India and Australia: A cross-cultural assessment of youth engagement with social media marketing of alcohol

May 2018

The considerable time that many people spend on social media has attracted the attention of alcohol companies, resulting in substantial investment in social media-based alcohol marketing (Nicholls, 2012). Young people engage with social media more than other age groups and thus are more exposed to alcohol marketing and the harms associated with it (Dobson, 2012). Exposure to alcohol marketing on social media can lead to young people developing pro-drinking attitudes (Alhabash, McAlister, Quilliam, Richards, & Lou, 2015). These attitudes are likely to result in regular alcohol consumption (Jones, Robinson, Barrie, Francis, & Lee, 2016), are associated with heavy and risky drinking (Barnes et al., 2016), and can increase the risk of subsequent alcohol-related problems (Hoffman, Pinkleton, Weintraub Austin, & Reyes-Velázquez, 2014).

Unlike traditional media advertising campaigns, alcohol companies encourage social media users to actively co-produce content. The resulting branded content is infused with, and leverages off, users’ identities and social relationships. (Atkinson, Ross-Houle, Begley, & Sumnall, 2017). Alcohol marketers  instigate, observe, and interact with the communication processes between themselves, users, and users’ online peer networks (Van Bellegham, 2011). They can direct real-time conversations in a manner that enables them to integrate their brands within the lifestyles of users, their identity-making processes, and their cultural practices. These conversations serve as a channel that facilitates a flow of marketing messages that is then disseminated through users online networks (Carah, 2015). Furthermore, it is possible that the association between a particular brand and personal identity is stronger when users create branded content themselves, rather than simply passively receiving advertising.

Online conversations between brands and social media users can provide data on users and their online peer networks, which can facilitate future marketing to niche groups. This new method of communicating with social media users represents substantial evolution from the use of traditional advertising media that can only communicate far more static and unidirectional representations of a product’s meaning or symbolism.

Why did we undertake this research?

Exposure to social media alcohol marketing is associated with alcohol use among young people (Jones et al., 2016). However, research on how alcohol companies use social media for alcohol promotion in different national contexts and across different social media platforms is scant. Against this background, the present study explored and compared the types of strategies utilised by alcohol companies for alcohol promotion on three leading social media platforms (Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter), and the extent to which social media users engaged with these strategies, in two contrasting geographic contexts (India and Australia). Further, this study examined and compared the association between self-reported exposure to alcohol marketing on these social media sites and alcohol use among 13-25 year old Indians and Australians.

What did we do?

We identified the 20 most popular alcohol brands on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube (the top 10 brands per country for each social media site) in India and Australia based on the number of likes, followers, and subscriptions, respectively. Alcohol brand websites and data analytic sources were accessed to collect metrics relating to number of likes, subscriptions, videos, and frequency of producer and fan comments. The types of content were also categorised for each identified brand from official social media pages. Finally, online surveys were conducted among a sample of 13–25 year olds (631 respondents: 330 in India; 301 in Australia). Information was sought on respondents’ alcohol use and interaction with alcohol-related content posted on the above-mentioned social media platforms.

What did we find out?

About 76 million Facebook likes (Indian brands: n=3,209,754; Australian brands: n=73,169,929), 150,000 Twitter followers (Indian brands: n=110,032; Australian brands: n=40,354), and approximately 100,000 YouTube subscriptions (Indian brands: n=13,868; Australian brands: n=85,013) were found on the targeted brands’ official social media pages. The common strategies used for alcohol promotion across social media in both countries included prompts to engage in time- and event-specific drinking (e.g., “it’s Friday, and it’s beer-o’clock”), alcohol sponsorship of sporting, music, and fashion events, cocktail recipes and food-drink combinations, competitions, brand-related giveaways, and the use of memes. Other strategies were largely country specific, such as posting content relating to inspirational talks, livelihood skills, and sexually suggestive content on Indian social media sites versus references to a brand’s tradition or heritage on Australian sites. Notably, some of the identified strategies (e.g., brand-sponsored events and posts relating to competitions and giveaways) were traditionally more popular amongst younger people. User engagement was assessed through their responses to content posted by brands (e.g., messages, images, and videos) and users themselves posting new content, on brands’ social media pages.

