Reducing alcohol consumption through television advertising

Abstract

Regular drinkers from the general public whose drinking behavior was known to be unaffected by a previous antidrug advertising campaign were involved in a field experiment to assess the impact of a television commercial based on controlled-drinking principles. In a 2 x 2 factorial arrangement of exposure to the advertising campaign (advertisement, no advertisement) and exposure to a letter announcing the campaign (letter, no letter), 96 subjects from two cities in tropical North Queensland provided baseline and posttreatment details of alcohol consumption and alcohol-related attitudes. Baseline measures were taken approximately 12 months prior to the start of the campaign, and posttesting occurred 3 weeks after the campaign. Results were consistent with the proposition that the advertisement reduced intake provided that subjects also received the standard letter alerting them to the start of the campaign.