Characteristics and Effectiveness of Alcohol Website Age Gates Preventing Underage User Access

Abstract

Aims Examine and evaluate the overall effectiveness of age gates preventing access of underage users to alcohol websites. Methods Assess the characteristics of digital age gates among the top 25 alcohol brands among American adolescents, including type of age gate employed and resulting actions of repeated access requests indicating the user was under the legal drinking age. Results All official alcohol brand websites examined included an age gate, requiring either entering one’s date of birth (DOB, 91%) or clicking a yes/no box indicating they were of legal drinking age (9%). Only one out of every five alcohol websites blocked futures attempts to gain access after entering a response indicating the user was under the legal drinking age. Users were allowed indefinite attempts to enter a DOB that was of legal drinking age, with the majority of websites subsequently granting access even after multiple underage entries. Conclusions Alcohol website visitors with minimal arithmetic abilities, such as very young youth, are able to employ ‘trial and error’ to eventually enter an acceptable legal drinking DOB and gain access. Alcohol brand age gates are weak, at best, and likely an inconsequential barrier that someone with limited math abilities can easily overcome.

Alcohol access and purchasing behaviour during COVID‐19 pandemic restrictions: An exploration of sociodemographic, health and psychosocial correlates in two Canadian provinces

“…Off-premise alcohol is cheaper, more easily accessed by minors, and can be consumed without the social pressure exerted by fellow patrons and formal restraints in licensed establishments (i.e. standard drinks, being refused service for intoxication, regulated service hours) [13][14][15][16][17][18]. Moreover, the context of off-premise drinking during the pandemic, such as drinking alone, has been associated with increased alcohol-related problems [19].…”

“…Moreover, the context of off-premise drinking during the pandemic, such as drinking alone, has been associated with increased alcohol-related problems [19]. Novel purchasing methods that facilitate off-premise consumption, including online ordering, delivery and curbside pickup have long been under-regulated, as evidenced by easily-circumvented age verification measures and little enforcement on deliveries [15,[20][21][22]. These purchasing methods also enable consumers to continue to drink beyond when they might have otherwise been limited in on-premise settings and to exceed low-risk drinking guidelines [16].…”

Association between single‐channel and cumulative exposure to alcohol advertising and drinking behaviours among Australian adolescents

“…This result likely reflects the fact that social media has become increasingly popular among adolescents in recent years [33] and can involve interactive participation directly with alcohol brands and influencers. Adolescents can easily access digital alcohol marketing, with age-gating technologies shown to be ineffective at blocking these ads [19].…”

“…It also has the potential to track and target individuals based on their interests, social networks, geographic location and time of day [18]. Although social media platforms typically use age-gating technology, studies indicate they are ineffective at restricting youth access to digital alcohol marketing [19,20]. Recent systematic reviews suggest that digital alcohol marketing is positively associated with an increase in alcohol consumption and hazardous drinking behaviour [21,22].…”

Effectiveness of Regulatory Policies on Online/Digital/Internet-Mediated Alcohol Marketing: a Systematic Review

“…Further introductory characteristics along with a shortened narrative of each study are also described the aforementioned table. Twelve studies were peer-reviewed journal papers with primary data [6,24,26,30,[33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40] and two studies were gray literature reports, gathered from authoritative sources [41,42]. in preventing access to children and under-aged adolescents with inconsistencies found on every single examined platform and website.…”