The surveyed 13-25 year olds from both countries reported interacting with alcohol related content on brands’ social media pages. The interaction was reported mainly with content published on Facebook, followed by YouTube and then Twitter. Respondents reported interaction in the forms of posting/liking/sharing/commenting on alcohol-related content posted on brands’ social media pages, viewing an event page/attending an event advertised by brands via their social media pages, and/or accessing an alcohol website.

Significant associations were found between respondents’ interaction with alcohol-related content posted on brands’ social media pages and alcohol consumption. The interactions differed by media type, demographic group, and country. For example, while having friends who shared alcohol-related content on social media was an important predictor of alcohol consumption in the Indian context, posting alcohol-related content themselves was a stronger predictor for drinking among Australian respondents.

What does it mean and where to next?

The results of this study suggest that social media-based alcohol marketing is user-focused and flexible compared with traditional forms of marketing. Social media provide alcohol marketers with a platform where they could adapt their online content to varying cultures, and leverage on cultural meanings that emerge from the conversations between users and brands (Gupta, Pettigrew, Lam, & Tait, 2017). Of particular concern is that those exposed to alcohol marketing on these sites are likely to include those under the legal alcohol purchase age, as age restrictions have been shown to be ineffective in preventing access to alcohol brand websites (Barry et al., 2015).

Consistent with previous research, the results of this study suggest an association between young people’s alcohol use and alcohol-related content posted on social media. The extent of their exposure to this content is likely to be the result of deficiencies in current regulatory codes. The results highlight the need to develop and implement strategies to effectively regulate social media alcohol marketing, especially among younger social media users.

To explore further about this study, please follow these links:

Gupta, H., Pettigrew, S., Lam, T., & Tait, R. J. (2016). A systematic review of the impact of exposure to internet-based alcohol-related content on young people's alcohol use behaviors. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 51(6), 763-771. https://doi.org/10.1093/alcalc/agw050

Gupta, H., Pettigrew, S., Lam, T., & Tait, R. J. (2017). How alcohol marketing engages users with alcohol brand content on Facebook: an Indian and Australian perspective. Critical Public Health, 1-10. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09581596.2017.1318203

Gupta, H., Lam, T., Pettigrew, S., & Tait, R. J. (2017). A cross-national comparison of the Twitter feeds of popular alcohol brands in India and Australia. Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687637.2017.1411886

Gupta, H., Lam, T., Pettigrew, S., & Tait, R. J. (2018). Alcohol marketing on YouTube: Exploratory analysis of content adaptation to enhance user engagement in different national contexts. BMC Public Health, 18, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-5035-3

References

Alhabash, S., McAlister, A. R., Quilliam, E. T., Richards, J. I., & Lou, C. (2015). Alcohol's Getting a Bit More Social: When Alcohol Marketing Messages on Facebook Increase Young Adults’ Intentions to Imbibe. Mass Communication and Society, 18(3), 350-375. doi:10.1080/15205436.2014.945651

Atkinson, A. M., Ross-Houle, K. M., Begley, E., & Sumnall, H. (2017). An exploration of alcohol advertising on social networking sites: an analysis of content, interactions and young people’s perspectives. Addiction Research & Theory, 25(2), 91-102. doi:10.1080/16066359.2016.1202241

Barnes, H. M., McCreanor, T., Goodwin, I., Lyons, A., Griffin, C., & Hutton, F. (2016). Alcohol and social media: drinking and drunkenness while online. Critical Public Health, 26(1), 62-76 15p. doi:10.1080/09581596.2015.1058921

Barry, A. E., Johnson, E., Rabre, A., Darville, G., Donovan, K. M., & Efunbumi, O. (2015). Underage Access to Online Alcohol Marketing Content: A YouTube Case Study. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 50(1), 89-94. doi:10.1093/alcalc/agu078

Carah, N., Brodmerkel, S., & Shaul, M. . (2015). Breaching the code: Alcohol, Facebook and self-regulation.

