Changing outcome expectancies, drinking intentions, and implicit attitudes toward alcohol: a comparison of positive expectancy-related and health-related alcohol warning labels

Abstract

Background: Although alcohol consumption is a leading risk factor for major illnesses, warning labels are still not being used. Alcohol consumption is related to positive and negative outcome expectancies, which both play a crucial role. This study compared the effectiveness of warning labels that contradicted positive outcome expectancies with health-related warning labels among a college-aged German sample (N = 40).

Method: Half of the participants received health-related warning labels while half received positive-related warning labels. Implicit attitudes were assessed before and after warning-label exposure. Explicit attitudes and outcome expectancies were assessed after exposure. Participants' usual drinking behavior was assessed before exposure to warning labels, and their drinking intentions were measured afterwards.

Results: Participants exposed to positive-related warning labels had marginally more negative implicit attitudes compared to their own prior attitudes. They tended to perceive lower social and higher negative outcome expectancies than the health-related warning labels group. Importantly, the positive-related warning labels group's drinking intentions tended to be lower than those of the health-related warning labels group.

Conclusions: This first test of warning labels that contradict positive alcohol outcome expectancies provided promising results; thus warning labels could be considered as means to influence college-aged people.

Keywords: alcohol warning labels; attitudes; drinking intentions; outcome expectancies.