Which types of media glamorize alcohol use? celebrity endorsements,social media posts family stories about alcoholism social drinking movies and television. Which condition is often a result of alcohol addiction?
Contents
- 1 How does social media promote alcohol?
- 2 What are four factors that influence the use of alcohol?
- 3 What are three factors that influence alcohol use?
- 4 Why do I drink so much?
- 5 How many types of alcohol are there?
- 6 Can you advertise alcohol on TV?
- 7 How social media affects the youth?
- 8 What is the best way to describe alcoholism?
- 9 What is the major impact of alcoholism on society?
How are alcoholics portrayed in the media?
Television – Adolescents are heavy users of television. Extrapolating from recent data obtained from a nationally representative survey, 11- to 13-year-olds watch 27.7 hours and 14- to 18-year-olds watch 20.2 hours of broadcast and taped television programming each week ( Roberts, Foehr, Rideout, and Brodie, 1999a ).
As a result, they are immersed in drinking portrayals and alcohol product placements. A recent content analysis of primetime television from the 1998-1999 season, for example, indicates that 71 percent of all programming depicted alcohol use and 77 percent contained some reference to alcohol ( Christensen, Henriksen, and Roberts, 2000 ).
Among those programs most popular with teenagers, 53 percent portrayed alcohol use; 84 percent of TV-14-rated programming, 77 percent of TV-PG programming, and 38 percent of TV-G programming depicted alcohol use. More episodes portrayed drinking as an overall positive experience (40 percent) rather than a negative one (10 percent), although negative consequences were mentioned or portrayed in 23 percent of episodes.
Underage drinking was relatively rare. Only 2 percent of regular characters under the age of 18 were depicted drinking alcohol. In another recent content analysis, however, characters between the ages of 13 to 18 were found to account for 7 percent of all alcohol incidents portrayed ( Mathios, Avery, Bisogni, and Shanahan, 1998 ).
When it occurs, youthful drinking or expressed desire to drink is often presented as a means of appearing to be adult and grownup ( Grube, 1995 ). Other research suggests that drinkers tend to be regular characters, of high socioeconomic status, attractive, and glamorous ( Mathios et al., 1998 ; Wallack, Grube, Madden, and Breed, 1990 ), although youthful drinkers are depicted in a less favorable light than older drinkers.
Drinking is often treated as humorous and is associated with valued outcomes such as camaraderie ( Hundley, 1995 ). Although common when considered at the program level, the prevalence of drinking characters is considerably below that for the U.S. population. Thus, in a recent analysis of primetime programming, only 11 percent of characters over the age of 34 were drinkers compared with 52 percent of similarly aged adults in the U.S.
population ( Long, O’Connor, Gerbner, and Concato, 2002 ). Only 14 percent of characters between ages 18 and 34 drank and only 2 percent of those under 18 drank, compared with 61 percent and 19 percent, respectively, for the U.S. population in these age groups.
Little research has addressed the potential effects of exposure to drinking on television on young people’s drinking beliefs and behaviors. Generally speaking, correlational studies have found small, but statistically significant, relations between television viewing and alcohol-related beliefs and behaviors.
Thus, Tucker (1985) found that high school boys who were heavier television viewers drank more than lighter viewers. Similarly, Neuendorf (1985) reported that television viewing was related to beliefs about drinking among 10- to 14-year-old adolescents: Heavier viewers were more likely than lighter viewers to agree that people who drink are happy and you have to drink to have fun at a sporting event.
- More recently, in a prospective study of 1,533 ninth-grade students, it was found that television viewing was related to initiation of drinking over an 18-month period ( Robinson, Chen, and Killen, 1998 ).
- Specifically, each 1-hour increase in television viewing at baseline was associated with a 9 percent increased risk of initiating drinking during the following 18 months (OR = 1.09), after controlling for age, gender, and other media use.
Unexpectedly, however, each hour of watching taped programming and movies on video was associated with an 11 percent average decrease in drinking initiation. Moreover, drinkers and nondrinkers did not differ in weekly hours of television viewing at baseline, and television viewing was not associated with increases in consumption among those young people who were already drinkers at baseline.
A final study investigated reported television viewing and scores on a risky behavior scale that included drinking for a sample of 14-to 16-year-old adolescents ( Klein et al., 1993 ). Although significant positive relations were found between viewing and involvement in risky behaviors for specific genres (e.g., cartoons), the results were inconsistent across genres and no effect was found for overall TV viewing.
Moreover, data relating specifically to drinking were not presented. These correlational studies suffer from potentially serious conceptual and methodological problems. Conceptually, none of the studies directly measured exposure to televised drinking portrayals.
Rather, they relied only on measures of overall television viewing. The problem with such measures is that children watching equal amounts of television may be differentially exposed to alcohol portrayals depending on their program preferences and attention levels. More importantly, all of these studies used correlational analyses that cannot provide evidence for the direction of the relationship between television viewing and drinking beliefs and behaviors.
Some unconsidered third variable may influence both viewing and drinking. This interpretation cannot be entirely discounted, even for the single longitudinal study. In addition to the correlational studies, the influence of televised portrayals of drinking on young people has been addressed in experimental studies ( Kotch, Coulter, and Lipsitz, 1986 ; Rychtarik, Fairbank, Allen, Foy, and Drabman, 1983 ).
- In both of these studies, children who were shown videotaped segments from popular television series containing drinking scenes expressed more favorable attitudes and beliefs about drinking than did children exposed to similar segments without drinking.
- Although these studies are suggestive, they are problematic.
First, the effects were small and selective. In one case ( Kotch et al., 1986 ) significant effects were found for boys but not girls, and then only for a few of the measures of alcohol beliefs that were obtained. Second, the possibility exists that the children may have perceived the drinking in the video as representing the experimenter’s expectations regarding their task in the experimental situation.
Thus, they may have been responding to what they believed the experimenter wanted them to do, rather than the actual drinking scenes. Third, the experimental situation in both cases is highly artificial, making it difficult to generalize the results to the real world. Self-selection, differential attention, and other factors that operate in the natural viewing situation are not present.
A major concern is the fact that exposure to the drinking portrayals in these studies is brief. The experimental situation simply cannot provide a parallel to the real world where exposure occurs more or less regularly over relatively long periods of time.
How does the media influence the use of alcohol?
Partying and documenting good times on social media are popular extracurricular activities for many college students these days. College — when undergraduates are freed from the constraints of being at home with their parents — is a prime time to experiment with alcohol, whether it be at frat parties, sporting events, off-campus bars or dorm room gatherings.
A nationwide survey conducted by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism found that almost 55% of full-time college students between the ages of 18 and 22 drank alcohol in the past month and about 37% engaged in binge drinking, which involves imbibing a lot of alcohol in a short amount of time, over the same period.
Many college students feel compelled to capture and share their drinking with peers in countless Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter posts. Research has shown that beliefs about others’ alcohol consumption are strongly related to students’ own drinking. Students who view their friends’ alcohol-infused posts are likely to drink more themselves and to post more alcohol-related content, which, in turn, causes others in their network to do the same.
By establishing this positive feedback loop, social media cultivates social norms — what students perceive to be normal in terms of drinking — that impact an individual’s drinking and their perceptions of how much others drink. The combination of drinking offline (e.g., drinking at a college party) and seeing people drink online via social media may serve to amplify perceptions about drinking, causing students to think their peers drink more than they actually do.
Social media influences on college students’ alcohol consumption is a research focus of Dr. Mai-Ly Nguyen Steers, an assistant professor in the School of Nursing at Duquesne University, An applied social psychologist, Dr. Steers studies psychosocial factors, particularly social norms, in relation to drinking and the influences social media has on health and well-being.
