The effects of responsible drinking messages on attentional allocation and drinking behaviour

• We evaluate the effects of responsible drinking messages in a simulated bar.
• Display of posters with responsible drinking messages led to increased consumption.
• Brief responsible drinking advice reduced the negative impact of the posters.
• Eyetracking data shows participants did not attend to health messages in posters.
• Researchers need to develop and refine methods for evaluating health campaigns.

AimsFour experiments were conducted to assess the acute impact of context and exposure to responsible drinking messages (RDMs) on attentional allocation and drinking behaviour of younger drinkers and to explore the utility of lab-based methods for the evaluation of such materials.MethodsA simulated bar environment was used to examine the impact of context, RDM posters, and brief online responsible drinking advice on actual drinking behaviour. Experiments one (n = 50) and two (n = 35) comprised female non-problem drinkers, whilst Experiments three (n = 80) and 4 (n = 60) included a mixed-gender sample of non-problem drinkers, recruited from an undergraduate student cohort. The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) was used to assess drinking patterns. Alcohol intake was assessed through the use of a taste preference task.ResultsDrinking in a simulated bar was significantly greater than in a laboratory setting in the first two studies, but not in the third. There was a significant increase in alcohol consumption as a result of being exposed to RDM posters. Provision of brief online RDM reduced the negative impact of these posters somewhat; however the lowest drinking rates were associated with being exposed to neither posters nor brief advice. Data from the final experiment demonstrated a low level of visual engagement with RDMs, and that exposure to posters was associated with increased drinking.ConclusionsPoster materials promoting responsible drinking were associated with increased consumption amongst undergraduate students, suggesting that poster campaigns to reduce alcohol harms may be having the opposite effect to that intended. Findings suggest that further research is required to refine appropriate methodologies for assessing drinking behaviour in simulated drinking environments, to ensure that future public health campaigns of this kind are having their intended effect.