Responsibility and Brand Advertising in the Alcoholic Beverage Market - Essay Example

Summary and Critique of “Responsibility and Brand Advertising in the Alcoholic Beverage Market: The Modeling of Normative Drinking Behavior” Debra Jones Ringold provides this objective for her long literature-review article: to integrate various literatures in brand advertising, responsibility advertising, and media advocacy, their impacts, and other issues associated with systematic and empirical research. Can’t we take this as good news – that there’s now moderate drinking in the United States? This is according to the Gallup Organization which has conducted surveys of American drinking of alcoholic beverages since 1939. And this is also true with underage drinking – there is a decline over the last three decades. There is considerable criticism on brand advertising in alcoholic beverage, and there are calls for more regulation in industry-sponsored responsibility messages. They are constantly criticized as mere public relations activities that are morally suspect. What are recommended are those moderation campaigns initiated by public health educators and organizations. Media advocacy efforts are also offered as a logical step. So, what should be given importance are industry-sponsored responsible drinking campaigns and media advocacy. These two will play a major role on alcoholic drinking advocacy in the future. Brand Advertising, Social Cause Advertising, and Media Advocacy Brand advertising for alcoholic beverage is focused on differentiating one brand from another, or giving reason why a particular brand should be preferred. Kotler (2003, qtd. in Ringold) refers to social marketing that characterizes public health education, whose key objective is to reduce the psychological, social, and practical obstacles hindering beneficial consumer behavior. Wallack (1990, p. 153, qtd. in Ringold) says that social marketing “provides people with accurate information so that they can take steps to improve their health”. Efforts in social marketing to effect positive health behavior provide valuable information for a desired behavior. Ringold cites the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) in its promotion of “responsible drinking”, which was supported by government agencies, organizations and industry groups. The context strategy was, “If you drink, drink responsibly, and here’s how…” Media advocacy seeks to change the ways in which problems are understood as public health issues (DeJong and Atkin 1995; Wallack 1990, qtd. in Ringold). Health behavior problems are the sole responsibility of individuals but producers, wholesalers, and retailers of alcoholic beverages also have the role to play in informing members of society about responsible drinking. Ringold cites Wallack as saying that “a strategy might be developed to stimulate media coverage of the ethical and legal culpability of alcohol companies that promote deadly products for consumption by teenagers”. Different groups have different objectives and message strategies in their treatment of alcoholic beverages. Brand advertising differentiates the different brands of products from one another, and that is to increase their market. Responsible organizations or public health campaigns seek to change individuals’ attitude for a more health-related behavior. On the other hand, media advocacy focuses on producers, wholesalers, retailers of alcoholic beverage so that consumers can have “good” choices. Brand advertising focuses on choice from other brands, while responsible drinking communications pay attention to behavior change on part of the drinker. Alcohol Brand Advertising In this portion, Ringold summarizes alcohol advertising literature. During its investigation, the FTC and the Senate exonerated brand advertising from some beliefs that it affected alcohol consumption or caused abuse. The Institute of Medicine in its investigation of underage drinking also concluded that “a causal link between advertising and youth consumption has not been established”. In other words, there is no proof that advertising caused people, especially the minors, to take alcoholic beverage. The FTC conclusion further adds that “advertising of alcoholic beverages serves useful purposes” (1985, AA p. 3, qtd. in Ringold). In fact, the FTC review says that it has positive effects on consumers. According to the investigation/reviews, brand advertising: 1. provides valuable information on the products, 2. leads expansion of other superior brands, 3. increases new entry, 4. increases competition, 5. allows firms to prove their claim on the product, and 6. does not exert pressure on consumers to take alcohol and result to abuse it. (Ringold) Government and Nonprofit Organizations’ Responsible Campaigns Responsible drinking campaigns by government agencies and nonprofit agencies were reviewed by Whitehead (1979 qtd. in Ringold), Blane and Hewitt (1980, qtd. in Ringold), and Wallack (1980 qtd. in Ringold), and all agree that early alcohol education programs were largely ineffective in changing behavior, and such campaigns “were plagued with inadequate evaluation methodologies, ineffective program design, and poor or faulty implementation”. Mass media campaigns on drinking have led to desired change in behavior, but “the extent of the role of mass media is weaker and indirect than previously assumed” (Vingilis and Coultes, 1990, qtd. in Ringold). More has to be done and proper perspectives instituted on such moves. Industry-sponsored