimed at ‘people my age’, while almost half of the 19-21 year olds saw the ads as aimed at ‘people younger or much younger than me’. Discussion: These results appear to contravene the Alcoholic Beverages Advertising Code (ABAC) by suggesting that the consumption of alcohol beverages: (i) contributes to social and sexual success; and (ii) contributes to a significant change in mood (stress reduction/relaxation). Implications: Incidental observation of alcohol ads suggests that contravention of the code is more widespread than the number of alcohol advertising complaints would indicate. All 11 such complaints lodged with the Advertising Standards Board between May 1998 and April 1999 were dismissed. Evidence such as that gathered in this study might improve the chances of complaints being upheld. (Aust N Z J Public Health 2001; 25: 126-31) Sandra C. Jones and Robert J. Donovan Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer Control, Curtin University, Western Australia lcohol is a major contributor to unintentional injuries and motor vehicle accidents among young people and has a number of other major negative consequences, particularly in the mid-to-late teens, including: depression; suicidal ideation and behaviour; other substance use and abuse; decreased scholastic, sporting and work performance; aggression and violence; disrupted family and other social relationships; high-risk sexual activity; and delinquent behaviour.1,2 In Australia, alcohol consumption is very much guided by cultural forces, 3 with advertising in particular often being singled out as one of the major factors influencing people’s attitudes and values with respect to products, consumption and lifestyles. 4-6 Movies and TV entertainment programs commonly portray alcohol consumption as a ‘normal’ part of life, usually depicting alcohol as a mood-altering substance, as an aid to socialising and as a stress reducer.7-9 Advertising tells us what products and brands are associated with what lifestyles, what socio-economic status, what attitudes to life, and therefore how we can adopt and maintain a particular self-image.10 It is claimed that advertising has particular influence on the young, especially as to which brands or product categories are ‘in’ or ‘cool’. It is therefore important to monitor what messages the media, and advertising in particular, are sending to young people about the consumption of alcohol. For example, beer advertising, which is far more widespread than spirits advertising, especially on TV both in Australia and elsewhere, has gen, erally focused on the conviviality and camaraderie associated with beer consumption, or on the concept of beer as a ‘reward’ for hard work (manual or mental), and hence an accompaniment – not so much an aid to – relaxation.3,11 Although a causal link is difficult to establish, numerous studies have found a correlation between alcohol advertising and the alcohol knowledge, beliefs and intentions of people under 18 years of age. 12-14 This includes normative beliefs regarding the social acceptability of alcohol,15 expectations of positive outcomes of consumption,16 and perceptions of alcohol drinkers as attractive and successful.8 Several studies have concluded that alcohol advertising encourages young people to drink or reinforces drinking habits.17,18 Similarly, positive social and other expectations of alcohol consumption have been found to be related to consumption.7,19,20,21 Young people, at the time they are beginning to experiment with alcohol, are in the process of learning to establish relationships with peers and with the opposite sex.6 Hence, they could be especially vulnerable to inferences that consuming alcohol will enhance their social and sexual attractiveness. Regulation of alcohol advertising in Australia Regulation of alcohol advertising in Australia is based on a comparatively new voluntary system of self-regulation. Following the demise of the Advertising Standards Council in 1996, the main industry body, the Submitted: May 2000 Revision requested: December 2000 Accepted: January 2001 Correspondence to: Ms Sandra C. Jones, Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer Control, Curtin University of Technology, GPO Box U1987, Perth, Western Australia 6845. Fax: (08) 9266 2608; e-mail: rjonessc@cc.curtin.edu.au AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH 2001 VOL. 25 NO. 2 Drugs and Alcohol Messages in alcohol advertising targeted to youth Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA), developed the Advertiser Code of Ethics (which applies to all forms of advertising) and established the Advertising Standards Board (ASB) and the Advertising Claims Board (ACB) to deal with complaints and breaches of the code. The AANA allowed the alcohol industry to separately develop its own code, the Alcoholic Beverages Advertising Code (ABAC), and its own complaints management system, the Alcoholic Beverages Advertising Code Complaints Adjudication Panel. This panel reports to the Alcoholic Beverages Advertising Code Management Committee, which is responsible for overseeing the ABAC. Both the ABAC and the complaints management system operate under the structure developed by the AANA. Under the ABAC, advertisements for alcohol must: a) present a mature, balanced and responsible approach to the consumption of alcohol beverages and, accordingly ... b) not have a strong or evident