Which of these can be a result of drinking alcohol?
Long-Term Health Risks – Over time, excessive alcohol use can lead to the development of chronic diseases and other serious problems including:
- High blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, liver disease, and digestive problems.6,16
- of the breast, mouth, throat, esophagus, voice box, liver, colon, and rectum.6,17
- Weakening of the immune system, increasing the chances of getting sick.6,16
- Learning and memory problems, including dementia and poor school performance.6,18
- Mental health problems, including depression and anxiety.6,19
- Social problems, including family problems, job-related problems, and unemployment.6,20,21
- Alcohol use disorders, or alcohol dependence.5
By not drinking too much, you can reduce the risk of these short- and long-term health risks.
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Which of the following is a short term effect of alcohol use?
Potential short-term effects of alcohol include hangover and alcohol poisoning, as well as falls and accidents, conflict, lowered inhibitions and risky behaviours.
User-Generated Content – Direct alcohol advertising isn’t the only way drinking is promoted on social media. Social media users do a lot of alcohol promotion of their own. Friends organize happy hours and parties on Facebook, and they often document their partying on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and other sites by posting photo and videos.
- Teens who are regular users of social media are 3x more likely to drink alcohol.
- Social media sites even feature alcohol-oriented communities where people can digitally connect to socialize.
- For example, a closed group on Facebook called Take me Drunk, I’m Home! has more than 3,500 members.
- It says the community is for “anyone who shares a common interest, has a kickass sense of humor, likes to drink, smoke, party.” Viewing others’ alcohol-fueled antics also appears to be a popular form of entertainment on social media.
Drunk People Doing Things, an online community that features photos and videos of drunken behavior and claims to be the “greatest collection of drunken behavior ever assembled,” has more than 720,000 Facebook followers and more than 2 million followers on Instagram.
How is alcohol portrayed in movies?
By Kerry, Lauren, Matt and Nicole Let’s look at the statistics : “Research found alcohol use depicted in 92 percent of the films in a sample of 601 contemporary movies Alcohol was used in 52 percent of G-rated films, 89 percent for PG, 93 percent for PG-13 and 95 percent for R” The stone-cold-sober fact? Alcohol is everywhere in films and it shapes the consumption of alcohol by viewers.
A 2008 study concluded that each year the average US adolescent (ages 10-14) was exposed to “5.6 hours of movie alcohol use and 243.8 alcohol brand appearances in the top 100 US box office films from 1998-2002.” Beyond exposure, the magnetism of a drinking character can influence viewers. “Health educators and policymakers are alerted to the fact that the entertainment media too often portray glamorous characters as enjoying alcoholic beverages without facing negative consequences, which may particularly affect the viewers who feel attracted to the role characters.” Hollywood cinema can be magical, with scenes that seduce the viewer and tattoo memory to mind.
These mystical moments generally glamorize alcohol. Drinkers are frequently depicted in films as more attractive, more aggressive, more romantically/sexually active, and as having a higher socioeconomic status than nondrinkers. In contrast, Hollywood alcoholics are regularly depicted as hopeless, broken deadbeats, chugging down whiskey while their lives crumble around them.
- Thus, the movie industry portrays the two polar extremes of alcohol use – glamorized celebration and desolate disease.
- There is no middle ground.
- This skewed representation of alcohol has an influence upon viewers, creating faulty perceptions of alcohol’s role in reality.
- For example in the movie Casablanca, the seductive scenery of the saloon sets the stage for what becomes an exciting, passionate ‘champagne drenched’ courtship.
Overturning Prohibition Alcohol has been prevalent in films since the movie industry first grew in popularity in the early 20th century. The fact that “movies were the most popular and influential medium of culture in the United States” even played a large role in the 1933 decision to repeal the national Prohibition Act of 1919 ( Robin Room, 1988, p.11).
- Before the Prohibition Act, movies had become an alternative option for entertainment that steered customers away from the saloons.
- At this time, movies were often connected with temperance, as liquor was almost always presented negatively in films.
- However, the perception of alcohol in the cinema would change to the positive side in the following decade.
In the 1920s movie popularity soared, with attendance doubling in its final five years. In 1926, due to Prohibition pressure, film regulators actually attempted to restrict the prevalence of alcohol in movies unless its use was absolutely necessary for the progression of the plot. The years of the Prohibition helped promote the glamorization of alcohol use. In the cinema, parties were portrayed as luxurious affairs of higher society, with alcohol as a necessary staple. Drinking in itself became symbolic in this era, as it represented a mode of liberation from the strict binds that government held over individual freedom.
Along with this desire for liberation and rebellion, the Jazz Era greatly impacted the use of alcohol and drugs. Many performers and artists felt that the use of substances could improve their creativity when it comes to producing music. Popular artists such as Thomas “Fats” Waller even played for Al Capone the Prohibition gangster.
This sense of release and liberation were especially pertinent to women, as alcohol directly connected to their sexuality. In the 1929 film Modern Maidens, “sips of champagne on a gondola serve to motivate a woman’s successful seduction of her best friend’s fiancé” (Robin Room, 1988, p.15).
- Linked to high society, popular music, and women’s sexuality, alcohol became fashionable in movies in the first half of the 20th century.
- Alcoholism in Film “Shot by shot, frame by frame, drink by drink, Hollywood has, for over half a century, presented drinking as a normal part of what ordinary and sophisticated people do when they engage in sociable behavior.” ( Hollywood Shot by Shot: Alcoholism in American Cinema, p.
xiii). Yet for each of these social drinkers there is always the deviant one, be that sad or laughable. Despite the frequent glamorization of drinking in cinema, there is always the other side. The cinematic alcoholic drinker’s decline is charted until he or she gets sober, dies, or is laughed off screen.
Films concerning alcoholism speak to contemporary life, shaping the alcoholic as diseased, sick and insane. These films influence how people view alcoholism and recovery as well as the family model of an alcoholic family. A study by Elizabeth C. Hirschman and Joyce A. McGriff from 1995 researched recovering addicts’ responses to a more grave and serious portrayal of alcoholism and addiction in films.
The researches showed thirty-five addicts of three different residential rehabilitation centers the four following films: Days of Wine and Roses, Clean and Sober, Drugstore Cowboy, and Jungle Fever. In general, the addicts reported that while the films were still often exaggerated, showing worst-case scenario addictions, they felt that they could often relate to specific experiences that the fictional characters faced during their struggle from rock bottom to recovery.
Some of the films highlighted the importance of Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, giving the recovering addicts hope and encouraging them to remain clean. Thus, in the case of the portrayal of the disease of alcoholism in movies, cinema seems to have a positive, constructive influence on modern society.
At the same time, such stereotypical displays of alcoholism in films may help to reinforce extreme views of alcoholics. As Caroline Knapp writes in her memoir, Drinking: A Love Story, “Alcoholic is a nasty word the classic image of the falling-down booze-hound: an older person, usually male, staggering down the street and clutching a brown paper bag.
- A pathetic image hopeless and depraved (12-13)” This classic image was entirely different from her own experiences as an alcoholic, a generalization that did not capture the reality of heavy drinking that ran through her family and her friends.
- Herein lies the irony of alcohol in films: cinema vastly differs in its portrayal of the drinking of alcohol versus alcoholism.
The first is associated with excitement, pleasure, and enjoyment while the second is dramatically portrayed as devastating and horrifying. The blurry line between serious social drinking and alcoholic drinking seems to be undefined in the films. Films seek drama, and in this case miss the truth.
