An examination of retailers’ compliance with the minimum legal drinking (purchasing) age law in Slovenia: A quasi-experimental intervention study

Abstract

Introduction Alcohol consumption among young people is strongly related to alcohol availability. The minimum legal drinking (purchasing) age (MLDA) is a legal measure that regulates alcohol availability to minors in Slovenia. This study examines (1) retailers’ compliance with the MLDA law in Slovenia and (2) the effectiveness of two interventions directed at cashiers in off-premise stores. Methods The study uses a non-randomized quasi-experimental design to evaluate the effectiveness of (1) a communication intervention directed at off-premise store managers, and (2) an intervention by the Slovene Market Inspectorate. The first intervention focused on informing cashiers about MLDA’s importance and their role as gatekeepers of young people’s health, while the second involved law enforcement. Using the mystery shopping protocol, we conducted two waves of purchase attempts with decoy underage shoppers pre- and post-intervention in 97 off-premise stores. We collected data on the shopping process at the point of sale and conducted 40 semistructured interviews with cashiers to evaluate the barriers and incentives regarding MLDA compliance. Results Retailers’ initial noncompliance rate with MLDA in off-premise stores was high, but improved significantly after the law enforcement intervention. We identified a significant correlation between the cashiers’ ID requests and the refusal of alcohol sales, but cashiers’ ID requests remained low. Qualitative findings reveal that cashiers experience several issues when handling MLDA in practice. Conclusion Noncompliance with MLDA persisted even after the law enforcement intervention, revealing the need for policy makers to introduce new strategies for MLDA enforcement, such as revocable alcohol licenses for off-premise stores.

A mystery-shopping study to test enforcement of minimum legal purchasing age in Lithuania in 2022

“…Schelleman-Offermans et al 9 found that the age-verification compliance (purchasing beer, mix, wine, or spirits) in the Netherlands after the minimum legal age was increased from 16 to 18 years old in 2014 was 46.5%, which increased to 74% 2 years later. In a recent study by Kamin et al (2021), 13 in Slovenia the rate of compliance (purchasing beer and a snack) was just over 11%; which improved after a compliance-enhancing intervention, to over 20%. In contrast to Europe, the results from the four states in the USA indicated that compliance with the ID check requirement may be above 80%.…”

Compliance Checks Decrease Cigarette Sales Rates to Pseudo-Underaged Mystery Shoppers: A Quasi-Experimental Control Group Study

“…Similarly, an experimental study at 33 retail outlets using positive and negative feedback, as well as small rewards, also achieved very high compliance with ID checking upon alcohol purchases [ 47 ]. However, a recent small study with a quasi-experimental design conducted in Slovenia, revealed that the rather high sales rates of beer to underaged individuals and low frequency of ID checks improved to a small extent after the use of both undercover test purchases and compliance checks involving sanctions [ 48 ]. The relevance of alcohol compliance checks was recently demonstrated by a study in the U.S. showing that in times when many compliance checks were conducted, car crashes involving underaged drinking and driving were fewer [ 49 ].…”