Effects of Televised Alcohol Messages on Teenage Drinking Patterns

Charles Atkins' "Effects of Televised Alcohol Messages on Teenage Drinking Patterns" focuses on how television drinking portrayals, specifically beer and wine advertising, can influence adolescent audiences. "A critical review of survey research evidence indicated that alcohol commercials contribute to a modest increase in overall consumption by teenagers," shows that studies have been done in the past to gather data that support the hypothesis that these two variables have a causal relationship (1990, p.10). He promotes "combining restrictions on advertising content and intensified educational campaigns specifically designed to counteract this influence" (1990, p. 22). 


Through analyzing multiple academic articles, like this one by Atkins, and other research data, I have found that youth exposure to alcohol advertising and drinking underage have a small, but significant positive relationship. The findings from all all of the articles reveal that the influence of exposure of alcohol advertisements in the media on youth and underage drinking is not as strong as originally expected; however, exposure to these ads does have an impact, and the findings show that this relationship is influenced by multiple variables. 


Moreover, the findings reveal that alternative and longitudinal studies should be conducted to create more valid and consistent findings on this matter. Atkins states, "in addition to more experimental and survey studies demonstrating the overall degree of television effects on drinking behavior, research is still needed to isolate which specific types of advertising and entertainment depictions have a deleterious impact, and which programming portrayals serve to teach appropriate behaviors or discourage misuse of alcohol" (1990, p.23). The society we live in now-a-days provides extremely easy access to information, like these advertisements, through various medias. Because of the easy accessibility, I highly encourage that more tests should be done to further support this claim and encourage laws and bans to protect children from this kind of exposure.

Other experts like the Marin Institute, the Alcohol Industry Watchdog, promotes putting bans on alcohol advertising. The video link below discusses how Anheuser-Busch InBev a global beer corporation spent over 18 million dollars to reach about 98 million viewers in America with their alcohol ads. Within the 100 million, 17 million are considered to be underage youth. The video also discusses how the company has taken on certain symbols, like a kid friendly Dalmatian, and other "fuzzy domesticated animals" to attract these youth to their product. 

Big Alcohol Watchdog Update: Super Bowl Alcohol Ads

Atkin, C. K., Educational Resources Information Center (U.S.), & Michigan State Univ.,East Lansing.Coll.of Communication Arts. (1975). The effects of television advertising on children. report no. 5 content analysis of children's television commercials. final report. [S.l.]: Distributed by ERIC Clearinghouse.

Introduction

Everyday millions of people engage in activities like watching television, reading magazines, and surfing the internet, during which they are targeted by various companies. Many of these companies include those selling alcoholic beverages, which often target youth through these various medias. Consequently, it is stipulated that advertisements like the one shown below are directly related to the number of underage drinking in the world. This topic of interest, the effect of alcohol advertising on teenagers and their underage drinking, has an ever-growing source of literature. As a result, I have decided to further investigate this theory by using various articles on the topic and compiling their findings through meta analysis. My research question is: How does exposure to alcohol advertisements in the media influence underage drinking?




This Heineken ad displays two Heineken bottles duct taped to a Nintendo controller. The Nintendo controller alludes to the gamin console which is typically used by males aged from 13-24. A vast amount of the people in this age range are considered to be children and are underage.