- Replicate in Reality In recent times movies and the media hold a great influence over society, giving us a model to follow.
- Love, college life, and exaggerated gender stereotypes contribute to the glamorization of alcohol in movies.
- Drinking is portrayed as a celebratory action and necessary focal point of social gatherings.
Furthermore, alcohol serves as the bridge between sober separateness and intoxicating love. The glamorization of these particular images perfectly exemplifies the allure in drinking which viewers in turn try reproduce in reality. What young woman doesn’t want to be whisked away by a new lover? And what real man wouldn’t step up to the challenge and prove his masculinity to the world? In both of these cases, alcohol is the key ingredient to success.
Dueling Dualisms Is the portrayal of alcohol in movies a reflection of society or does societal alcohol use reflect alcohol portrayal in films? This is a classic case of a “dueling dualism” – when two factors combat one another, yet are unable to exist individually as both mutually influence the other.
This concept applies to many aspects of human existence such as defining gender – the biological and social factors work against each other yet rely upon one another in producing the definition. In the case of the portrayal of alcohol in films versus societal alcohol use, initially alcohol social stereotypes influenced films.
- The early cinematic depiction of alcohol was that of a few select drinkers portraying a particular drinking style (heavier than that of the average citizen).
- While the representation in the films was only that of a minority, it was displayed as the societal norm and thus became the societal norm.
- As seen in the examples above, the presence of alcohol in movies has only grown to in turn affect and strengthen the societal stereotypes on which its use was originally based.
Looking Through the Lens of Truth What does this mean for you? The next time the blockbuster of the year is coming to a theatre near you, take a second to think. Is the film’s portrayal of alcohol as glamorized as the movie star’s looks? In Hollywood, what you see is rarely reality – this not only applies to the retouching of a model, but also to the inaccurate depiction of true societal alcohol use.
What are four factors that influence the use of alcohol?
What happens when you drink an alcoholic beverage? Although alcohol affects different people in different ways, in general, it is quickly absorbed from your digestive system into your blood. The amount of alcohol in your blood reaches its maximum within 30 to 45 minutes, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).
- Alcohol is metabolized — that is, broken down chemically so it can be eliminated from your body — more slowly than it is absorbed.
- You can become more intoxicated as you drink more alcohol than is eliminated, which will result in an increase in your blood alcohol level.
- A standard drink is considered to be 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof distilled spirits — all of these contain the same amount (approximately 15 grams or 1/2 ounce) of alcohol.
Genetics, body weight, gender, age, what type of beverage, food in your stomach, medications in your system, and your state of health, influence how people respond to alcohol.
What are three factors that influence alcohol use?
Overview and Summary – In summary, the risk for developing alcoholism and the resultant negative consequences of alcohol dependence are influenced by a variety of factors in addition to the quantity and frequency of alcohol consumed. Gender, family history, comorbid psychiatric and substance use disorders, and age can impact the development and outcome of alcoholism.
This fact significantly complicates the study of alcohol dependence. Ideally, we would construct a straight-forward diagram depicting the interaction of these variables and describing categories into which they might be placed, such as genetic factors, or family factors, or environmental factors. The reality of the complexity of these interactions, however, prohibits readable, meaningful illustration.
For example, increasing age generally is associated with decreased risk. However, cohort studies suggest that increasing age might be less protective than it once was. Thus, the interaction of social–cultural issues associated with our current response to healthy aging may reverse the previously reported protective factors of aging.
- Furthermore, psychiatric comorbidity cannot be comprehensively considered independent of family histories and gender.
- Although the modulators discussed in this article do not form an “endless” circle, they certainly form a complex system of interconnected factors that eludes illustration.
- Despite the difficulties associated with such a complex system, it does identify multiple points of intervention, prevention, and treatment.
More specifically, the complexity suggests that there is no single point at which such efforts might be effective. Rather, treatment (broadly defined) may occur at various or multiple intersections and may include behavioral, sociocultural, and pharmacologic interventions.
What is social media influence? – Social media influence is a marketing term that describes an individual’s ability to affect other people’s thinking in a social online community. The more influence a person has, the more appeal that individual has to companies or other individuals who want to promote an idea or sell a product.
Which country drinks the most alcohol?
Alcohol has played a significant role in the leisure time of many in today’s society, and its usage dates back centuries. For many, it plays a crucial part in their social engagement, allowing individuals to bond more easily. Alcohol consumption, however, holds many risks regarding health, both physical and mental, and can also play a part in society’s ills, such as crime.
In various countries across the world, alcohol has a different meaning and placement in society; basically, it is more common for people to drink regularly in some countries than in others. Looking at the a mount of alcohol consumed per person aged 15 years or older, the Seychelles is in first place with around 20.5 litres of alcohol drunk per person per year, according to Our World in Data ; studies show that young male peer groups primarily drink high amounts of alcohol in the Seychelles.
Second place on the rankings list is Uganda with about 15 litres per year, followed by the Czech Republic with 14.45 litres, and Lithuania with 13.22 litres per year. To account for the differences in alcohol content of various drinks (e.g. wine or beer), the values are reported in litres of pure alcohol per year,
Why do I drink so much?
10 reasons you may drink too much – Everyone is different and, aside from brain chemistry, the reasons you might drink too much are as individual as you are. There are lots of possible psychological and social reasons. Some of them may include:
- Stress, Alcohol can offer a sense of temporary relief from stress, However, in the long term, it can often end up making things worse. Excessive drinking can lead to low mood, poor sleep and impaired decision-making. If you’re managing a stressful situation, you need access to your inner resources. Drinking more only makes you less likely to be able to access these resources.
- Anxiety, If you struggle with anxiety, you might turn to alcohol as a way of managing situations that make you feel self-conscious and uncomfortable. But, while alcohol might provide a temporary relief from anxious thoughts, it tends to exacerbate symptoms of anxiety longer term.
- Social anxiety, You might be tempted to turn to alcohol for some ‘Dutch courage’. A drink or two might make you feel more at ease before going to a party or on a date. However, using alcohol as a coping mechanism for social anxiety is likely to make things more difficult long term.
- Depression, Which comes first – depression or drink? You might drink to boost your mood. But alcohol itself is a depressant, and is likely to lead to more low mood in the long term.
- Relaxation, Do you like to unwind with a glass of wine – or several – at the end of the day? If you associate alcohol with relaxation, you may be storing up problems for the future. Can you find another way to relax?
- Peer pressure, It’s common to drink more than we otherwise would due to the social situations we find ourselves in. If everyone is drinking at a party or social gathering, the pressure to join in can be intense.
- To mask another problem, Drinking too much may be a symptom of something else going on. You may drink to cope with stress, anxiety or depression, or to escape from another problem, such as money worries or an unhappy relationship. The problem is your problems will still be there when you sober up.
- Escape from reality, We get it. Reality hasn’t been that great lately. And drinking has certainly increased during the pandemic. You may simply want to blot out the reality of your life for a while, to get some respite from your troubles. Again, getting drunk only gives us a temporary break from reality. And alcohol is likely to make you less able to deal with an already challenging situation.
- Self-medicating, Do you have a physical health problem and use alcohol to numb the pain? Or do you drink to blot out your psychological pain? There are healthier ways of dealing with both kinds of pain.
- Availability of alcohol, Is alcohol just all around you and easily available? Has drinking become habitual just because it’s there?
Drinking too much to alleviate, mask or cope with mental health difficulties is an unhealthy, temporary and counterproductive ‘quick fix’. It will only make your problems worse. Alcohol essentially exacerbates any existing vulnerabilities. So if you suffer from anxiety or low moods, drinking is only going to increase those symptoms.
