Influencer Drinking Norms: Cross-Sectional Mediators of Alcohol-Related Social Media and College Drinking

Abstract

Background: Social influences from peers, such as the perceptions of how much one's peers drink (i.e., descriptive drinking norms) are robust predictors of college drinking. In the digital age, these influences can happen on social media through viewing posts shared by peers depicting drinking (alcohol-related content). Social media influencers also post alcohol-related content and are popular among students. However, less is known about whether influencer drinking norms potentially mediate the association between viewing influencer alcohol-related content and drinking. Methods: College students who drink alcohol (N = 528) completed an online survey which assessed if they followed influencers who posted alcohol-related content, how often they perceived the influencer shared the content, influencer norms, and personal alcohol consumption and consequences. Results: Findings from two cross-sectional mediation models revealed that influencer norms mediated associations between following more influencers who shared alcohol-related content or frequency of influencer content and participant drinking. Conclusions: These findings suggest that influencer norms are uniquely linked to students' drinking habits. Further, it extends prior research in the influencer domain by examining how perceptions of how much influencers drink (i.e., descriptive norms) may impact college drinking.

Keywords: alcohol consumption; alcohol‑related content; college students; social media influencers.