University students' perceived susceptibility to alcohol retail sales promotions

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between perceived susceptibility to alcohol retailers' sales promotion strategies and young, female university students' intention to buy alcohol and attitude towards alcohol consumption.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from a convenience sample of three universities in three OECD countries with high alcohol consumption per capita: Australia (n=305), Germany (n=323) and Wales (n=361). A self‐administered survey approach was used to collect data from female university students between the ages of 18 and 24 years in one university in each country. The four alcohol sales promotion strategies of interest were price reductions, quantity specials whereby the more you buy the less you pay on a pro rata basis, bulk purchasing of alcohol, and purchasing from more than one store to take advantage of low prices.FindingsThe study found that except for retailer price reductions, the association between Welsh university students' intentions to buy alcohol and their susceptibility to the remaining retailers' sales promotions was greater than that of university students in Australia and Germany, respectively. Significant differences between the countries were found in terms of the salience of perceived susceptibility to retail sales promotion strategies and their correlation with students' attitude towards alcohol consumption.Originality/valueThe paper's findings provide insights particularly for upstream, legislative strategic interventions to combat the issue of alcohol drinking of young female university students.

Price-based promotions of alcohol: Legislative consistencies and inconsistencies across the Australian retail, entertainment and media sectors

“…Point-of-sale promotions are prevalent in the Australian setting, with gift with purchase, competitions and buy some, get some free being the primary categories (Jones, Barrie, Robinson, Allsop, & Chikritzhs, 2012;Jones & Lynch, 2007;Munro & de Wever, 2008). Young people in particular seem to be highly susceptible to retail alcohol promotions based on price or discounting, both via reductions in price or via quantity promotions (such as two-for-one offers) (Jones, 2014;Sharma, Raciti, O'Hara, Reinhard, & Davies, 2013).…”

Binge drinking: A review and research agenda

“…• Compare results from multi-country studies and expand research in non-Western countries (Millea, 2019;Sharma et al, 2013) • Extend binge-drinking research in different workplaces, especially in sectors where significant health and safety risks exist (Austin & Ressler, 2012;Dorrian et al, 2017). • Investigate alcohol consumption in public spaces, such as the atmospherics in pubs and clubs, the importance of the home environment and other informal contexts (Ander et al, 2015;Valentine et al, 2008) Characteristics…”

“…TPB has been applied to understand how attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control influence binge drinking intentions and behavior. Some articles consider TPB in conjunction with parental theories, emotional theories, expectancy‐value theory, and brand choice (Knox et al, 2019; Previte et al, 2015; Sharma, et al, 2013; Piper et al, 2021). Several articles suggests that a planned approach is appropriate for addressing binge drinking as TPB captures the key challenges faced by the individual when intending to drink moderately (Martin et al, 2013; Turrisi, 1999; Yan & Brocksen, 2013).…”

Distorted Facets of Marketing Ethics for Alcoholic Beer Marketing

“…Consumption of excessive alcoholic beverages is strongly associated with physical and social harm both to consumers and to the people around them (Rehm et al, 2003) cited in (Sharma et al, 2013). Companies producing alcoholic drinks nowadays engage highly in corporate social responsibility and this might be green washing so as to attract customers to the so-called caring organisation.…”

“…5) Specific point of sales: Sales of alcoholic drink should be made on specific point of sales and not everywhere. Sales of alcohol should be prohibited near schools, colleges, universities and other academic institution (Sharma et al, 2013). 6) Labeling: Liquor notices and cautioning warning labels are proposed to adjust an individual's eye sight about the potential damages of the product (Erackers et al, 1984;Oliver and Berger, 1979) cited in (DeCarlo, 1997).…”