How many types of alcohol are there?
What Are the Different Types of Alcohol?
What Are the Different Types of Alcohol? ” Could you tell me about the different types of alcohol? Thanks.” – M.W., San Diego, CA The four types of alcohol are ethyl, denatured, isopropyl and rubbing. The one that we know and love the best is ethyl alcohol, also called ethanol or grain alcohol. It’s made by fermenting sugar and yeast, and is used in beer, wine, and liquor. Ethyl alcohol is also produced synthetically. Synthetic ethyl alcohol is not used in beverages, but you can feel its cooling presence in hand sanitizers and perfumes. Denatured alcohol is ethyl alcohol that has been mixed with smelly, toxic, or nauseating substances called denaturants to keep people from drinking them. They’re used in cleaning and stain removal products. Isopropyl or isopropanol is made from propylene gas. It’s similar to synthetic ethyl alcohol and is poisonous if consumed. You’ll find it listed on the ingredients of windshield washers and nail polish removers. Rubbing alcohol is isopropyl alcohol diluted with water. All alcohol is not the same—keep the ethyl alcohol on the table and keep the others under the kitchen sink. Cheers! |
2023 The Wine of the Month Club. All Rights Reserved. : What Are the Different Types of Alcohol?
What are five short term effects of alcohol use on the body quizlet?
The short-term effects of alcohol on the body are nausea, vomiting, dehydration, loss of judgement and self-control, reduced reaction time, poor vision, memory loss, blackout, coma, and death.
Can you advertise alcohol on TV?
Ads for alcoholic drinks must not feature, imply, condone or encourage irresponsible or immoderate drinking.
How can you promote alcohol?
Brands promote alcohol using a variety of methods, including print, radio, television, website, and social media. Advances in technology and the fact that most consumers are connected to brands via social media, social media marketing tends to be at the top of the list if you want to cover multiple generations.
Social media harms – However, social media use can also negatively affect teens, distracting them, disrupting their sleep, and exposing them to bullying, rumor spreading, unrealistic views of other people’s lives and peer pressure. The risks might be related to how much social media teens use.
A 2019 study of more than 6,500 12- to 15-year-olds in the U.S. found that those who spent more than three hours a day using social media might be at heightened risk for mental health problems. Another 2019 study of more than 12,000 13- to 16-year-olds in England found that using social media more than three times a day predicted poor mental health and well-being in teens.
Other studies also have observed links between high levels of social media use and depression or anxiety symptoms. A 2016 study of more than 450 teens found that greater social media use, nighttime social media use and emotional investment in social media — such as feeling upset when prevented from logging on — were each linked with worse sleep quality and higher levels of anxiety and depression.
How teens use social media also might determine its impact. A 2015 study found that social comparison and feedback seeking by teens using social media and cellphones was linked with depressive symptoms. In addition, a small 2013 study found that older adolescents who used social media passively, such as by just viewing others’ photos, reported declines in life satisfaction.
Those who used social media to interact with others or post their own content didn’t experience these declines. And an older study on the impact of social media on undergraduate college students showed that the longer they used Facebook, the stronger was their belief that others were happier than they were.
- But the more time the students spent going out with their friends, the less they felt this way.
- Because of teens’ impulsive natures, experts suggest that teens who post content on social media are at risk of sharing intimate photos or highly personal stories.
- This can result in teens being bullied, harassed or even blackmailed.
Teens often create posts without considering these consequences or privacy concerns.
How is alcohol viewed in different cultures?
Behavioural effects –
- There is enormous cross-cultural variation in the way people behave when they drink. In some societies (such as the UK, Scandinavia, US and Australia), alcohol is associated with violent and anti-social behaviour, while in others (such as Mediterranean and some South American cultures) drinking behaviour is largely peaceful and harmonious.
- This variation cannot be attributed to different levels of consumption or genetic differences, but is clearly related to different cultural beliefs about alcohol, expectancies regarding the effects of alcohol and social norms regarding drunken comportment.
- The findings of both cross-cultural research and controlled experiments indicate that the effects of alcohol on behaviour are primarily determined by social and cultural factors, rather than the chemical actions of ethanol.
Do movies and TV shows use real alcohol?
Johnny Depp Prefers Drinking Real Alcohol – When you see actors drinking shots of whiskey, they are usually drinking colored water (dyed with food coloring) or iced tea. But while filming a scene for the ‘90s indie film Arizona Dream, Johnny Depp reportedly drank about 11 shots of real deal Jack Daniel’s, according to Indiewire,
What are the opinions on alcoholism?
Public opinions about alcoholism and its treatment – PubMed Survey respondents’ views about alcoholism as an illness, support for treatment, treatment recommendation and stigma surrounding alcoholics are examined. Subjects (N = 482) comprise a random sample of the population of Contra Costa County, California.
- About 91% of the respondents agree with the notion that alcoholism is an illness, but 40% also agree that alcoholics drink because they want to.
- More women than men support the idea that to recover alcoholics will have to quit drinking forever.
- The contrary is true of the idea of controlled drinking.
- Education and income are negatively associated with items on loss of control and controlled drinking.
Respondents who have had their lives deeply affected by an alcoholic and those who report a drinking problem of their own do not differ in their opinions about alcoholism from those who do not have these characteristics. Alcoholics Anonymous is the most common form of treatment recommended by the respondents.
What is the best way to describe alcoholism?
What is alcoholism? – Alcoholism is a term used to describe the most serious form of problem drinking at a level that causes harm to your health. It describes a strong, often uncontrollable, desire to drink. Although it isn’t a term that is used anymore as part of medical care, some people who are recovering from dependence still use the term ‘alcoholic’ to describe themselves.
Alcoholism is also known as alcohol addiction, alcohol misuse or alcohol dependence, Medically, it’s recognised as a type of ‘alcohol-use disorder’ which can be treated. It’s different to ‘harmful drinking’ (another type of alcohol-use disorder) which is a pattern of heavy drinking which causes damage to your health but without actual dependence.
Someone who has alcohol dependence will often place drinking above all other obligations, including work and family, and builds up a physical tolerance, meaning they drink more and more for a similar effect, and they experience withdrawal symptoms if they stop.
How does alcohol advertising affect society?
Citation: – Charles K. Atkin and Martin Block (1984),”The Effects of Alcohol Advertising”, in NA – Advances in Consumer Research Volume 11, eds. Thomas C. Kinnear, Provo, UT : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 688-693. Advances in Consumer Research Volume 11, 1984 Pages 688-693 THE EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL ADVERTISING Charles K.
Atkin, Michigan State University Martin Block, Michigan State University ABSTRACT – This report summarizes the findings from a series of investigations examining the content and impact of advertising for beer, wine, and liquor. Several surveys and experiments tested the relationship between advertising exposure and brand awareness, alcohol knowledge, images of drinkers, attitudes toward drinking, consumption behavior, and heavy and hazardous drinking.
PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH The alcohol advertising project involved seven separate phases of research studying the content and effects of advertisements. Two studies focused on the quantitative and qualitative attributes of ads appearing in magazines, newspapers, and television.
- Five studies measured audience exposure and response to alcohol ads, particularly among teenagers and young adults.
- The research was sponsored by four federal agencies: The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, The Federal Trade Commission, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and the Department of transportation.
Based on the needs expressed by these sponsors, the following purposes guided the investigation: a. Advertising statistics. Before collecting new data on advertising content effects, national statistics from industry sources were compiled. This preliminary phase of the project described alcohol advertising expenditures in the mass media, and reported the quantity of advertisements for magazines and network television.b.