appeal to children or adolescents and accordingly i) adults appearing in advertisements must be over 25 years of age and be clearly depicted as adults … c) not suggest that the consumption or presence of alcohol beverages may create or contribute to a significant change in mood or environment and, accordingly i) must not depict the consumption or presence of alcohol beverages as a cause for or contributing to the achievement of personal, business, social, sporting, sexual or other success; and ii) must not suggest that the consumption of alcohol beverages offers any therapeutic benefit or is a necessary aid to relaxation; Individuals who are unhappy with alcohol advertisements are able to lodge a formal complaint with the Advertising Standards Board, which passes the complaint on to the ABAC Complaints Adjudication Panel for determination. Of 11 alcohol advertising complaints lodged with the ASB between May 1998 and April 1999, all were determined ‘case dismissed’ (personal communication, Advertising Standards Bureau). It has been reported that complaints lodged with the ASB are almost always based on the complainant’s opinion and not backed by any objective evidence. The present study sought to provide objective evidence for a series of radio advertisements for a pre-mixed drink brand, which at face value appear to contravene the ABAC. In particular, the study primarily aimed to answer these questions: 1. What are the perceived main messages of the advertisements? 2. What is the perceived target age group of the advertisements? The UDL radio advertisements Three advertisements were selected from a series of five radio advertisements for the UDL brand drink. The selection of ads was based solely on opportunistic recording when the ads were broadcast. The ads were played on at least one Perth radio station (96FM) that has a predominantly younger audience: 41% of 1017 year old radio listeners and 32% of 18-25 year old radio listeners.23 The ads were heard during both the breakfast show (6.00am to 10.00am) and the evening ‘kiddie countdown’ (7.00pm to 10.00pm) during the month of April 1999. The actual media schedule is not known. Each of the advertisements features a narrative where the ‘hero’, a young man or woman, faces a ‘problem’ situation that causes, or is likely to cause, some form of emotional distress if not solved satisfactorily. In each case, a can of UDL is introduced to the situation, resulting in an ‘attitudinal’ change (more assertive/selfconfident) on the part of the ‘hero’ after consuming the drink and the situation being resolved by subsequent events. This is a classic problem-solution advertising format, although UDL is not presented explicitly as the solution. Ad 1: (young man’s voice): “Last weekend I went to this barbecue and it’s really hot so everyone starts jumping in the pool and pretty soon I’m the only one on dry land and I’m getting this ‘come-on-in’ pressure but I remember the only clean undies I had left this morning were the Mickey Mouse y-fronts that my Grandma gave me last Christmas, and while I’m contemplating my embarrassment I take a sip of my UDL vodka and orange and think ‘if only the rest of my life was as uncomplicated as this drink which says vodka and orange and delivers it without any pretentious posers in tight briefs, and as I look over the top of that icy UDL can, I notice that cute brunette has a small tattoo of Minnie Mouse on her back so I take off my jeans and think ‘hey, some things are meant to be’.” Ad 2: (young woman’s voice): “I’m getting ready to go out and I ask my flatmate if my capri pants make my bum look too big, and she says ‘are you saying that because my arse looks fat?’, and I say ‘no’ but she starts fretting and that sets me off so I go get a jumper to tie around my waist and I look in the mirror and wonder whether people are going to see that jumper and instantly assume I’m self conscious about the size of my butt, and while I’m tossing things up I sip on my can of UDL vodka and cranberry and think ‘if only the rest of my life was as uncomplicated as this drink which says vodka and cranberry and delivers it without pedal pushing any unrealistic dietary messages’, and as I finish that first UDL can of the night I decide I’m so over capri pants and change into a little black dress instead.” Ad 3: (young woman’s voice): “I was watching TV and one of my friends asked me if Rob, the guy I met Saturday night, has rung and I say ‘no’ but add ‘it’s only Tuesday and he probably doesn’t want to look desperate by calling too early in the week’, and Jill says that her boyfriend rang her the very next day after they first met and that puts me in a panic and I think ‘maybe I should call him’. So I open a can of UDL vodka-lemon-limesoda and think ‘if only the rest of my life was as uncomplicated Method Overall study design Following standard commercial advertising pre-test procedures,22 a monadic, independent samples design, with random assignment to conditions was used to assess a convenience sample of young people’s perceptions of messages contained in three advertisements for the UDL brand, vodka-based pre-mixed-drink. 2001 VOL. 25 NO. 2 AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH Jones and Donovan Article Table 1: Unprompted perceived messages (number of mentions). 