Responsibility Advertising Industry-sponsored advertising were less likely to feature negative consequences than government/nonprofit ads. This is self-explanatory. They, the industry players, would not make viewers feel uncomfortable or afraid of drinking their products. A lab study by Atkin, DeJong, and Wallack (1992, qtd. in Ringold) focused on high school and college students on their reactions on drinking ads by beer companies and public service organizations, and the students rated the ads as either “excellent” or “good”. Conclusion and evidence taken from a number of studies suggest that “industry-responsibility efforts can affect changes in knowledge, attitudes, and behavior; are perceived to be quite similar to those sponsored by government/nonprofit organizations; and may be more effective than government/nonprofit messages with heavier drinkers” (Ringold, 2008). Criticisms on Industry-sponsored Responsibility Advertising Industry-sponsored responsible drinking campaigns such as: “Know When to Say When,” “Think When You Drink,” and “Drink Safely”, are more widely criticized because of their vagueness in relation to the real aim of responsible drinking. Critics say that the companies using these ads are just promoting their brands rather than advocating so-called moderation in drinking, and they just encourage excessive alcohol consumption. By having a designated driver, and the others can drink as much as they can, is one of the ideas being promoted by the beer industry. Social Learning Theory and Drinking Advertising affects social learning. This is so when we see commercials on television and other mass media, people tend to emulate what they see and hear. And advertisers influence what they want consumers to behave. Strickland (1983 qtd. in Ringold) and Pittman (1984, qtd. in Ringold) suggested that according to the principles of social learning, the consumption of alcoholic beverages is learned. Further, these principles suggested behavior as “regulated by its consequences”; behavior “can be learned observationally”; and can be “cognitively represented” (Ringold). Behavior is a result of observation on the behavior of others. Most human behavior is learned by observation through modeling (Bandura 1986, qtd. in Ringold). While this is true in many circumstances, sometimes it does not apply in other human behavior. What Bandura would want to imply is that we learn many things in what we see and observe in the media, especially in television. Television is a big influence in man’s activity nowadays. Children and adults learn from observing from advertisements and commercials, and they tend to copy or learn, and apply what they have learned in their daily lives. And that is learning by observation through modeling. Social Learning theory, espoused by Strickland (1983, p. 204, qtd. in Ringold), suggests that maladaptive drinking habits can be prevented or modified by a method known as social modeling. There is a powerful effect in modeling of alcohol consumption wherein an individual tries to match his alcohol consumption with that of his drinking partner. Studies and surveys conducted provide some positive data which says that drinking behaviors have developed as a result of modeling and other social influence processes, and prevention of problem drinking can also be instituted through this modeling method by “exposing individuals, who are learning to use alcohol (e.g., adolescents) or who are at risk for developing a drinking problem, [or] exposure to a heavy drinking peer who has experienced negative consequences as a result of the excessive consumption of alcohol” (Collins and Marlatt, 1981, p. 236-237, qtd. in Ringold). The Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration’s Office for Substance Abuse Prevention’s (OSAP) also noted social learning theory’s role in prevention programs. All these agencies promoting responsible drinking in young people should present these attractive and successful models, like: “drink moderately”, “do not drink and drive”, “serve as designated drivers”, and abstain in situations where drinking is unacceptable. DeJong, atkin, and Wallack (qtd. in Ringold) suggest these guidelines: 1. It should be made clear that alcohol consumption must be avoided in situations that require alertness; 2. Do not imply that alcohol is just an ordinary activity of society. 3. Never encourage heavy consumption. 4. Do not include scenes that encourage revelry. 5. Do not glamorize alcohol consumption. 6. Do not portray sexual passion and other obscene actions as a result of drinking. Brand Advertising Content and Normative Drinking Behavior A content analysis of alcohol advertising in beer, wine, and distilled spirits advertisements in magazines, newspapers, and television, and revealed that these advertisements contained male characters aged early 30s. This was for the period 1978 and 1979. Atkin concluded in his study that the implicit message in the alcohol advertisements was moderate drinking, and that only an “exceptionally small number of advertisements portrayed the use of alcohol in troublesome ways such as portrayals of hazardous activities” (Atkin, qtd. in Ringold) Strickland, Finn, and Lambert (1982, qtd. in Ringold) and Finn and Strickland (1982 qtd. in Ringold) also provided a description of print and broadcast alcoholic beverage advertising for the same period, and they reported that there were no themes of “sexual connotation, religious symbolism, hedonism and self-indulgent reward, but moderation messages were found in