- Content analysis.
- The characteristics of alcohol advertisements presented in the three major mass media were measured along numerous content dimensions.
- The study focused on factors shown by social scientists to have important implications for influencing the audience; in addition, selected advertising practices relevant to policy-makers are assessed.
This investigation sought to systematically describe the types of advertising content appearing in magazine vs. newspaper vs. television media and for liquor vs. beer vs. wine products.c. Field survey. The major survey study assessed the mount of exposure to alcohol advertising and the impact f ads on the audience.
- The research analyzed the relationships between reported exposed and various cognitions, values, and behaviors in the field setting.d.
- Self-report study.
- This survey was conducted to obtain individuals’ own assessment of how advertising influences :heir orientations toward alcohol.
- The questionnaire study examined the impact of alcohol advertising on the acquisition of product information, formation of brand images, reinforcement of brand preferences, inducement to rial purchases, stimulation of consumption behavior, and initial experimentation with alcohol.e.
Advertising response study. This phase of the research studied responses of individuals to selected types of message appeals featured in specimen advertisements. The investigation measured the personal perceptions, interpretations and evaluations of advertising content, and assessed some short-term effects of the ads.f.
Experimental study. A series of experiments examined the relative impact of six types of advertising message content. Four experiments focused on attributes of characters appearing in ads such as race and age, and two other experiments examined drinking moderation disclaimers and amount of product information.g.
Diary report survey. This study measured recent concrete incidents of response with self-reports of behavior during the previous day when advertisements were encountered. The research focused on exposure to advertising messages, along with selected immediate effects.
RESEARCH METHOD In the content analysis, a sample of advertisements was drawn from the July 1978 through February 1979 time period in three media: 41 magazines (the 21 largest circulation magazines, and 20 major periodicals aimed at youth or minority audiences) and 12 metropolitan and campus newspapers were monitored, and periodic segments of TV prime-time and sports programming were videotaped.
This yielded 309 magazine ads, 135 newspaper ads and 91 TV ads, for a total of 535 different advertisements. The analyses dealt with three basic kinds of content: portrayal of characters (e.g., age, physical attractiveness), content presentation techniques (e.g., space occupied by bottle, use of slogan), and themes/appeals (e.g., romance theme, informational appeal).
- Trained coders examined both visual and verbal aspects of ads, and assigned each message into precisely defined categories along several dozen content dimensions.
- Content profiles were computed according to medium (TV, magazines, and newspapers) and product (liquor, wine, TV beer, and print beer).
- The basic survey and experimental research involved questionnaire administration, interviewing, and testing with the same master sample of 1,227 respondents with diverse backgrounds from different regions of the country.
Because the investigation was primarily concerned with responses of young people to alcohol advertising, most respondents were between the ages of 12-22. First, all respondents filled out the questionnaire for the field survey. Then, they were shown specimen advertisements for the response study phase of the investigation.
For each respondent, one of these ads involved an experimental manipulation of the message content. Finally, the drinkers aged 18 or older were given a questionnaire for the self-report study. In the field survey, a comprehensive questionnaire was constructed to measure amount of advertising exposure and a number of orientations toward alcohol; separate versions of the instrument were devised to assess magazine-oriented liquor advertising vs.
TV-oriented beer-wine advertising. Exposure to advertising was measured in terms of stated quantity of reading magazines or watching television programs that frequently carry alcohol ads, frequency of exposure to certain brands and to specimen ads pictured in the questionnaire, and degree of attention to product categories and to specimen ads.
- Orientations toward alcohol were measured in terms of cognitions (brand awareness, alcohol knowledge), values (image of drinkers, brand preferences, attitude toward drinking), and reported behavior (alcohol consumption patterns, heavy and problem drinking, drinking/driving).
- Demographic variables and exposure to interpersonal influences were also measured.
In the analysis, cross-tabulations were computed between reported advertising exposure and the orientation variables, to determine the extent to which higher levels of exposure are associated with stronger cognitions, positive values, and frequent drinking.
Separate computations were made for younger vs. older respondents, and for beer-wine vs. liquor advertising. For the self-report study, a questionnaire was designed to ask respondents a series of straight-forward items dealing with self-perceived effects of ads on cognitions (information gain, image formation), brand preferences, and behavior (trial purchasing, consumption stimulation); one section focused on the influence of ads during the period of initial experimentation with alcohol.
Separate versions of the questionnaire dealt with beer, wine, and liquor advertising. The sample included 535 adults, primarily in the 18-92 age range; they were subset of the master sample. Analyses compared self-reported impact on males vs. females, older vs.
younger respondents, high vs. low social status subgroups, and those reporting above-average vs. below-average exposure to advertising. The advertising response study used a total of 30 magazine and TV advertisements selected to represent key types of advertising message content: social appeals, excessive consumption appeals, dubious claims, escape appeals, comparative claims, hazardous portrayals, and indecency appeals.
Six subsets of ads were grouped for testing; the procedure involved showing an advertisement and then asking a specially designed series of open-end and close-end questions about the message. Personal interviewing was used to collect the data. The overall sample was divided into six subgroups of approximately 200 each.
In each of six experiments, advertising content was manipulated to produce different treatments shown to random subgroups of respondents. After seeing the experimental message, respondents filled out a questionnaire containing rating scales for both the advertisement and the product. The manipulations involved white vs.
black characters, older vs. younger characters, celebrity vs. ordinary endorsers, seductively posed vs. non-seductive characters, high vs. medium vs. low information content, and strong vs. mild vs. no moderation disclaimer. Multiple versions of each manipulation were constructed to minimize idiosyncratic responses to particular brands or models appearing in ads.
Approximately 900 persons served in each experiment. The analyses compared rating scores from subgroups receiving the different experimental treatments. Finally, the diary report survey involved questionnaire administration to a separate sample of 178 college students, who were asked to describe their responses to TV beer commercials and magazine liquor ads the day before the survey.
The questions dealt with media exposure, contact with ads, attention to ads in terms of numbers and brands, and reported effects experienced immediately after seeing ads. The analyses simply tabulated the proportions of the sample reporting each behavior, for both beer and liquor.
RESEARCH FINDINGS The reporting of key results will be organized according to the type of variable studied regardless of methodology. The presentation begins with a description of the advertising messages distributed in the mass media, along with an assessment of the extent to which respondents report being exposed to the advertisements.
The next sections describe the findings for various levels of response to message exposure, moving in sequence through the hierarchy effects from cognitive/informational variables (awareness and knowledge), to affective/evaluative variables (images, attitudes and preferences), to reported overt behavioral variables (drinking).
The final section assembles certain findings into substantive categories reflecting policy-relevant issues. Alcohol Advertising Distribution and Exposure There is a substantial quantity of television beer commercials and magazine liquor ads readily accessible to mass media audiences, including youthful segments who frequently watch and read those vehicles carrying the most advertising.
Surveys show that individuals notice large numbers of these ads, and pay close attention to between one-fourth and three-fifths of the messages encountered. Ads on television attract greater attention than magazine ads, possibly because of the more intrusive nature and higher complexity of the messages.
- Exposure and attention is higher for adolescents than older adults.
- Thus, there is ample opportunity for alcohol advertising to influence the cognitions, values and behavior of the public, especially young people.
- Brand Awareness and Alcohol Knowledge Since brand advertising seeks to convey a distinctive brand identity through use of unique themes and memorable symbols, these messages may exert a strong influence on brand awareness.
