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Youth receptivity to Internet alcohol ads linked to future problem drinking

There is a prospective association between the degree to which underage youths are receptive to online alcohol marketing and future binge drinking, according to a study published in Pediatrics.

“Although the association between television alcohol marketing and youth drinking has been shown to be robust, exposure of youth to online alcohol marketing is understudied,” Auden C. McClure, MD, MPH, of the department of pediatrics at the Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College, and the Cancer Control Research Program, at the Norris Cotton Cancer Center, in Lebanon, New Hampshire, and colleagues wrote. “Several studies have examined alcohol brand websites and found that sites have features attractive to youth, such as games, downloads and contests, and that youth may be accessing these sites.”

To examine longitudinal associations between self-reported engagement with alcohol marketing online — on brand websites and social media — and alcohol use transitions in youth, the researchers in 2011 surveyed a U.S. sample of 2,012 youths aged 15 to 20 years. Participants completed a computer-assisted telephone interview regarding their alcohol intake and that of their peers and parents, and how they relate to alcohol advertising on the Internet. They were then directed to an online image-based survey assessing advertising recall. Based on their endorsement of alcohol advertisements and brands, the researchers developed a marketing receptivity score on a scale of 0 to 2.

At a 1-year follow-up, the researchers used multiple logistic regression to assess the association between baseline receptivity to marketing and the participants’ experiences drinking, and specifically binge drinking, defined as consuming six or more alcoholic beverages per occasion. The researchers controlled for baseline drinking status, Internet use, sociodemographics, personality characteristics and peer or parent drinking.

According to the researchers, at baseline, drinking and binge-drinking prevalence were 55% and 27%, respectively, with 59% reporting seeing alcohol advertising on the Internet. However, only 6% reported visiting an alcohol brand’s website, and 3% agreed they were an online fan of alcoholic beverages and brands. Higher Internet use, sensation seeking, having family or peers who drank and past alcohol use were associated with being receptive to online alcohol marketing. A receptivity score of 1 or 2 was independently associated with greater adjusted odds of future binge drinking, but not with initiation of drinking.

“Accordingly, Internet marketing may be important in transitions to problematic outcomes (eg, binge drinking) in the subset of drinkers who are more highly engaged and seek out online marketing,” McClure and colleagues wrote. “Given that such marketing is both industry and consumer generated and is broadly accessible, efforts to reduce youth exposure are challenging and will need to target multiple areas, including stricter industry and social media age verification standards, programs aimed at youth media literacy, and efforts to guide parents and physicians in helping youth navigate online marketing messages.” – by Jason Laday

Disclosure: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.