Dobson, C. (2012). Alcohol Marketing and Young People: Time for a new policy agenda. Retrieved from https://ama.com.au/sites/default/files/documents/alcohol_marketing_young...

Gupta, H., Pettigrew, S., Lam, T., & Tait, R. J. (2017). How alcohol marketing engages users with alcohol brand content on Facebook: an Indian and Australian perspective. Critical Public Health, 1-10.

Hoffman, E. W., Pinkleton, B. E., Weintraub Austin, E., & Reyes-Velázquez, W. (2014). Exploring college students use of general and alcohol-related social media and their associations with alcohol-related behaviors. Journal of American College Health, 62(5), 328-335. doi:10.1080/07448481.2014.902837

Jones, S. C., Robinson, L., Barrie, L., Francis, K., & Lee, J. K. (2016). Association Between Young Australian's Drinking Behaviours and Their Interactions With Alcohol Brands on Facebook: Results of an Online Survey. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 51(4), 474-480. doi:10.1093/alcalc/agv113

Nicholls, J. (2012). Everyday, everywhere: Alcohol marketing and social media-current trends. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 47(4), 486-493. doi:10.1093/alcalc/ags043

Van Bellegham, S. (2011). How Diageo’s digital strategy came to life. The Conversation Manager.  Retrieved from http://www.theconversationmanager.com/2011/06/14/how-diageos-digital-str...

Alhabash, S., McAlister, A. R., Quilliam, E. T., Richards, J. I., & Lou, C. (2015). Alcohol's Getting a Bit More Social: When Alcohol Marketing Messages on Facebook Increase Young Adults’ Intentions to Imbibe. Mass Communication and Society, 18(3), 350-375. doi:10.1080/15205436.2014.945651

Atkinson, A. M., Ross-Houle, K. M., Begley, E., & Sumnall, H. (2017). An exploration of alcohol advertising on social networking sites: an analysis of content, interactions and young people’s perspectives. Addiction Research & Theory, 25(2), 91-102. doi:10.1080/16066359.2016.1202241

Barnes, H. M., McCreanor, T., Goodwin, I., Lyons, A., Griffin, C., & Hutton, F. (2016). Alcohol and social media: drinking and drunkenness while online. Critical Public Health, 26(1), 62-76 15p. doi:10.1080/09581596.2015.1058921

Barry, A. E., Johnson, E., Rabre, A., Darville, G., Donovan, K. M., & Efunbumi, O. (2015). Underage Access to Online Alcohol Marketing Content: A YouTube Case Study. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 50(1), 89-94. doi:10.1093/alcalc/agu078

Carah, N., Brodmerkel, S., & Shaul, M. . (2015). Breaching the code: Alcohol, Facebook and self-regulation.

Dobson, C. (2012). Alcohol Marketing and Young People: Time for a new policy agenda. Retrieved from https://ama.com.au/sites/default/files/documents/alcohol_marketing_young...

Gupta, H., Pettigrew, S., Lam, T., & Tait, R. J. (2017). How alcohol marketing engages users with alcohol brand content on Facebook: an Indian and Australian perspective. Critical Public Health, 1-10.

Hoffman, E. W., Pinkleton, B. E., Weintraub Austin, E., & Reyes-Velázquez, W. (2014). Exploring college students use of general and alcohol-related social media and their associations with alcohol-related behaviors. Journal of American College Health, 62(5), 328-335. doi:10.1080/07448481.2014.902837

Jones, S. C., Robinson, L., Barrie, L., Francis, K., & Lee, J. K. (2016). Association Between Young Australian's Drinking Behaviours and Their Interactions With Alcohol Brands on Facebook: Results of an Online Survey. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 51(4), 474-480. doi:10.1093/alcalc/agv113

Nicholls, J. (2012). Everyday, everywhere: Alcohol marketing and social media-current trends. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 47(4), 486-493. doi:10.1093/alcalc/ags043

Van Bellegham, S. (2011). How Diageo’s digital strategy came to life. The Conversation Manager.  Retrieved from http://www.theconversationmanager.com/2011/06/14/how-diageos-digital-str...