Aside from brand distinctions, the generic product information in ads may contribute to basic learning about the subject of alcohol and drinking, although the impact may be limited because many ads lack substantive factual material. The content analysis indicates a strong emphasis on brand imagery.
A graphic or brand-name logo appears in almost half of the ads, and slogans are used in over half the ads. The name of the brand is mentioned about five times per ad. Furthermore, one of the most widespread persuasive appeals centers on brand uniqueness; this is emphasized in more than one-fifth of the ads.
By contrast, basic product information is seldom featured. Aside from description of the product’s geographical origin in magazine liquor ads, very limited mention is made of inherent qualities such as processing length, calorie level, ingredients, or price.
- Most liquor ads do cite the alcohol proof level, typically in small print.
- In the field survey, there is a positive association between advertising exposure and brand awareness.
- Respondents highly exposed to alcohol ads are much more able to recall brand names, identify slogans and symbols, and know key claims featured in advertisements.
Regarding more basic generic learning about alcohol and drinking, the field survey shows a moderately positive association with exposure. For example, respondents reporting a high exposure to advertising are more likely to know about liquor proof, beer ingredients, and the appropriate drinks to have with a good meal.
- There are also relevant findings from the self-report study.
- More than one-half of the sample state that they acquire substantive knowledge about product attributes from ads, in terms of learning about ingredients, production, beer calories, liquor proof, and new mixed drinks; about one-fourth report learning about taste and cost factors.
In addition, the self-report study shows that more than half gain brand awareness from ads, in terms of forming images about which brands are most popular, which are high class, and which will impress people. Another set of questions retrospectively probed learning from ads during the initial period of adolescent experimentation with alcohol: about two-fifths say ads helped them find out which brands would impress others, and which brands famous people drink; about one-third report they discovered how to make mixed drinks, and learned which brands are best; one-fourth recall that they used ads to ascertain cheap prices; one-sixth remember learning information about the taste of different drinks.
- Images of Drinkers Because advertisements project distinctive portrayals of the demographic, social, and psychological characteristics of drinkers, the audience may develop corresponding mental images of the type of person who drinks alcohol.
- In particular, people may perceive that drinkers possess positive attributes after seeing flattering depictions in ads.
The content analysis research shows that advertisements present a number of favorable portrayals of drinkers. Characters in ads tend to be above-average in physical attractiveness and social status (except in the case of TV beer commercials, which feature a broader range of characters).
Most characters fall in the relatively youthful 25-35 age category, although few are at or below the 91-year old level. In addition, substantial numbers of ads depict drinkers as masculine, sociable, romantic, elegant, feminine, adventurous, and relaxed. Drinker images were measured along several dimensions in the field survey.
Respondents who report high exposure are somewhat more likely to have favorable perceptions of Whiskey and beer drinkers. Those reporting heavy exposure to liquor ads tend to perceive whiskey drinkers as more friendly, relaxed, fun-loving, happy, manly, successful, sophisticated, and good-looking; those reporting heavy exposure to beer advertising tend to perceive beer drinkers as more adult, fun-loving, young, friendly, and happy.
There is also a slight tendency for reported advertising exposure to be associated with perceived pervasiveness of drinking in society; those in the heavy exposure category estimate that the typical person consumes about two more drinks per week than do the lightly exposed respondents. In the advertising response study, ads projecting romance, affiliation, and psychosexual appeals were tested.
After seeing an ad depicting a romantic couple, about one-sixth say that the typical drinker of the advertised product is romantic; after seeing an ad portraying affiliation among friends, few consider the typical drinker of that brand as being sociable.
- When exposed to an ad showing a sexy female or lustful lovers, about one-tenth get the impression that the users of the product are sexy/swinging persons.
- Finally, one of the experiments manipulated the race of characters in parallel pairs of ads.
- White respondents exposed to black models are significantly more likely to consider the typical drinker of the advertised product to be black; those exposed to white models tend to perceive product drinkers as white, to a slight degree.
In addition, black characters generate somewhat more positive ratings of both the advertising and the product. Attitudes toward Drinking By depicting alcohol consumption as attractive, acceptable, and rewarding, advertising may create and reinforce favorable attitudes toward drinking.
Specifically, exposed individuals may form positive values regarding the amount, situations, and benefits of alcohol and drinking. The content analysis demonstrates that many facets of advertisements present favorable portrayals of alcohol. Among promised or implied benefits promoted in ads are social camaraderie, escape, refreshment, relaxation, social approval, romance, and elegance.
The field survey contained 50 items that represented overall attitude toward drinking, including measures of agreement with statements about alcohol (e.g., “It’s OK for a teenager to get drunk every once in awhile”, “alcohol helps people relax and unwind”), the range of situations considered appropriate for drinking (e.g., “during lunch”, “after work”), and propriety of drinking in various amounts, at various ages.
This attitudinal variable is positively associated with advertising exposure to a moderate degree. The response study examined two major appeals relevant to alcohol attitudes: psychological escape, and social interaction. After seeing an escape ad, an average of three-fifths of the respondents say they derived the feeling that the product will “help you get away from your ordinary situation”.
Those seeing an ad with a social theme involving affiliation among friends are slightly more likely than a control group to say that drinking will make a social gathering more enjoyable; there is also a weak tendency for respondents seeing a social romance theme to say that alcohol helps make an evening more romantic.
- Finally, one question in the self-report study indicates a potentially important impact on attitude.
- Adult respondents were directed to think back to the time they began experimenting with alcohol; when asked whether ads helped make them feel that drinking was normative, three-fifths say “yes” or “maybe.” Brand Preferences One major purpose of advertising is to create and reinforce preferences for the advertised brand relative to competing brands in the product category.
More positive evaluations may result after repeated exposure to the brand name, attractive symbols and rewarding benefits associated with the brand, and claims of brand quality. Preference is considered primarily as an attitudinal feeling of favorability; actual consumption of various brands will be described in the section on drinking behavior.
- In the field survey, brand preference was measured with evaluation rating scales for youth and listing of favorite brand names for adults.
- Examining data for beer, wine, and liquor brand preferences, there is a positive relationship with advertising exposure.
- Three questions in the self-report study dealt with the strengthening of prior dispositions toward favored brands.
More than one-third say they occasionally develop stronger liking, become more favorable, or feel more certain regarding their favorite brands from seeing ads. The response study measured self-perceived changes in respondent preferences for 15 different specimen ads.
Most indicate that their brand liking was unchanged after seeing the ad. An average of 16% say they became more favorable toward the brand, and :0% say they became more negative. Ads using psychological escape appeals or social appeals generate the most positive change, while psychosexual ads produce unfavorable change.
The response study also examined the impact of comparative advertising messages for Eagle Rare (compared to Wild Turkey) and Cutty 12 vs. Chivas Regal. Among non-exposed control respondents, an average of just 18% say they prefer Eagle Rare or Cutty 12 over the more popular comparison brands.
Those exposed to advertising are much more favorable; an average of 44% indicate a preference for the advertised brands. Finally, there are brand preference data from the six experiments. In each experiment, respondents gave evaluations of the product along an 11-step scale. Averaging the three evaluation scales with the likelihood scale, the results show that certain techniques are more effective.
Scores Are about a half-point higher for ads using a moderation disclaimer rather than no disclaimer, for ads depicting younger vs. older characters, and for ads featuring celebrities vs. ordinary endorsers. One-fifth-point differences occur for ads containing high rather than medium or low information, ads portraying black vs.
- White characters, and ads using sexy vs.
- Non-sexy characters.
