Background: In the U.S, tens of thousands of people die each year from alcohol-related deaths. Alcohol marketing is one of several factors documented to contribute to the use and abuse of alcohol. The alcohol industry continues to spend more money on point-of-purchase marketing. The increasing saturation of retail environments with pro-alcohol messages is a public health concern, especially for youth and ethnic groups.
Objective: To assess the frequency and type of alcohol point-of-purchase advertising and promotions.
Methods: The number of alcohol advertisements, promotions, and warnings as well as the content, ethnic targeting, and placement of marketing messages was assessed in a census of alcohol outlets in ten ethnically-diverse urban California communities.
Results: Alcohol point-of-purchase marketing was prevalent in stores (mean number of advertisements=35.48). Independently-owned stores had the highest prevalence of marketing messages. Beer was the most common type of alcohol advertised(77%). More than three-quarters of stores placed alcohol advertisements in locations where youth were more likely to see them. Thirty-one percent of advertisements used models of color and cultural icons to target advertisements to specific ethnic groups. Significant associations were found between the percentage of African Americans and Latinos living in each community and the percentage of ethnically-targeted advertisements. About 25% of stores were out of compliance with laws to post interior alcohol warning signs.
Conclusions: The alcohol industry uses messages at point-of-purchase to aggressively market products. These messages contribute to a pro-alcohol environment. Efforts to decrease and counteract this largely unregulated form of alcohol marketing are needed.
Learning Objectives: By the end of this session, the participant will be able to describe: 1. three studies which provide evidence that alcohol marketing is associated with higher use and abuse of alcohol, 2. three ways in which the alcohol industry markets its products, and 3. three policy implications related to the study’s results.
Keywords: Alcohol, Marketing
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.