Under the influence of (alcohol)influencers? A qualitative study examining Belgian adolescents’ evaluations of alcohol-related Instagram images from influencers

Vranken, Sofie; Beullens, Kathleen; Geyskens, Delphine; Matthes, Jörg

doi:10.1080/17482798.2022.2157457

Cited by 13 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…For example, if individuals already liked specific brands of alcohol featured in sponsored influencer ARC, this could increase exposure via greater salience and engagement. Nascent research has found that adolescents positively evaluate influencer ARC featuring specific brands [24].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An examination of Instagram profiles for 178 popular influencers among young adults in the Netherlands found 63.5% of them shared at least one post discussing or displaying alcohol (i.e., alcohol post) in their last 100 posts (average of three to four alcohol posts shared in the last 100 posts [23]). In addition, adolescents perceive influencers share ARC frequently [24]. These findings suggest that substance‐specific content is highly prevalent and has the potential to reach more users.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Following social media influencers who share alcohol‐related content is associated with college drinking

Strowger

Guzman

Geyer

et al. 2023

Drug and Alcohol Review

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IntroductionFrequent exposure to peer‐shared alcohol‐related content (ARC) on social media is associated with greater alcohol consumption and related consequences among undergraduates. Social media influencers also share ARC; yet, the effect of exposure to influencer‐shared ARC on alcohol outcomes has not been examined. The current study examined whether following influencers who share ARC and the frequency of sharing were associated with alcohol outcomes, and associations between influencer type (e.g., actors) and alcohol outcomes.MethodsUndergraduates (N = 528) from two universities in the United States completed an online survey assessing demographics, social media use, alcohol use and related consequences. They listed up to five influencers they followed and viewed the most content from. A series of linear regression models were conducted.ResultsHaving a larger proportion of influencers sharing ARC was associated with greater quantity, frequency and peak drinks, but not consequences. Frequency of influencers sharing ARC was associated with greater quantity and peak drinks, but not frequency or consequences. Findings remained significant, even after controlling for peer ARC. Actor ARC, everyday person ARC and ‘other’ type influencer ARC were associated with several alcohol outcomes.Discussion and ConclusionsThis study added to the literature by examining how following influencers who share ARC, and sharing frequency, were associated with drinking outcomes over and above exposure to peer ARC. It also examined whether ARC content from specific types of influencers was associated with alcohol outcomes. Findings highlight that the source of ARC is relevant when studying the effects of ARC exposure on college drinking.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Following social media influencers who share alcohol‐related content is associated with college drinking

Strowger

Guzman

Geyer

et al. 2023

Drug and Alcohol Review

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show abstract

“…This procedure was used to gain insights into adolescents' experiences with and interpretations of posts that they may not have initially considered. In fact, prior research has illustrated that young people are not conscious of the presence of alcoholic beverages in certain types of images that they share online (Hendriks, Gebhardt, & van den Putte, 2017) or encounter from other social media users (Vranken et al, 2023). This procedure has been used in prior research on this topic to decrease recall bias (Laws et al, 2018;Vranken et al, 2023).…”

Section: Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“Boys are Allowed to be Drunk”: Exploring Gender Norms in Adolescents' Alcohol References Across Different Social Media Platforms and Message Types

Vranken

Murru

Beullens

2023

Journal of Drug Issues

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With alcohol experiences increasingly shared on social media, this study investigated the construction and understanding of gender norms in alcohol posts: (a) whether stereotypical gender norms prevail across different platforms and message types (b) among adolescents. Focus group interviews with 47 adolescents (Mage = 16.21; SD = 1.22) indicated that social media are important outlets for reproducing stereotypical norms. While sharing alcohol depictions was deemed to be stereotypically female, there were gender differences in the acceptability of sharing certain types of alcohol depictions. As opposed to girls, it was more appropriate for males to depict extreme, negative alcohol behaviors. While girls acknowledged that ephemeral environments enabled them to feel comfortable sharing extreme alcohol behaviors, they carefully negotiated these references by limiting the number of these posts, highlighting female traits in them, and restricting this content to close friends only. Thus, alcohol-related social media posts are more stereotypical than actual drinking experiences, even in more deliberating message types including ephemeral ones.

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“…Focusing on the 100 most popular videos of TikTok © alcohol-related user-generated content, Russell et al [ 16 ] showed positive content (humour and camaraderie) and the promotion of rapid alcohol consumption. Vranken et al [ 17 ] noted that young people are frequently exposed to Instagram influencers who hold alcoholic beverages, provide positive reviews for brands, and promote their own beverages. Young people in that study reported enjoying images of influencers that depict positive alcohol-related outcomes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Guégan,

Zenone,

Mialon

et al. 2024

BMC Public Health

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Background Despite widespread use of the short-video social media platform TikTok©, limited research investigates how alcohol is portrayed on the platform. Previous research suggests that a driver of alcohol content on TikTok©, in part, comes from bartenders demonstrating how to make drinks. This study aims to explore the characterizing patterns of how bartender influencers on TikTok© feature and incorporate alcohol in their videos. Methods We identified the global top 15 most followed bartenders on TikTok© in 2021 (cumulative 29.7 million subscribers) and the videos they posted in November and December 2021, the period just before Christmas and New Year, when alcohol tends to be more marketed than in other periods. The videos were coded based on five criteria: (1) the presence of alcohol or not; (2) alcohol categories; (3); alcohol brand(s) if visible; (4) the presence of candies and other sweet products; (5) presence of cues that refer to young people’s interests. Results In total, we identified 345 videos, which received 270,325,600 views in total, with an average of 18,021,707 views per video. Among these 345 videos, 92% (n = 317) displayed alcohol in their cocktail recipes (249,275,600 views, with an average of 786,358 views). The most common types of alcohol present in videos were liquor, vodka, rum, and whiskey, all of which are high-ABV beverages. 73% (n = 230) displayed or mentioned an alcohol brand. 17% (n = 55) associated alcohol with sweet products such as different types of candy (53,957,900 views, with an average of 981,053 views per video). 13% (n = 43) contained cues appealing to young people (e.g., cartoons, characters) (15,763,300 views, with an average of 366,588 views per video). Conclusions Our findings suggest a large presence of positively framed alcohol content posted by popular bartenders on TikTok©. As exposure to digital marketing is related to an increase in alcohol consumption, particularly among young people, regulations are needed to protect the public from alcohol-related harms.

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Under the influence of (alcohol)influencers? A qualitative study examining Belgian adolescents’ evaluations of alcohol-related Instagram images from influencers

Cited by 13 publications

References 46 publications

Following social media influencers who share alcohol‐related content is associated with college drinking

Following social media influencers who share alcohol‐related content is associated with college drinking

“Boys are Allowed to be Drunk”: Exploring Gender Norms in Adolescents' Alcohol References Across Different Social Media Platforms and Message Types

#Bartender: portrayals of popular alcohol influencer’s videos on TikTok©

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