15-16 19-21 year olds year olds (n=44) (n=43) Mood enhancement via problem removal/solution Reduce stress/forget/solve problems/worries Relax/become calm Make life simple/easier Escape reality Total Positive mood enhancement Be carefree/easygoing/lose inhibitions Have fun/good time Life is good/make life good Excitement/things happen Total Social/self approval Be more cool/confident Opposite sex/relationships Look cool/be popular/fit in Total Product characteristics Simple/easy to drink Good/taste good Sugar/caffeine Total Characteristics of UDL drinkers Positive: fun-loving, cool, sexy, energetic Negative: stressed out, weird, stupid, uncool Young Female Total 9 7 5 1 22 1 5 1 3 10 6 3 – 9 8 5 1 14 4 – 12 – – 4 20 75 18 7 6 2 33 9 2 2 – 13 12 4 7 23 9 1 – 10 9 – 4 5 – 2 20 99 as this drink which says vodka-lemon-lime-soda and delivers it without any mindless model with messages of love’, and as I sip on that cold UDL the phone rings and it’s Rob who asks me out tomorrow, and I say ‘no’ because I don’t want him to think I’m just sitting around waiting for him to call.” While the ads do not expressly state that consumption of the UDL leads to success or relaxation, the temporal inference is quite clear. Young people are presented in a social situation where they feel uncomfortable. They then drink their UDL and the situation improves. Ads 1 and 3 make direct references to (perceived or expected) success with the opposite sex immediately following consumption of UDL, and all three ads, but particularly ad 2, present a situation where subsequent to consuming the alcohol, the characters are more relaxed and confident. The questionnaire A self-completion questionnaire was constructed. This was adapted from a research agency’s procedure (ADTEST), which is based on standard, published advertising pre-test measures.22 The ADTEST procedure has been used extensively in pre-testing advertising for both commercial products and health and social issues.24,25 Perceived main messages in the ads Total (all responses) Table 2: Prompted perceived messages (% of respondents answering in the affirmative). % 15-16 % 19-21 year olds year olds (n=44) (n=43) Make me feel carefree Reduce my anxieties in a social situation Help me feel confident about myself Help me have a great time Make me more sociable and outgoing Make me the centre of attention Help me act cool Help me not worry about how I look Help me be successful with the opposite sex Make me less inhibited about approaching the opposite sex Notes: * p 0.01 ** p 0.05 *** p 0.10 Respondents’ perceptions of the ads’ messages were measured in two ways: Respondents were first asked the open-ended question: “Apart from telling you to drink UDL, what do you think was the single main message of the ad? What was the ad trying to tell you about UDL and the people who drink UDL?” This is called ‘unprompted message take-out’. The responses to this open-ended question were post-coded into major themes (see Table 1). Respondents were then presented with the statements in Table 2 and asked “can you remember which – if any – of these messages were in the ad?” This is called ‘prompted message take-out’. The statements shown in Table 2 were based on the authors’ decoding of the ads via a theme analysis of the actor’s words, the symbolism of the situation and the overall contextual meaning in each ad. It should be noted that each statement was not intended to be applicable to all ads. For example, ‘help me not worry about how I look’, was far more applicable to ads 1 and 2 than to ad 3. Perceived target audience for the ads The perceived target audience for the ads was measured by: “In your opinion, would you say the ad was aimed at people older than you, in your age group, or younger than you?” 84* 72*** 81* 65 67* 16*** 51 70* 46** 51* Respondents Respondents were recruited from two locations: a local high school in a high-medium SES area, and a university campus. In all cases, the survey was conducted in classrooms, with teacher consent, and respondents were invited to take part in a study on radio advertising. In both cases there were three concurrent classes, and classes were randomly allocated to one of the ads. After listening to the ad twice (after Krugman26), respondents were asked 2001 VOL. 25 NO. 2 AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH Drugs and Alcohol Messages in alcohol advertising targeted to youth to complete the questionnaire. The high school sample consisted only of Year 11 students (15-16 years old); the university sample consisted only of third-year students (19-21 years old). These two age groups were chosen to assess communication effects among youth both under and over the legal age for purchasing and consuming alcohol on licensed premises. Results A total of 44 high school students and 43 university students took part in the study. There were equal proportions of male and female respondents. The results were analysed by age group across all ads combined. Unprompted message take-out Respondents’ answers to the open-ended message take-out question were categorised into six main themes: mood enhancement via removal of anxieties/problems; positive mood enhancement per se; social interaction enhancement; self-confidence enhancement; product characteristics; and user imagery. Examples of these are shown in Table 1 and elaborated below. Mood enhancement via problem removal/solution was the most frequently mentioned message, and is illustrated in the following verbatim quotes: “A