About this Event
Title of Thesis: Perceptions of Alcohol Advertisements and Marketing Appeal: Empirical Analyses of Young Adults in the U.S. and in Uganda
Thesis Chair: Dr. Monica Swahn
INTRODUCTION: Despite the rapid increase in alcohol marketing and its role in contributing to alcohol use, a growing global health concern, there is limited research examining young adults and their perception of alcohol advertisement and appeal that can inform alcohol counter marketing campaigns and prevention strategies.
AIM: To examine and compare perceptions of alcohol advertisements and marketing appeal in a cross-sectional survey of young adults in two countries, Uganda, and the U.S.
METHODS: The analyses are based on a cross-sectional survey, conducted in 2021, comprised of young adults ages 18 to 25 (N=600; 300 in U.S. and 300 in Uganda)? Participants were recruited online for a 20-minute survey that included questions about demographic characteristics, alcohol advert exposure, alcohol use (AUDIT) and responses to 4 specific alcohol adverts including compliance with alcohol marketing codes using the alcohol marketing assessment tool (AMART). The outcome variable was the frequency of selected segments (heatmaps) of the four adverts and the AMART ratings of each ad. A two-sample t-test was conducted for each selected preferred element of the adverts and the participant home country for all four ads. A multivariate analysis was conducted to assess the association between alcohol use, marketing influence and AMART scores for each ad.
RESULTS: There was an association between marketing perception and marketing influence scores (p=0.322, p=0.02, respectively) in advert 3 with a .04% increase in perception of marketing features that are in violation of industry standards for every 1% increase in marketing influence scores. For advert 4 there was a significant association between the marketing influence scores and marketing features that are in violation of industry standards (p=0.67, p=0.04, respectively).
DISCUSSION: While culturally different, both the Ugandan and the American participants expressed similar perception and appeal of the selected alcohol adverts. However, there were also unique differences in the specific appeal of each adverts and association with alcohol use and code violations that can inform prevention strategies, and alcohol counter marketing initiatives that seek to reduce alcohol use in similar populations.
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