Alcohol Sponsorship in Sports - Literature review Example

Running Head: ALCOHOL SPONSORSHIP IN SPORTS Student’s Name Subject Professor University/Institution Location Date Alcohol Sponsorship in Sports – A Review of 3 Articles Introduction Many alcoholic drinks manufacturing companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars in the USA and the UK to promote their brands and most of this advertising is mainly done during sporting events, a practice that is getting alarming each day with more and more young people who are interested in sports getting into the habit of drinking. Furthermore, alcohol sports sponsorship advertising has been shown to lead to many youths getting introduced to drinking due to the exposure they get from those advertisements (O'Brien & Kypri, 2008). There is however very little research on the subject of how alcohol sports sponsorship of both specialized and recreational sports influences drinking and the available data tends to be too shallow or not sufficient enough to establish a case. The rights of Alcohol advertising and promotion mechanisms are in question in the modern world more than ever before. Some people have proposed that it should be banned while others say that banning it would cause a lot of havoc in the sporting world considering that most of the promoters of sporting activities are alcohol brand companies. There also seems to be a heated debate going on in the research arena concerning the relationship existing between sports sponsorship advertising of alcoholic brands and the general characteristics of statistics that could be linked to it. The question that seems to linger in the minds of many researchers however is whether sports sponsorship by alcohol brand companies has anything to do with the level of social drinking that is witnessed in the modern day society and whether there are ways through which the aspect of influence of alcohol advertising can be regulated. This paper reviews three articles related to the subject to see how it is treated in the modern world. It will also include a short literature review on the subject. Literature Review Research carried out by Anderson et al (2009) on more than ten studies indicates that the exposure of young people to alcohol through advertising can lead them to begin to take alcohol. The study also showed that youngsters who already drank alcohol tended to drink even more when exposed to alcohol advertising. This discovery has also been made by other two researches by Meier et al (2008) and smith & Foxcroft (2009). The contact with alcohol advertising through sporting activities and how it influences alcohol consumption behavior, has very little research based evidence but according to Collins et al (2007), there is proof that the viewing of many sports programs that have numerous commercials that advertise alcoholic brands has a possibility of turning watcher into a drinker. Ellickson et al (2005) in another study have found out that most of the many incidences of drinking amongst people 12 months before the study could actually be attributed to contact with indulgence in sports and cultural events that exposed them to alcoholic brand advertisements. Aside from this, research has also found that in the “USA, New Zealand and Australia”, people who are addicted to sports tend to drink more alcohol than the rest of the population and in a very risky way at that (Martens et al, 2006 ; O’Brien et al, 2010). In addition to this, research has also established that the intensity of profound intermittent drinking behaviors have increased among youths and in particular amongst age group fraternities, and sportspersons in the USA. A research by Wechsler et al (1995)specifically points at this fact. Article 1: Turner, K. (2007). Alcohol and Sport Sponsorship: The Effect of Involvement and Congruence on Attitudes. Adelaide: The University of Adelaide. This article basically talks about the symbolism of Alcohol and sport in the culture of Australia and the beliefs of people concerning alcohol and sport and seemingly, the attitudes of people concerning the subject is that the two should be used together. The artticle also looks into the factor of the potential ethical issues that come with alcohol sponsorship in sports. According to the article, negative effects of alcohol sponsorship come about when alcohol sponsorship in sports is used to maintain the drinking culture of a society, in the case here, the Australian drinking culture. Besides this, the article also talks about the issues of ethicality which also emanatess from sports alcohol sponsorship. This article also compares the situation of alcohol consuption with that of tobacco consuption in an effort to establish whether the involvement of the government is requred in order to regulate the issues of sponsoring sports as a way of advertising for Alcohol manufacturing companies. Apart from dwelling on the negative effects of alcohol sponsorship of sports on the community, the article also focuses on whether banning of the advertisement of harmful products from sports sponsorship would or would not have a positive effect on the community. Concerning the latter, the article argues that it is controversial whether disclaimers such as those used by the companies that sponsor sports events as a way of advertising their alcoholic products are serious messages or mere lip services. The significance of the subject at hand cannot be ignored in that the attitudes of consumers signifiicantly shape the relationships of sports alcohol sponsorship. The attitudes of the consumer towards the subject therefore becomes a very significant entity. The article utilizes qualitative research methodologies in Australian communities to establish whether there is a considerable inconsistency in the “effectiveness of sponsorship in the context of sport and alcohol sponsorship relationships” and provides a foundation for the establishment of valid basis in the form of information to take care of this inconsistency. The background of the paper is