Youth drinking cultures, social networking and alcohol marketing: implications for public health

Abstract

Alcohol consumption and heavy drinking in young adults have been key concerns for public health. Alcohol marketing is an important factor in contributing to negative outcomes. The rapid growth in the use of new social networking technologies raises new issues regarding alcohol marketing, as well as potential impacts on alcohol cultures more generally. Young people, for example, routinely tell and re-tell drinking stories online, share images depicting drinking, and are exposed to often intensive and novel forms of alcohol marketing. In this paper, we critically review the research literature on (a) social networking technologies and alcohol marketing and (b) online alcohol content on social networks, and then consider implications for public health knowledge and research. We conclude that social networking systems are positive and pleasurable for young people, but are likely to contribute to pro-alcohol environments and encourage drinking. However, currently research is preliminary and descriptive, and we need innovative methods and detailed in-depth studies to gain greater understanding of young people's mediated drinking cultures and commercial alcohol promotion.

Emerging social media ‘platform’ approaches to alcohol marketing: a comparative analysis of the activity of the top 20 Australian alcohol brands on Facebook (2012-2014)

“…With respect to these platforms, McCreanor et al (2013) argue that consumers who document their drinking practices on social media are labourers who produce both peer-to-peer promotional narratives and rich troves of data. However, these accounts of consumer participation in marketing need to be contextualised within a more precise specification of the advertising model that media platforms are engineering.…”

“…In this model, alcohol brands benefit from the larger depiction of drinking culture by consumers (Atkinson et al 2013;Goodwin et al 2016;Griffiths and Casswell 2010;McCreanor et al 2013;Moreno et al 2010;Ridout et al 2012). When platform users depict their own drinking practices they generate data that signal their interest in alcohol consumption and its relation to specific times, places and cultural interests (like sport or music).…”

“…Some attention has been given to consumer participation in alcohol marketing (McCreanor et al 2013) and the content of marketers' messages, but the emergence of platforms as architects of, and vested commercial interests in, the development of alcohol marketing remains a blind spot in research and policy.…”

“…Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat are important actors in the development of alcohol marketing (Atkinson et al 2016;Carah and Meurk 2016;Jernigan and Rushman 2014;McCreanor et al 2013;Nicholls 2012). Studies of social media have offered taxonomies of brand activities, and determined effects on alcohol consumption, but not yet examined the role that the platforms themselves play in shaping alcohol marketing (Anderson et al 2009; Atkinson et al 2016;Carah et al 2014;Christlow et al 2015De Bruijn et al 2016Jernigan and Rushman 2014;Jernigan et al 2016;Jones et al 2015;Lobstein et al 2016;Mart et al 2009;Meier 2011;Nicholls 2012).…”

“…Studies of social media have offered taxonomies of brand activities, and determined effects on alcohol consumption, but not yet examined the role that the platforms themselves play in shaping alcohol marketing (Anderson et al 2009; Atkinson et al 2016;Carah et al 2014;Christlow et al 2015De Bruijn et al 2016Jernigan and Rushman 2014;Jernigan et al 2016;Jones et al 2015;Lobstein et al 2016;Mart et al 2009;Meier 2011;Nicholls 2012). Public health researchers need to pay 'critical and analytical attention' to alcohol marketing on media platforms (McCreanor et al 2013;Niland et al 2016). This requires specific examination of how the activities of alcohol brands are conditioned by the algorithmic recommendation and advertising models of media platforms (Gillespie 2014;van Dijck 2013).…”