less than 3% of print ads”. In contrast, Finn and Strickland (1982 qtd. in Ringold) found that “over 90% of the broadcast ads featured human models”. In this same situation, Leventhal (1964 qtd. in Ringold) commented that “the mass media seem to encourage rather ritualized ideas about drinking … The ritualization of drinking patterns and making the use of alcohol relevant to many social goals amy, in fact, discourage drunkenness” (p. 292, qtd. in Ringold). In the analysis of content advertising found in 11 consumer magazines, Wyant (1992 qtd. in Ringold), Atkin and Block (1981 qtd. in Ringold) and Strickland, Finnk, and Lambert (1982 qtd. in Ringold), 46% contained human models, and of those models, 5.3% were partially nude. They also found 9.4% with erotic/romantic themes, 8.8% were sexually suggestive, but 8.1% of the ads encouraged moderation in consumption. Between 1996 and 1997, a study was conducted on a limited number of ads for beer in 12 consumer magazines. Most of the themes depicted lifestyles and contained no people, with the following data: 35.7% for outdoors, 14.3% for rest and relaxation, 7.1% for romantic/relationship, and 7.1% for professional work. (Kelly et. al., 2000, p. 198, qtd. in Ringold) Another limited analysis was conducted by Zwarun and Farrar (2006 qtd. in Ringold) on alcohol advertising associated with sporting events between 1994 and 1997, which gave a positive outcome with a conclusion that “humor and friendship/camaraderie were the two themes most frequently conveyed”. These studies also reported an obedient commercial world where advertising on alcoholic beverage appeared to comply with responsibility advertising content guidelines. They further stated that alcohol was only taken when situations required people to be alert, so they have to take alcohol. Also, alcohol consumption was done after activities, or during leisure hour. Ads also did not depict anything about sex. Weakness of Ringold’s Article There have been positive observations over alcohol consumption and media and industry responsibility advertising on alcohol consumption over the last years. Ringold’s article precisely stated that it was during the last three decades. There’s a gap then between Ringold’s article, and the time the surveys and studies were conducted. For a recent study, we’re still on the blank about it. But we have to concentrate on Ringold’s article for the moment. Ringold’s article is a literature review with some touches of discussion at the end. There is little observation, less application to what have been experienced, and hence there is lesser comparison. However, at the conclusion Ringold recommends further study, an empirical question. Her recommendation is based on an observation by DeJong, Atkin, and Wallack (1992, p. 669, qtd. in Ringold) that industry-sponsored moderation campaigns introduced “prodrinking themes and images that are typical of the companies’ standard beer commercials”. Ringold suggested that this should be “addressed through formal, comprehensive content analyses of both brand and responsibility advertising”. In other words, this should be the subject of another study. Conclusion Ringold wanted to give a real bird’s eye-view of the situation on responsibility advertising and the truth that there has been moderate drinking in the United States, especially among the young in America. It was the result of a Gallup poll on American drinking of alcoholic beverages since 1939. There is also a decline in underage drinking over the last three decades. However, on the question of the industry-sponsored moderation campaigns, media advertising, and concerned organizations’ responsibility advertising, these groups have continually done their job and pushed for strict implementation of the guidelines in media and in any other communication for public consumption. Works Cited Collins, R. Lorraine, and G. Allan Marlatt. "Social Modeling as a Determinant of Drinking Behavior: Implications for Prevention and Treatment," Addictive Behaviors, 1981, p. 6 (qtd. in Ringold). William DeJong, and Lawrence Wallack. The Influence of Responsible Drinking TV Spots and Automobile Commercials on Young Drivers, Washington, DC: AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, 1992, (qtd. in Ringold). Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Recommendations of the Staff of the FTC Re: Omnibus Petition for Regulation of Unfair and Deceptive Alcohol Beverage Advertising and Marketing Practices, Docket 209-46 (March), Washington, DC: Bureau of Economics/Bureau of Consumer Protection, 1985, (qtd. in Ringold). Kotler, Philip. Marketing Management, 11th ed., Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2003, (qtd. in Ringold). Ringold, Debra Jones. Responsibility and Brand Advertising in the Alcoholic Beverage Market: The Modeling of Normative Drinking Behavior. Journal of Advertising. 22 March 2008. 16 February 2009. Strickland, Donald E. (1983), "Advertising Exposure, Alcohol Consumption, and Misuse of Alcohol," in Economics and Alcohol: Consumption and Controls, Alan Williams, Martin Plant, and Marcus Grant, eds., London: Croom Helm, 1983, p. 201-222 (qtd. in Ringold, 2008). Vingilis, Evelyn, and Barbara Coultes. "Mass Communications and Drinking-Driving: Theories, Practices and Results," Alcohol, Drugs and Driving, 6 (2), 61-81, 1990, (qtd. in Ringold, 2008). Whitehead, Paul C. "Public Policy and Alcohol Related Damage: Media Campaigns or Social Controls," Addictive Behaviors, 4, 83-89, 1979, (qtd. in Ringold, 2008). Read More