analytical and it looks at the relationships that exist between the consumption of alcohol and the sponsorship of sports events. Apart from analysing research Data, the article also looks into the gaps that exists in existing literature concerning the subject and supplies information to the extend to which government regulation on the subject plays a positive role as well as where it has incongruities. The article is a very good one as it establishes the role of involvement of the government as well as the companies that manufacture alcohol in the issue of alcohol sponsorship of sports through the correspondence of consumers and their attitudes towards such sponsorship. It also deals with the values of communities regarding alcohol consumption and how the sponsorship factor affects them which makes it a comprehensive article since it touches on every party that is involved to bring out its views in a consistent and consistent manner making the readers understand what alcohol sponsorship of sporting activities means to the consumer and to the government as well and how the emergent issues can be dealt with. Article 2: European Sponsorship Association (ESA). (2006). European Sponsorship Association: Policy statement on sponsorship by alcohol brands. England: ESA. This short report by the European Sponsorship Association deals with the issue of the impact of alcohol sponsorship of sporting activities with regard to the consuption of alcohol in the European Union. In the quest for developing a strategy for regulating alcohol sponsorship in sports, ESA commissions a report into the societal, healthiness as well as financial impacts of the industry on Europe. ESA in this article gives an insight into the increase in alcohol consuption activities in Europe and particularly the existence development of the so calleld “binge drinking culture”, the health problems that may occur as a result of binge drinking and also provides reasons as to why the European society’s behaviour has changed in the past 50 years. Apart from this, ESA also commisions two authors from the London Institute of Alcohol Studies to provide a conclusion and recommendations in the last two chapters of the report. Among those recommendations that are offered are several that affect the issue of the use of sporting activities for purposes of alcohol adversing and sponsorship. These recommendations suggest an augmented long term progress that should eventually lead to; a ban on promotion of alcohol drinks on television and in movies, a restriction on the messages and imageries that are carried in such promotions in terms of marketing messages and labelling so that they only carry messages that are related to the quality of the products and nothing more and lastly a total proscription on the factor of alcohol sponsorship of sporting activities. The views of ESA which consitute the main factors of the article are that ESA takes precedence over the intention that it sponsors in this report, namely, dealing with the misuse of alcohol and other issues that are related to alcohol abuse. Some of the factors that the report brings out include the fact that the trends of alcohol consuption vary widely among the members states of the European Union and that a single approach in dealing with them might not be effective. The report also categorically states that there is very limited research into thefield of alcohol consuption trends and alcohol sports sponsorship and that more research ought to be done in order to come up with conclusive evidence. In the report, ESA also admits that it has reservations concerning the recommendation of a complete prohibition on alcohol sponsorship, this admission having been influenced by the fact that the recommendation was based on the conclusions of two inadequate reports of researches carried out in the USA. The research papers that are cited in this report also have no major relation with the subject of alcohol sponsorship in sports, rather they are based on research into beer consuption in sporting settings and to attendance at family amusement settings that have a link to sporting occasions. Considering that the social drinking scene in the USA is very different from that of the European Union, the article fails to deal throughly with the issue of sports sponsorship by alcohol manufacturing companies. In the same vein, trends in the USA might have very little to do with those of the European markets. The report however is not a complete flop when it comes to the issue at hand due to the increase in governments’ encuragement that organizers of sporting and cultural activities should look into the issue of funding sources such as the private sectors as an alternative way of sponsoring sporting events. Sponsorship of sporting events in the modern world is a very crucial factor and a ban on alcohol brands sponsorship of such events would lead to serious repercussions in funding of sports in Europe and cultural activities as well. Minority sports and activities particularly are capable of collapsing and besides its only alcohol brands that are more liable to sponsor such activities than other brands. The article has a great significance in matters of economic growth, healthy living responsible advertising of alcoholic substances and the autonomy of alcoholic drinks makers to carry out advertising for their products. The article also succeeds in bringing out the lack of reliable research in the European Union in as far as the subject is concerned and this acts as a strong basis for researchers to base their research on so as to create a more informed oulook of the subject and also to establish whether any restrictions regarding alcohol sponsorship of sports requires any restraints or other suitable guidelines or policies. All in all, the recommendation in the article of a complete ban on the alcohol sponsorship of sporting activities in the article is ill-considered and lopsided and would therefore be highly damaging to sports. However, ESA in its quest and concern for a more informed