What is the problem?: Evidence, politics and alcohol policy in England and Wales, 2010–2014

Nicholls, James; Greenaway, John

doi:10.3109/09687637.2014.993923

Cited by 16 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…However, this does not reflect a brokering role in relation to the development of MUP, but highlights disagreement within the party. Mapping the development of alcohol policy in England and Wales, Nicholls & Greenaway point to both 'ideological' and 'systemic' tensions in the emergence of MUP [28]. They cite ideological tensions within the coalition government between libertarian and paternalistic perspectives throughout the MUP debate and identify that support for MUP within the coalition seemed bound by shifts in focus between departments and actors.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping discourse coalitions in the minimum unit pricing for alcohol debate: a discourse network analysis of UK newspaper coverage

et al. 2019

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Background and Aims Minimum unit pricing (MUP) for alcohol was introduced in Scotland on 1 May 2018, and is now on the policy agenda in other devolved administrations and at Westminster. Previous research has explored the arguments deployed for and against MUP, but the congruence between actors in the MUP debate has not been sufficiently examined. This study identified and mapped the discourse coalitions that emerged in the UK MUP debate through an analysis of actors’ use of arguments in media coverage of the policy debates. Design A sample of print media coverage of MUP was obtained from the LexisNexis newspaper database. The resulting sample was imported into discourse network analysis (DNA) software for coding and subsequent visualization of actor networks. Setting United Kingdom. Observations A total of 348 articles from eight UK‐wide and three Scottish newspapers from an 18‐month period, ending in November 2012, were analysed. Measurements Actors’ arguments were coded to generate structured data for conversion into a weighted actor network where ties represent similarities among actors in terms of arguments in support of or opposition to MUP. Findings Two polarized discourse coalitions, Opponents and Proponents of MUP, emerged in media coverage. The Proponents coalition consisted mainly of health advocacy groups, charities, political parties and academic institutions. In the Opponents coalition, the networks were formed of key alcohol manufacturers and economic think‐tanks. While producer organizations were central to the Opponents coalition, some commercial actors were more favourable to MUP, highlighting divisions within the industry overall. Conclusions Media coverage of minimum unit pricing (MUP) in Scotland from June 2011 to November 2012 showed alignment between the policy positions of (1) alcohol producers and think‐tanks opposed to MUP; and (2) public health advocates and health charities in favour of the policy. Some alcohol industry actors were supportive of MUP indicating divisions among the industry. Discourse network analysis may be usefully applied to study other highly contested policy issues in health and beyond.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping discourse coalitions in the minimum unit pricing for alcohol debate: a discourse network analysis of UK newspaper coverage

et al. 2019

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“…This is supported by findings from Finland that showed that systematic decreases in the price of alcohol were associated with increased prevalence of alcohol-related harm, especially among people with lower socio-economic status (SES) that are at increased risk of harm (Mäkelä, Herttua, & Martikainen, 2014). Despite the evidence that suggests that MUP might be an effective strategy for reducing alcohol-related harm, the English government decided not to implement MUP (or similar price reduction strategies; Gilmore & Daube, 2014), partially due to pressures from the alcohol industry (McCambridge, Hawkins, & Holden, 2014;Nicholls & Greenaway, 2015).…”

Section: Public Support For Alcohol Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

Individual differences in attentional processing of responsible drinking statements in alcohol packaging, public health campaigns and alcohol advertising among alcohol consumers