- Youth Drinking There are several reasons why alcohol advertising might bs expected to produce drinking by youth: ads may reduce inhibitions that restrict the consumption of alcohol, by showing that this activity is socially acceptable and normative in society; ads may persuade non-drinkers or occasional drinkers to consume more alcohol, by portraying rewarding consequences such as romance/sociability, masculinity/femininity, and escape; famous or attractive characters in ads may influence impressionable young people to model their behavior; and advertising may stimulate regular consumers to acquire and drink more alcohol, by a simple reminder to act.
On the other hand, advertising impact may be outweighed by peer influences, or minimized by countervailing social persuasion or personal resistance to advertising appeals. The major data base is the field survey, which measured both reported advertising exposure and drinking among 12-18 year-old junior and senior high school students.
- A liquor consumption index combining specific brand consumption and overall weekly drinking rates is closely related to liquor advertising exposure.
- For 11 brands of liquor listed in the questionnaire, an average of 31% of the high exposure group vs.15% of the low exposure group say they have tried each one.
On the item measuring weekly quantity, 9% of the heavily exposed vs.3% of the lightly exposed youth report drinking five or more liquor drink in a typical week; at least one drink per week is consumed by 45% vs.2770. Beer drinking is also associated with beer-wine advertising exposure, while the relationship for wine drinking is not significant.
For six brands of beer listed on the questionnaire, an average of 52% of the high exposure youth vs.37% of the low exposure youth indicate they have tried each one; the difference for the three wines on the list is much smaller. Regarding consumption in a typical week, 16% of the heavily exposed vs.10% of the lightly exposed say they drink five or more beers per week; 46% vs.29% have at least one beer.
For wine, at least one glass per week is consumed by 21% of the heavily exposed vs.17% of those less exposed to advertising. For those adolescents who had not yet begun drinking, a question asked about the probability of starting in the future. For all three types of alcohol, the heavily exposed non-drinkers are more likely to expect future consumption by a substantial margin over lightly exposed nondrinkers.
For example, 20% vs.10% say they “definitely” or “probably” would drink liquor, and an additional 3970 vs.76% indicate “maybe ” Another approach assessed the role of advertising in youthful alcohol experimentation by asking adult respondents for retrospective recall. Very few respondents identify advertising as a major influence on their initial decision to start drinking; about one-third think it was a minor influence.
Most claim that peers had the strongest impact on their experimentation. Adult Drinking Evidence on advertising influence was gathered in all three survey studies, with the most extensive data coming from the field survey. This investigation shows that the index of liquor drinking is related to liquor advertising exposure.
Reports of both recent drinking and typical patterns of drinking were measured. For each of 10 categories of liquor (e.g., scotch, rum, vodka) the high exposure group reports more drinking than the low exposure group; during the previous month, the high group consumed a total of 16 drinks while the low group had 8 drinks.
In addition, 78% of the highly exposed say they typically consume at least one mixed drink per week and 50% report having at least one straight drink per week. This compares to 51% reporting mixed drinks and 18% reporting straight drinks in the low exposure group.
- The typical weekly total shows a difference of 4.0 vs.2.1 straight and mixed drinks.
- Exposure to beer-wine advertising is moderately related to beer consumption and weakly related to wine consumption.
- Adding together all brands of beer, the high exposure group says they drank an average of 30 beers over the previous month, compared to 15 beers for the low exposure group.
The question about the number of beers per typical week shows that 32% of the highly exposed respondents consume five or more; this compares to 19% for the less exposed respondents. In terms of total drinks per typical week, there is a difference of 5.7 vs.3.2 beers.
- The self-report study dealt with subjectively perceived impact of advertising on drinking.
- About one-seventh of the sample report at least monthly advertising stimulation to go to the refrigerator for a drink, to go out and buy alcohol, to buy alcohol advertised at discount prices, and to get a drink of preferred alcohol after seeing an ad for another brand.
Another one-fifth say these effects happen at least a couple of times per year. Respondents estimate that they would consume about two fewer drinks per month if there was no advertising for alcohol. Another set of self-report questions focused on trial purchases.
- When asked whether advertising influences decisions to try specific new brands of alcohol, one-fifth reply affirmatively.
- In addition, one-fourth frequently find out about new brands and one-tenth are stimulated to try new brands on a frequent basis; more than half say these two effects occur occasionally.
For almost one-third of the respondents, advertising stimulates trials at least a couple of times per year. Another indication of this effect is the finding that consumers estimate they would have tried three or four fewer brands of alcohol if there were no ads promoting these products.
In the diary report survey, college students were asked if ads seen the previous day influenced their drinking behavior. Among those exposed to an ad, 5% say the ad stimulated a purchase of beer and 3% a purchase of liquor. Furthermore, 11% indicate that they decided to have a drink of beer and 1% a drink of liquor after seeing an ad that day.
There is little doubt that alcohol advertising exerts an influence on the frequency and quantity of adult alcohol consumption. A quantitative estimate of the contribution of alcohol advertising is difficult to calculate, but it is likely that ads account for a 10% to 30′ increase in the total amount of alcohol that would be consumed without advertising.
- Heavy or Excessive Drinking Concern has been expressed that alcohol advertising encourages drinkers to consume beyond normal levels of moderation.
- Some ads overtly or subtly advocate excessive consumption of the advertised product, and the cumulative impact conveyed by ordinary ads may be that heavy drinking is appropriate and rewarding.
Thus, ads may prompt excessive drinking and contribute to alcohol problems. In the field survey, the alcohol advertising exposure index is positively related to reported heavy drinking. When asked how many drinks they consume in an evening at a bar or party, the highly exposed respondents report an average of 4.5, compared to 2.9 for lightly exposed respondents.
- In response to a question concerning the frequency of having at least five or six drinks in a single day or night, 33% of the high exposure group vs.16% of the light exposure group say this happens at least once a week.
- Two other survey items dealt with problem drinking.
- When asked if they are concerned about their drinking, 18% vs.11% indicate that they are worried about drinking too much; in addition, 8% vs.3% report having gotten in trouble at school or on the job because of their drinking.
A pair of the alcohol attitude items (above) pertains to heavy drinking; 45% of the highly exposed vs.2975 of the lightly exposed agree that it’s OK for an adult to get drunk every once in awhile, and 32% vs.20% approve of teenagers getting drunk. The response study tested five advertisements that appeared to promote heavy drinking.
Respondents were asked what message the advertiser is trying to get across; reference to drinking/serving a lot of alcohol are made by one-fourth of the sample. When asked if the sponsoring company wanted a person to drink a large, medium, or small amount of alcohol, three-fourths say a large amount; however, unexposed control respondents give similar high estimates.
Respondents also gave their own opinion about excessive drinking. After exposure to an ad, one-third say it is acceptable for a person to occasionally drink heavily rather than moderately, and one-fourth feel it is appropriate for a person to consume six or more drinks in an evening; again, these responses do not differ from the reactions in unexposed control group.
- Drinking and Hazardous Activities A number of activities requiring physical coordination and clear-headed judgement, such as driving a vehicle, are more dangerous to perform during or after alcohol consumption.
- Alcohol advertising may contribute to the conduct of hazardous activities in two ways: ads that specifically depict potentially dangerous behaviors may influence the audience attitudes, such that the activities are seen as safer and more acceptable to perform while drinking; and advertising in general may influence the basic frequency and quantity of alcohol consumption, such that there is a greater likelihood that the audience will be drinking before or during any activities, including those that are hazardous.
The content analysis shows that a small proportion of ads portray alcohol in the context of hazardous activity. The proportions are 5% for TV ads and 67: for magazine ads; the most frequent cases are pictorial portrayals of water sports. Driving is almost never associated with alcohol in advertising.