drink of UDL can remove all your problems, stresses and anxieties of a situation and let you enjoy yourself” (female, 20); “By drinking it, all your problems will go away and you’ve got nothing to worry about” (female, 16). This theme also encompasses elements of UDL ‘making life easier’ (“Drinking alcohol is a way to simplify your life. They don’t need anything else to be content” (male, 20+), and allowing an ‘escape from (harsh) reality’ (“You can be having the worst day ever, and it doesn’t really matter if you drink UDL” (male, aged 16)). Positive mood enhancement per se, was illustrated in the following: “People who drink it have fun” (female, 16); “Their life is great” (female, 20+); “Good things happen to those who drink it” (female, 20+). As for mood enhancement, enhanced self-confidence primarily related to the boosting of low self-confidence rather than boosting self confidence per se: “Once you drink UDL, you won’t care about what you look like so you can wear anything which you feel self conscious in” (female, 16). “Makes you feel good about yourself when you’re having an anxiety attack” (female, 20+). Social interaction enhancement had an opposite sex/relationships sub theme as well as a general ‘popularity/social acceptance’ sub theme: “Help you pull guys or chicks if you drink UDLs” (female, 20+); “Drinking UDL will make you more socially acceptable – will help you fit into a crowd” (female, 20+). Product characteristics were relatively infrequently mentioned, with the most common mention relating to the product being “... simple and easy to drink” (female, aged 16). This characteristic is important to young people who find many alcoholic drinks “not easy” or “difficult” (to drink and to carry). User imagery (characteristics of UDL drinkers ) appeared to 2001 VOL. 25 NO. 2 be influenced by the fast delivery of the monologue, with both positive (e.g. “energetic”) and negative (e.g. “highly strung/ hyper”) implications: “people who drink UDL are fast paced, energetic and fun people” (female, 16); “highly strung and drink UDL to relax” (female, 20+). Younger students nominated more negative than positive responses, and vice versa for older students. It is apparent from the comments listed above that messages being taken away from the ads include that drinking UDL (i.e. alcohol) will result in positive mood enhancement, primarily via the removal of problems/anxieties, and hence offers a therapeutic benefit as an aid (although perhaps not a necessary aid) to relaxation; will boost self-confidence; and will contribute to the achievement of social and opposite-sex relationship success. While the numbers are too small to carry out meaningful statistical tests on these open-ended responses, the data suggest that older youth are more likely to perceive mood enhancement/ stress reduction and social/self approval messages than are younger youth. There were no meaningful differences by gender. Prompted message take-out The results in Table 2 confirm and extend the unprompted message take-out findings with respect to mood change, opposite sex interactions, socialising and self-confidence. In both age groups, the most frequently perceived prompted messages relate to UDL making the drinker: • feel carefree; • feel self-confident; • feel less anxious in social situations; and • have a good time. However, the absolute percentages nominating these messages are vastly different for the two age groups, and statistically significant for most (see Table 2). With one exception (‘make me the centre of attention), the older age group is far more likely than the younger age group to agree that each of these messages is indicated in the ads. The more frequent nomination of all the remaining messages by the older group may reflect their greater sophistication in decoding ad messages. This may be a function of age or differences in cognitive ability. Nevertheless, substantial proportions of the younger groups perceive each of these messages in one or more of the ads, and the rank order of the perceived messages is generally similar for the two age groups. The major gender difference of note was that 15-16 year old young women were far more likely than young men of this age to perceive the ‘help me not worry about how I look’ message: 64% vs. 16%. However, there was no difference in the older age group. As noted above, not all of these messages were relevant to all ads. It can be noted that the figures in Table 2 under-state the potential message take-out of the advertising campaign, given that each respondent listened to only one advertisement in the series in this study, but could be exposed to all three on air. AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH Jones and Donovan Article Table 3: Perceived target audience (% of respondents). % 15-16 year olds (n=44) Much older than me Slightly older than me In my age group Slightly younger than me Much younger than me Total 2 67 27 2 0 100 % 19-21 year olds (n=43) Perceived target audience for the ads Combining across ads, just over one in four 15-16 year olds (27%) felt that the advertisements were aimed at their age group (see Table 3). Virtually all of the remainder stated that the ads were aimed at people a little bit older (67%), rather than a lot older than themselves (2%). Among the 19-21 year olds, 42% felt that the advertisements were aimed at their age group, and 49% that the