A qualitative investigation of the responses of in-treatment and recovering heavy drinkers to alcohol advertising on New Zealand television (1997)

The debate over the influence of alcohol advertising on people's drinking behavior and attitudes is one that many countries have experienced as they decide how and to what degree alcohol advertising should be regulated. New Zealand policy makers examined the issue and made the decision to allow brand alcohol advertising on the electronic media for a trial period of two years, effective from February 1, 1992. This extended the already existing ability of alcohol companies to promote alcohol through sponsorship advertising and corporate image advertising. In an effort to contribute to the debate, a qualitative study of the responses to the advertising of people in treatment or in recovery from problems associated with heavy drinking was conducted in March 1994. This paper presents the results from that study. A review of the literature shows that few studies have examined the response to alcohol advertisements among those reporting alcohol-related problems. However, several studies that examined response to environmental alcohol-related stimuli suggested that people drinking heavily and experiencing problems related to their drinking, in contrast to lighter drinkers, are more responsive to them (Buck 1979; Mathew, Claghorn & Largen, 1979; Sobell et al., 1993). One study (Mathew et al., 1979) examined self-reported characteristics of craving and found that visual stimuli, including commercials for alcoholic beverages, can increase craving for alcohol. People in treatment for alcohol problems report diminished confidence in their ability to resist the urge to drink after viewing television programming that included alcohol scenes. The Sobell et al. (1993) study found that such programs can lessen the resolve of such people to remain abstinent. Although the results are equivocal with respect to advertising, the Sobell et al. (1993) study and that of Mathew et al. (1979) suggest that those who have experienced alcohol-related problems are influenced by alcohol-related visual cues. Fisher, however (1993, p. 145), contends that although the experimental evidence suggests that those who identify as having a problem with alcohol are more likely to be influenced by external cues, sensitivity to external cues does not generalize to advertising. In his view, the research of Sobell et al. (1993) suggests that these individuals recognize advertising as a special form of communication and counterargue to negate its persuasive appeal. Other research (Poulos, Hinson & Siegel, 1981) suggests that alcohol cues in television programs and commercials may act as conditioned stimuli for individuals with a significant drinking history and elicit behavioral (i.e., drinking) and cognitive (i.e., urges to drink alcohol) conditioned responses. Thus it is possible that drinking history may interact with exposure to alcohol cues in television programs or other mass media. The main aim of this project was to examine the response to alcohol advertising on television of people who identify as having experienced problems related to alcohol. The respondents were either in recovery or in treatment as a result of their alcohol use. Methodology Selection and contact of potential respondents Twenty-one respondents (9 women, 12 men) were interviewed face to face between late September and late October 1993. Of these, six women and five men described themselves as in recovery, and the other ten had received treatment for alcohol-related problems. Potential respondents in recovery were located by making contact with key persons in recovery support groups. These key persons were then asked to contact other support groups and also members of their own groups asking people to get in touch with the researcher if they agreed to be considered for participation. No more than two respondents were chosen from any one support group. All respondents had to be able to describe two alcohol advertisements they had seen on television. …