outlook on the subject still supports and encourages the commissioning of further research in this area within the European Union so that it can come up with a well informed strategic plan regarding the sponsorship of sporting activities by alcohol products manufacturing companies. Article 3: Mallam, M. (2006). A Commentary on Two of Australia's Greatest Consuming Passions, Alcohol and Sport, and the Regulation of the Relationship between Them. Australian and New Zealand Sports Law Journal Vol 1 Issue 1 , 42-79. This article begins with a quote by Clive Barnes which according to the article, gives a clear picture of how the typical Australian drinking culture looks like. Below is the quote; “Australia is obsessed with Rugby Union football and Australian Rules. But the great Australian sport is drinking”. The article deals with the relationship between sports and the drinking culture of the Australian people and demonstrates that sports and heavy drinking is part and parcel of the culture of Australia hence the relevance of the statement, which was made in the year 1974 serving to demonstrate that the situation that the article brings out has actually been so for decades. Certainly Australians have a long established culture of sport related alcohol consumption regardless of whether they are watching the sport at home in the comfort of their living room or in a public place. The article uses this cultural alignment to explain alcohol sponsorship of sporting activities in Australia through several advertising medium and promotions. This article looks at the relationships that exist between sport and alcohol in Australia and also looks at the community health aspect of the issue. In short the article deals with the structure within which alcohol and sport exist in Australia. The role of alcohol in the culture of Australia cannot be emphasized more than in this article and alcohol is brought out as a factor that shapes the identity of Australia. According to this article, alcohol sports sponsorship is just a small segment of Australia’s relationship with alcohol, but besides emphasizing this relationship, the article also defines issues that are related to ethics with regard to the subject and the harm it could cause to the society and especially teenagers. The article also talks about how promotion of alcoholic brands influences the decisions of the consumers and suggests ways through which the industry can be regulated regarding the subject at hand. The article specifically addresses matters of regulation in the context of Australia extensively. The article is an especially important one because the modern research world seems to be filled with paradoxes when it comes to the issue of alcohol sponsorship in sports. And every country has its own culture when it comes to the drinking habits of its people. The article is specifically enlightening when it comes to matters of informing the industry Research that is based in Australia concerning alcohol sponsorship in Australia seems to be very rampant and this is a very good example for other countries to follow suit and take care of the effects of the issue especially those that affect the society such as health and the youth who are the future generations. Conclusion There is very little research on the subject of alcohol sponsorship and most of the research that is available revolves around the effects of alcohol advertising in sporting events and sponsorships as well as the relationships between drinking behaviors and alcohol sports sponsorship. Other researches seem to revolve around culture, health issues and the effects of this practice on communities with more and more youths being said to have been recruited into drinking by alcohol sponsored sports events. The subject is a broad one and more research is obviously needed especially in the areas of how the practice can be regulated. List of References Anderson, P., de Bruijn, K., & Angus, R. e. (2009). Impact of alcohol advertising and media exposure on adolescent alcohol use; a systematic review of longitudinal studies. Alcohol & Alcoholism , 229-243. Collins, R., Ellickson, P., McCaffrey, D., & Hambarsoomians, K. (2007). Early adolescent exposure to alcohol advertising and its relationship to underage drinking. Journal of Adolescent Health , 527-534. Ellickson, P., Collins, K., Hambarsoomians, K., & McCaffrey, D. (2005). Does alcohol advertising promote adolescent drinking? - Results from a longitudinal assessment. Addiction , 235-246. European Sponsorship Association (ESA). (2006). European Sponsorship Association: Policy statement on sponsorship by alcohol brands. England: ESA. Mallam, M. (2006). A Commentary on Two of Australia's Greatest Consuming Passions, Alcohol and Sport, and the Regulation of the Relationship between Them. Australian and New Zealand Sports Law Journal Vol 1 Issue 1 , 42-79. Martens, M., Dams-O'Connor, K., & Duffy-Paiement, C. e. (2006). Perceived alcohol use among friends and alcohol consumption among college athletes. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors , 178-184. Meier, P., Booth, A., & Stockwell, T. e. (2008). Independent Review of the effects of alcohol pricing and promotion. Sheffield: University of Sheffield. O’Brien, K., Kolt, G., & Webber, A. (2010). Alcohol consumption in sport: The influence of sporting idols, friends, and normative drinking practices. Drug and Alcohol Review , 676-683. O'Brien, K., & Kypri, K. (2008). Alcohol industry sponsorship and hazardous drinking among sportspeople. Addiction , 1961-1966. smith, L., & Foxcroft, D. (2009). The effect of alcohol advertising, marketing and portrayal on drinking behaviour in young people: systematic review of prospective cohort studies. London: BMC Public Health. Turner, K. (2007). Alcohol and Sport Sponsorship: The Effect of Involvement and Congruence on Attitudes. Adelaide: The University of Adelaide. Wechsler, H., Dowdall, G., & Davenport, A. (1995). Correlates of college student binge drinking. American Journal of Public Health , 921-926. Read More