Participation with alcohol marketing and user-created promotion on social media, and the association with higher-risk alcohol consumption and brand identification among adolescents in the UK

Abstract

Aim: To explore participation with alcohol marketing (i.e. commenting on brand statuses) and user-created promotion on social media (i.e. photos of peers drinking) by young people in the United Kingdom (UK), and what association this has with higher-risk consumption and brand identification. Method: Online cross-sectional survey with 11–19-year olds in the UK ( n = 3,399) (average age: 15 years old). Past-month participation was measured for five forms of alcohol marketing on social media and one form of user-created promotion (all Yes/No). Past-month awareness of nine wider alcohol marketing activities, social media apps used at least weekly, and ownership of branded merchandise were included as covariates. Outcomes included higher-risk consumption in current drinkers (≥5 AUDIT-C) and brand identification in all respondents (8 pictures with brand names removed). Results: Over one-in-ten respondents (13.2%) had participated with at least one form of marketing on social media or participated with user-created promotion (12.2%). For both, participation was greater in current drinkers and those of legal purchasing age. A logistic regression found that participation with two or more forms of marketing on social media ( AOR = 1.96, p < .01) and participation with user-created promotion ( AOR = 3.46, p < .001) were associated with higher-risk drinking. Respondents, on average, identified 2.58 ( SD = 2.12) alcohol brands. A linear regression found participation with marketing on social media was not associated with brand identification ( β = 0.01, p = .42) but participation with user-created promotion was ( β = 0.05, p < .001). Conclusion: Social media provides opportunities for adolescents to participate with commercial marketing and user-created promotion and this is associated with higher-risk consumption and brand identification.

Social Media Use and Mental Health and Well-Being Among Adolescents – A Scoping Review

“…Eight studies examined the link between social media use and body dissatisfaction and eating disorder symptoms ( Ferguson et al, 2014 ; Meier and Gray, 2014 ; de Vries et al, 2016 ; Burnette et al, 2017 ; Rousseau et al, 2017 ; Tiggemann and Slater, 2017 ; Marengo et al, 2018 ; Wartberg et al, 2018 ). Anxiety was the focus of seven studies ( O’Connor et al, 2014 ; Koo et al, 2015 ; Spears et al, 2015 ; Fahy et al, 2016 ; Woods and Scott, 2016 ; Colder Carras et al, 2017 ; Yan et al, 2017 ), and 13 studies included a focus on the relationship between alcohol use and social media use ( O’Connor et al, 2014 ; Boyle et al, 2016 ; Sampasa-Kanyinga and Chaput, 2016 ; Brunborg et al, 2017 ; Geusens and Beullens, 2017 , 2018 ; Larm et al, 2017 ; Merelle et al, 2017 ; Nesi et al, 2017b ; Curtis et al, 2018 ; Sampasa-Kanyinga et al, 2018 ; Critchlow et al, 2019 ; Kim et al, 2019 ). Seven studies examined the effect of social media use on sleep ( Harbard et al, 2016 ; Woods and Scott, 2016 ; Yan et al, 2017 ; Nursalam et al, 2018 ; Sampasa-Kanyinga et al, 2018 ; Scott and Woods, 2018 ; Larm et al, 2019 ).…”

“…Almost half ( n = 34, 43%) of the included studies focus on use of social network sites or online communication in general, without specifying particular social media sites, leaving this up to the study participants to decide ( Best et al, 2014 , 2015 ; Ferguson et al, 2014 ; Neira and Barber, 2014 ; O’Connor et al, 2014 ; Koo et al, 2015 ; Tseng and Yang, 2015 ; Fahy et al, 2016 ; Woods and Scott, 2016 ; Burnette et al, 2017 ; Colder Carras et al, 2017 ; Foerster and Roosli, 2017 ; Foody et al, 2017 ; Geusens and Beullens, 2017 , 2018 ; Jafarpour et al, 2017 ; Kim, 2017 ; Marchant et al, 2017 ; Oberst et al, 2017 ; Przybylski and Weinstein, 2017 ; Salmela-Aro et al, 2017 ; Yan et al, 2017 ; Curtis et al, 2018 ; Erfani and Abedin, 2018 ; Erreygers et al, 2018 ; Nursalam et al, 2018 ; Scott and Woods, 2018 ; van den Eijnden et al, 2018 ; Wartberg et al, 2018 ; Critchlow et al, 2019 ; Holfeld and Mishna, 2019 ; Larm et al, 2019 ; Throuvala et al, 2019 ; Twenge and Campbell, 2019 ). Seven of the included studies examined the relationship between virtual game worlds or socially oriented video games and mental health ( Ferguson et al, 2014 ; Best et al, 2015 ; Spears et al, 2015 ; Yan et al, 2017 ; van den Eijnden et al, 2018 ; Larm et al, 2019 ; Twenge and Campbell, 2019 ).…”

“…Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale is a commonly used questionnaire amongst the included studies ( Hanprathet et al, 2015 ; Banyai et al, 2017 ; Settanni et al, 2018 ). Seven studies asked about various specific actions on social media, such as liking or commenting on photos, posting something or participating in a discussion ( Meier and Gray, 2014 ; Koo et al, 2015 ; Nesi et al, 2017b ; Geusens and Beullens, 2018 ; Marques et al, 2018 ; van den Eijnden et al, 2018 ; Critchlow et al, 2019 ).…”

“…Five studies had a specific and sole focus on the link between social media use and alcohol, and examined how various alcohol-related social media use affected alcohol intake ( Boyle et al, 2016 ; Geusens and Beullens, 2017 , 2018 ; Nesi et al, 2017b ; Critchlow et al, 2019 ). Some studies had a more theory-based focus and investigated themes such as peer comparison, social media intrusion or pro-social behavior on social media and its effect on mental health ( Bourgeois et al, 2014 ; Rousseau et al, 2017 ; de Lenne et al, 2018 ).…”

“…Of 7927 unique studies, 79 (1%) met our inclusion criteria (Aboujaoude et al, 2015;Banjanin et al, 2015;Banyai et al, 2017;Barry et al, 2017;Best et al, 2014Best et al, , 2015Booker et al, 2018;Bourgeois et al, 2014;Boyle et al, 2016;Brunborg et al, 2017;Burnette et al, 2017;Colder Carras et al, 2017;Critchlow et al, 2019;Cross et al, 2015;Curtis et al, 2018;de Lenne et al, 2018;de Vries et al, 2016;Erfani and Abedin, 2018;Erreygers et al, 2018;Fahy et al, 2016;Ferguson et al, 2014;Fisher et al, 2016;Foerster and Roosli, 2017;Foody et al, 2017;Fredrick and Demaray, 2018;Beullens, 2017, 2018;Hamm et al, 2015;Hanprathet et al, 2015;Harbard et al, 2016;Hase et al, 2015;Holfeld and Mishna, 2019;Houghton et al, 2018;Jafarpour et al, 2017;John et al, 2018;Kim et al, 2019;Kim, 2017;Koo et al, 2015;Lai et al, 2018;Larm et al, 2017Larm et al, , 2019…”