The Effects of Point-of-Purchase Alcohol Marketing and Promotion on Youth Drinking Behaviors
- Presenter:
Chair: Michael Grossman; Discussant: Shin-Yi Chou Tue June 6, 2006 8:00-9:30 Room 332
Point-of-Purchase (POP) alcohol marketing is widespread in stores frequented by U.S. teenagers and young adults. The alcohol industry has credited substantial increases in alcoholic beverage sales to these on-site marketing campaigns. Little is known, however, about the extent to which POP alcohol marketing contributes to the underage drinking and binge drinking problems. To fill in this gap in the literature, we collected POP alcohol marketing information for a sample of stores in the catchments areas of the schools that participated in the Monitoring the Future Surveys in each of the five years from 1999 to 2003. We then merged this information to the Monitoring the Future Surveys to analyze the effects of these POP marketing practices on the prevalence and frequency of youth drinking and binge drinking. The POP information collected included the placement and intensity of exterior and interior alcohol advertisement, sales and promotion of alcohol, alcohol-branded functional objects, placement of beers, and anti-alcohol signage. Analysis based on the merged data provides evidence on which POP marketing and counter marketing device is an important determinant of youth drinking and binge drinking. This research will help design a more nuanced guideline on POP marketing to curb sales practices that might cause increased underage risky drinking and its related negative outcomes.