One portion of the field survey focused on the drinking and driving topic. About half of all post-high school age respondents report that they drive within an hour after drinking at least once a month; one-third of the 11-19th graders also report monthly driving after drinking. Slightly higher proportions drink while riding in another person’s car.
In addition, two-fifths of the high school youth say they drink in a parked car at least once per month. When asked about driving while drunk, about one-tenth of the driving-age respondents report a recent incident. Most individuals feel that they can consume two-to-three drinks without affecting their ability to drive safely.
The vast majority say that driving after a few drinks is an unsafe activity. These drinking/driving items are positively related to alcohol advertising exposure; those highly exposed to ads are more likely to drive after drinking, drink while riding, drink while sitting in a parked car, drive while intoxicated, and to feel that they can consume more alcohol without affecting their ability to drive.
There is no difference on the question of whether drinking while driving is unsafe. Aside from these cognitive and behavioral items, one question in the attitudinal portion of the survey dealt with the maximum number of drinks that are proper to consume right before driving; the average number is 3.0 for the highly exposed respondents vs.2.4 for those lightly exposed.
- In the field survey, one set of items measured opinions about the safety of performing six other activities after having a few drinks (swimming, playing golf, raft riding, mountain climbing, skiing, and boat driving).
- On the average, 68% of the lightly exposed respondents feel these behaviors are not safe, compared to 65% of those highly exposed to advertising.
This indicates that advertising has a negligible impact in making people feel that it is safe to pursue possible hazardous activities after drinking. Responses to Selected Advertising Appeals This final section examines the reactions of respondents to several controversial and policy-relevant appeals used in alcohol advertising: endorsements by celebrities, psychosexual themes, and youthful character portrayals.
- Regarding celebrity endorsements, the content analysis shows 10% of TV ads and 3% of magazine ads use a famous individual, typically a former athlete.
- This appeal was tested in the experimental study, where three nearly identical pairs of ads portrayed either a celebrity (actor Telly Savalas, model Cheryl Teigs, and basketball player Happy Hariston) or a non-celebrity as an endorser.
Although there is no difference in believability, ads featuring a celebrity are rated as significantly more “effective,” “important,” “strong,” and “interesting;” ratings are slightly higher on most other scales as well. In the celebrity condition, the product itself is rated higher on all scales; respondents say they are somewhat more likely to get the product, too.
- Furthermore, the celebrity character is rated as significantly more trustworthy and competent.
- These effects are very strong among younger respondents under the age of 18; the celebrity endorsement has little impact on older persons.
- One finding from the retrospective portion of the self-report study is also pertinent.
Two-fifths of the respondents say that they used ads to find out which brands famous people drink, during the period when they initially experimented with alcohol. Finally, field survey data show that half of the highly exposed respondents can identify which whiskey Telly Savalas likes and which wine Orson Welles likes.
Psychosexual themes appear in various forms in many alcohol advertisements. Here are some relevant findings from the content analysis: 45% of IV ads and 10% of magazine ads project a masculine image while 30% and 9% project a feminine image; romance is a theme in 19% and 16% of the ads, and hedonistic pleasure or sexual disinhibition are featured in 5% and 10% of the ads.
In addition, 5% of TV ads and 8% of magazine ads contain indecent language or pictures. The main set of findings on this topic come from the response study, which focused on four specimen ads with psychosexual themes of a potentially indecent nature: two portray provocatively posed females in swimming attire, and two depict young lovers and slogans with sexual overtones (“sip into something comfortable” and “Giocobazzi someone tonight”).
- When asked “what went through your mind while looking at the ad,” an average of one-fourth mention sexual thoughts.
- For the two ads showing the female form, about two-thirds reply affirmatively when asked whether they personally consider the ad to be sexy.
- Almost nine-tenths say they perceive sexual connotations for each of the suggestive slogans.
Less than one-tenth report being offended by the slogans, while about one-fifth feel the pictures of females are offensive. Finally, less than half say they like these ads, which is much lower than for other types of appeal. One of the experimental studies dealt with the sexual suggestiveness issue.
Sexy and non-sexy versions were created for three ads, with the same characters (a male, a female, and a male-female couple) posed either suggestively or more normally. The findings show that respondents give consistently higher ratings to ads featuring suggestive poses. The product advertised by the sexy characters also attains higher rating, although there is little difference in intention to get it.
The characters are evaluated less positively in the suggestive condition Typical drinkers of the sexily advertised product are seen as somewhat more sexy people. There is a sharp difference in response according to age level: those under 18 years old react more favorably to the sexual theme, while older respondents give slightly more positive ratings in the non-sexy condition.
Findings from the field survey indicate that sexy advertisements affect audience images of typical drinkers of alcohol. Among those heavily exposed to liquor ads, 15% perceive whiskey drinkers as “sexy,” compared to 10% among those lightly exposed. Similarly, respondents heavily exposed to beer advertising are more likely to hold the perception that beer drinkers are sexy, by a 16% to 11%o margin.
Finally there is a slight tendency for those highly exposed to alcohol ads to hold the attitude that “drinking alcohol improves one’s chances of sexual success;” 1470 agree with that statement, compared with 10% of those less frequently exposed to ads.
- Regarding youthful character portrayals, the content analysis indicates that only 1% of TV and magazine ads are targeted to the under-21 age group.
- While no ad characters appear to be in the 10-19 age group, 31% of TV characters and 49% of magazine characters fall in the 20-29 age segment.
- In the response study, respondents were asked to judge the age of 12 characters presented in the specimen ads.
An average of 4% estimate the age level to be under 21; young respondents below the age of 18 are twice as likely as older respondents to perceive the characters as under 21 One of the experiments tested the impact of ads featuring either young characters (approximately age 20 or 21) or older characters (ranging from 38 to approximately 50).
- The young advertising portrayals have a stronger impact than do the same messages depicting older models; this effect primarily occurs for respondents under 18 years old.
- These young peopLe give higher ratings to the ads with young characters, and feel more favorable toward the product as well; in particular, they are significantly more likely to say they will get the product.
Character age makes little difference to adult respondents. In the field survey, persons heavily exposed to alcohol advertising are much more likely to hold the image that the typical drinker is “young”; 42% in the high exposure group vs.28% in the low exposure group feel that beer drinkers are young, and the image of whiskey drinkers shows a 21% vs.15% difference.
- The evidence on this diverse set of issues indicates that there is some cause for concern about responses to certain types of advertising appeals.
- Although relatively few ads are judged to contain celebrities, underage characters, or explicit psychosexual themes, these appeals may still produce occasional cases of socially significant influence.
Compared to adults, adolescents seem to be especially vulnerable to ads that use celebrity endorsers, sexy models, and youthful looking characters.
What is the major impact of alcoholism on society?
Family – The social impact of alcohol abuse is a whole new issue set aside from the financial aspects of alcoholism. It impacts the home, extends into the community, and often affects society as a whole, similar to the financial impacts of alcohol abuse.
The effects of alcohol abuse on families show that alcohol abuse and addiction both play a direct role in intimate partner violence, stirs up financial issues in the affected family, impairs decision-making skills, and is a major contributor to child abuse and neglect cases. The financial costs of alcohol abuse can have tremendous effects on the family too.
With their decision-making skills blurred, those with a dependence on alcohol are more likely to spend money irresponsibly, engage in criminal activity, and even cause physical destruction to the property they live in. They are also more likely to become violent, which can lead to criminal charges, court fees, and split living arrangements.