I Saw it on TV: New Study Reveals Strong Link Between Ad Exposure and Teen Drinking

Pressure From Advertisements

Most parents would like to think they are raising children who are not only able to make healthy decisions but who can exercise some real independent thinking and scrutiny when it comes to media and advertising messages. Many of us may be doing that well, or at least the best that we can.

So, as the now-famous mug slogan proclaims, “Stay Calm and Carry On.” But a word of caution: in a media-rich age where product marketing saturates almost everything we read and watch, and where teens and young adults are a primary advertising target for alcohol products, the job is getting harder. And, as a new study reveals, those ads are having a particularly powerful pull.

Research on Media and Alcohol Consumption

The study, published last month in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, shows that alcohol ads not only influence what brands of alcohol underage drinkers consume but their tendency to drink on certain occasions in the first place and how much they consume when they do.

The new study was based on a sample of more than 1,000 13- to 20-year-olds from across the country who said they had drank alcohol in the past month. Researchers then asked if they watched any of the 20 most popular non-sports television shows and how much they consumed of the 61 alcohol brands showcased in commercials during those shows.

A Powerful, Pervasive Impact

What they found is those underage drinkers who didn’t see any alcohol ads drank about 14 drinks per month. That number rose to 33 drinks per month for the young people who saw what amounts to an average amount of alcohol advertising.

Underage drinkers exposed to the greatest amount of alcohol ads drank as much as 200-plus drinks in the past month, though very few of those in the study consumed that much.

After factoring out that kids who watch more television may be more likely to drink anyway, researchers concluded that the more exposure kids had to these alcohol ads, the greater the amount they consumed of those brands. These findings are even more significant when you consider the findings of another study, which found that kids ages 11 to 14 typically see two to four alcohol ads per day.

Interestingly, ad industry research confirms that the spend on alcohol product placements has increased more than 400 percent over the past 40 years, a substantial increase even when one considers the large profits generated by brewers and distillers in the U.S. and their typically robust advertising investments.

“For a long time, a lot of people said, ‘Well advertising doesn’t really make a difference,’ ” when it comes to the impact on underage drinking, said Dr. Timothy Naimi,  lead researcher on the new study and an associate professor at Boston University’s Schools of Medicine and Public Health. “I think the message is that this adds to evidence that alcohol advertising matters in terms of youth drinking and it demonstrates good support for the idea that alcohol advertising is not only related to which brands kids might choose to drink but how much they choose to drink in total.”

Ads Shape More Than Brand Decisions

Up until now, there has been a good body of evidence showing that when kids are exposed to advertising for a particular brand, they’re more likely to drink that brand. What’s been missing is an exploration of whether the alcohol ads don’t just influence the brands underage drinkers tend to choose but the amount they drink altogether when exposed to key messages. This new study provides that link, researchers say.

Recent government statistics have indicated underage drinking in the U.S. is at an all-time historical low, but health care professionals still say it’s too high.

“We are very encouraged by the continued decline in underage drinking …,” George F. Koob, Ph.D. and director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism indicated last year. “However, the percent of underage individuals drinking still remains unacceptably high. For example, approximately 40 percent of 12th graders have reported being drunk in the past year and binge drinking remains a significant problem.”

Other research suggests that 70-80 percent of American adolescents have consumed alcohol, and about 50 percent have been drunk by the end of high school.

Parents Influence on Youth Drinking

Spokespeople for Responsibility.org, a not-for-profit organization funded by the country’s biggest distillers that are devoted to reducing underage drinking and promoting responsible drinking among people who can legally consume alcohol, say parents – more than advertising – play the biggest role in determining a kid’s decision to drink.

Parents were found to have 71 times more influence over their children’s decision to drink versus advertising, according to the 2016 Roper Youth Report (PDF).

A recent national survey by Responsibility.org also found that nearly two-thirds of 10- to 18-year-olds cite parents as the leading influence in their decision whether to drink. After parents, young people cited friends/peers (46%) and brothers/sisters and other family members (32%).

Only 14% said advertising/media affects their decision whether to drink. But these numbers are self-reported, and many young people may consider themselves media-savvy or not wish to admit the extent to which their behaviors are shaped by paid ads.

 The alcohol industry is mostly self-regulated when it comes to alcohol advertising on television. Manufacturers have their own guidelines, such as limiting ads to programs that have a mostly adult audience, but companies don’t always follow their own guidelines. There is also apparently no penalty for violations of these guidelines, but researchers hope more attention to studies such as this one could ratchet up the pressure for change.

“I think one of the implications for the broader society is that currently our controls on television advertising for alcohol are minimal and they’re self-regulatory, so I think we should definitely tighten up that some,” Naimi said. “I think it’s another good argument for limiting screen time, because alcohol advertising is pervasive even among shows that may be watched by a large number of underage youth.”

Don’t Ignore It

There is a message here for parents, too. First, be mindful about how much time your kids are spending watching television and what they are watching. Second, don’t underestimate the influence you may have on your children’s decision whether to drink and have a conversation about drinking with them early on so the subject is not taboo.

Parents who want information about effective ways of talking with their children about alcohol — including with older teenagers heading off to college — should check out the website for SAMHSA’s underage drinking prevention campaign, “Talk. They Hear You.”