Kersbergen¹

2017

Preprint

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We live in an environment in which alcohol is easily available and widely marketed. Alcohol advertising has been shown to increase long-term and short-term alcohol consumption. On the other hand, governments and industry use warning labels and public health campaigns to inform the public of the harmful effects of alcohol in an attempt reduce alcohol-related harm. There is not much evidence that labels and campaigns affect drinking behaviour, but evidence from other domains suggests that individual differences in attentional processing might moderate effects on behaviour. In this thesis, I tested the general hypothesis that individual differences in visual attention to alcohol cues and responsible drinking statements would underlie the effect of alcohol-related mass persuasion attempts (i.e., alcohol advertisements, warning labels and public health campaigns) on drinking behaviour and its antecedents, in young adult alcohol consumers. The secondary aim of this thesis was to examine the direct effect of alcohol-related mass persuasion attempts on drinking intentions and alcohol consumption shortly after exposure. To study this, I first conducted a cross-sectional study and a between-subjects experimental study to investigate attention to warning labels on alcohol packaging and examine whether priming participants to direct their attention to warning labels would prompt them to intend to drink less alcohol. Findings suggested that existing UK warning labels did not attract substantial attention and the amount of attention that participants directed to them did not affect their drinking intentions (Chapter 2). I subsequently conducted three experimental studies to examine to what extent novel warning labels would capture attention and affect willingness to pay for alcohol. Findings showed that novel warning labels did not attract more attention than existing warning labels, nor did they significantly influence willingness to pay for alcohol (Chapter 3). With regard to televised alcohol advertisements, I conducted a between-subjects experiment in a semi-naturalistic environment to investigate whether alcohol advertising affected proximal alcohol consumption in a brand-specific or general manner. Results suggested that alcohol advertising did not affect drinking behaviour, however methodological limitations mean that these findings should be interpreted with caution (Chapter 4). Next, I conducted two experimental studies to examine how individual differences in visual attention to alcohol cues and responsible drinking statements in alcohol-related television adverts predicted drinking intentions and proximal alcohol consumption. Findings showed that attention to responsible drinking statements did not predict drinking intentions or immediate alcohol consumption, but visual attention to alcohol portrayal (an actor sipping alcohol) in alcohol advertising predicted increased alcohol consumption in the laboratory (Chapter 5). Overall, these findings demonstrate that responsible drinking statements/labels attract limited attention and that increased attention to these labels does not prompt alcohol consumers to intend to reduce their drinking. I found no evidence that alcohol-related persuasion affected immediate alcohol consumption or drinking intentions, but attentional processing of alcohol portrayal in alcohol advertising was associated with increased alcohol consumption shortly after exposure to the adverts. Finally, I conducted a focus group study to explore subjective evaluations of current warning labels and responsible drinking adverts Findings showed that participants did not consider warning labels/adverts to be personally relevant and that they mistrusted the message source. Instead, participants suggested that warning messages focussing on alcohol-related harm (to themselves or others) might be more persuasive. Combined with the findings from the laboratory studies, these findings suggest responsible drinking statements could attract more attention if their content and format were changed. The findings reported in this thesis further our understanding of the role of attention in alcohol-related persuasion. In line with recently published evaluations of public health campaigns and warning labels, these studies suggest that warnings in alcohol advertising and on packaging in their current form have little scope for changing drinking behaviour. Instead, it might be more fruitful to increase the noticeability of warning labels and impose restrictions on alcohol marketing and/or the visual content used within alcohol marketing.

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“…Also, alcohol policy in Norway is exceptionally strict, and remains so despite shifting governments and changes in method of sale (Karlsson & Österberg, 2007). Despite explicit intentions to reform alcohol policy to reduce drinking-related problems in the UK, recent UK government policy has tended to go in a more liberal direction (Nicholls & Greenaway, 2015).…”

Section: Differences Between the Uk And Norwaymentioning

confidence: 99%

When is it OK to be drunk? Situational and cultural variations in the acceptability of visible intoxication in the UK and Norway

Fjær

Pedersen

Soest

et al. 2016

International Journal of Drug Policy

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What is the problem?: Evidence, politics and alcohol policy in England and Wales, 2010–2014

Cited by 16 publications

References 41 publications

Mapping discourse coalitions in the minimum unit pricing for alcohol debate: a discourse network analysis of UK newspaper coverage

Mapping discourse coalitions in the minimum unit pricing for alcohol debate: a discourse network analysis of UK newspaper coverage

Individual differences in attentional processing of responsible drinking statements in alcohol packaging, public health campaigns and alcohol advertising among alcohol consumers

When is it OK to be drunk? Situational and cultural variations in the acceptability of visible intoxication in the UK and Norway

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