Immediate effects on adult drinkers of exposure to alcohol harm reduction advertisements with and without drinking guideline messages: experimental study

Aims To compare the immediate effects on drinkers of television advertisements focusing upon short-versus long-term harms with and without low-risk drinking guidelines. Design Between-participants on-line experiment, with random assignment to view: (a) alcohol product advertisements (ALC control); (b) advertisements unrelated to alcohol (NON-ALC control); (c) advertisements featuring short-term harms (STH) of alcohol; (d) advertisements featuring STH plus a STH guideline (STH+ G); (e) advertisements featuring long-term harms (LTH); or (f) advertisements featuring LTH plus a LTH guideline (LTH+ G). Setting Australia, 2016. Participants A total of 3718 drinkers aged 18-64 years (48.5% male). Measurements Post-exposure likelihood that participants provided a correct estimate of drinking levels associated with short- and long-term harms; post-exposure intentions to avoid alcohol or reduce consumption. Findings After exposure to STH+ G or LTH+ G advertisements, participants were more likely to estimate correctly rather than overestimate drinking levels associated with harm, compared with those exposed to STH (P < 0.001) and LTH advertisements without guidelines, respectively (P = 0.019) and ALC control (STH+ G, P < 0.001; LTH+ G, P < 0.001) and NON-ALC control conditions (STH+ G, P < 0.001; LTH+ G, P = 0.011). Drinkers exposed to STH conditions were more likely to intend to reduce next-week alcohol consumption than those exposed to ALC control (both P < 0.001) and NON-ALC control conditions (STH, P = 0.001; STH+ G, P < 0.001); a similar pattern was observed for intentions to avoid alcohol. Drinkers exposed to LTH conditions were also more likely than drinkers exposed to ALC or NON-ALC controls to intend to avoid and reduce alcohol in the next week. Additionally, drinkers exposed to LTH+G were more likely to intend to reduce drinking than those exposed to LTH advertisements without guidelines (P = 0.022). Response patterns for low-and high-risk drinkers by condition were similar. Conclusions Alcohol harm television advertisements increase intentions to reduce alcohol consumption among both low-and high-risk drinkers. The addition of low-risk drinking guidelines can enhance these effects for advertisements featuring long-term harms and improve estimates of both short-and long-term harmful drinking levels.