target audience was people younger than themselves: 26% slightly younger; 23% much younger. Not unexpectedly given the scale, Table 3 shows a clear age difference in perceptions of the ads’ target audience (p<0.05). Overall, Table 3 suggests that approximately one in four respondents (29% of 15-16 year olds; 23% of 19-21 year olds) perceive the target audience for the ads as being teenagers or young people below the age of 18 years; i.e. below the legal age for purchase and consumption of alcohol on licensed premises. Discussion These data suggest that the targeting of these ads may be outside the industry guidelines in that they suggest that consumption of alcohol can lead to a significant change in mood, can contribute to sexual success and has a therapeutic benefit in aiding relaxation, and are perceived by a substantial proportion of the sample as targeting youth under 18 years. Although based on only small convenience samples, such samples are often used by advertisers to pre-test advertising executions. Furthermore, we used the same sorts of pre-testing measures as major advertisers and, given that the data were limited to message take out (i.e. comprehension) – not brand attitude or purchase intention – we can be confident that similar results would be obtained with other samples of young people in these age groups. However, the university students did report slightly more unprompted perceived messages than the high school students, and were significantly more likely to nominate the prompted messages. It may well be that young people with lower educational achievements would not perceive the same or as many messages as higher educated youth. On the other hand, both alcohol consumption1 and the ability to decode television advertising27 seem widespread across young people of all socio-economic groups, and there were few differences in the themes identified by our high school and university students. Target audience perceptions are defined with reference to the perceived characteristics of the person in the ads and the situations in which they are depicted. As Windschuttle28 states, in order to determine the age group to which an advertisement is targeted, we should look not just at the age of the actors, but at the ‘social meaning’ of the context. The UDL advertisements that are the subject of this paper feature young people in social situations which are common among people in their mid to late teens. Interestingly, Windschuttle points out that in the 1970s, vodka mixed with soft drink was very popular among under-age drinkers. This is also true today, with a not infrequent reason being that the addition of soft drink makes the high alcohol spirits much ‘easier’ to drink by neutralising the strong ‘burn’ of the alcohol. It may well be that this ‘easy to drink’ characteristic is particularly appealing to younger students and, even if unintentional rather than deliberately included in the UDL message, appears inconsistent with at least the spirit of the industry guidelines. Finn and Strickland29 undertook a content analysis of alcohol advertising and found that the ads associated alcohol consumption with social camaraderie, relaxation, escape, romance and elegance. Our results are generally consistent with these, with the predominant messages of these UDL ads relating to mood enhancement effects, and primarily by the removal of anxieties/ problems. They also ‘promise’ self-confidence enhancement, and social and sexual success. Overall then, while we are not in a position to comment on the intended messages of the UDL ads, the messages perceived by (perhaps impressionable) young people are that drinking alcohol solves problems and contributes to relaxation, happiness and social/relationship success, and that these benefits can, and do, apply to people under the legal drinking age. Under Australian legislation, the alcohol industry has its own advertising code and its own complaints management system. As with any such self-regulation, the question is often asked as to the effectiveness of this system in ensuring that advertisers comply with the regulations. The results of this study suggest that the self-regulation system is not functioning effectively. While we are not proposing a return to the 2250BC Code of Hammurabi, which made selling anything to children a crime punishable by death, there is clearly a need to lobby for more stringent enforcement of the alcohol advertising standards and questioning of the efficacy of self-regulation, especially where it applies to young people. As Chapman has demonstrated in the smoking area,30 the use of small-scale consumer surveys can be influential in achieving desired policy changes. The results of this study will be forwarded to the Advertising Standards Board for comment. Acknowledgements The authors thank: Nick Randall, of the Department of Human Movement & Exercise Science at the University of Western 2001 VOL. 25 NO. 2 AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH Drugs and Alcohol Messages in alcohol advertising targeted to youth Australia, for assisting with recruiting the subjects for this study; and Penelope Kennish, of NFO Donovan Research, for advice and assistance with the development of the questionnaire.

Journal

Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public HealthWiley

Published: Apr 1, 2001

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