Young people have well-developed beliefs about alcohol even before they have experience with drinking. Although parents, peers, and other environmental influences are important in shaping these beliefs, and ultimately drinking behaviors, alcohol advertising may also be a source through which children and adolescents learn about alcohol. The available research, however, does not answer the question of whether alcohol advertising affects the drinking knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors of young people. Moreover, there is only a limited understanding of the themes and images portrayed in alcohol advertising and how children and adolescents interpret and respond to them. In order to address these issues, three inter-related studies of television and magazine alcohol and comparison (soft drink) advertising will be undertaken. Study 1 is a three-year longitudinal survey of 1,000 9-16 year-old children and adolescents and their parents. This study will investigate the effects of exposure to, attention to, and affect toward alcohol advertising on drinking knowledge, expectancies, perceived norms, intentions, and behaviors. The study will apply a theoretical model that stipulates how alcohol advertising is mediated and moderated by variables important for the message interpretation process. It will use a combination of computer assisted personal interviews, self-administered questionnaires, and interim telephone interviews. Study 2 is a content analysis focusing on the themes, images, and other characteristics of television and magazine alcohol and comparison advertisements. The content analyses will focus on objective characteristics of the advertisements (e.g., number and gender of characters) and on more subjective aspects of them (e.g., themes, images, and implied promises). In addition to providing important information about the nature of alcohol and comparison soft drink advertising, the data from the content analyses will be combined with the survey data. Study 3 win investigate young people's responses to and interpretations of alcohol and comparison advertising. It will thus provide a greater understanding of what qualities make alcohol advertisements appealing to young people. It will also provide important information about the interpretation process that children and adolescents use when exposed to alcohol advertisements. The overall goal of the research is to ascertain if, and under what circumstances, alcohol advertising predisposes young people to drink. The studies will increase our knowledge of the processes through which such changes occur and will provide a basis for designing effective prevention strategies.
