What we see is what we tend to believe. And if it is something that is supposed to be done to persuade people to take action, like the countless advertisements that appear on television screens, the impact could be long-lasting. A recent study strongly supports this belief, which says that the placement of alcohol brands on television has a much greater impact on young people who watch them.
Alcohol advertising on television promotes underage drinking. Seeing such attractive advertisements undoubtedly lures the impressionable minds of teens into drinking something that needs to be addressed, the researchers feel.
The study, titled “Placement of Alcohol Brands on TV Shows: A Content Coding Analysis and Comparison with Young People’s Brand Preference,” says there is a greater presence of alcohol brands on TV these days. . While tobacco companies have been banned from placing advertisements for their products on television since 2000, alcohol brands still enjoy some immunity and freedom of action.
The study, published in the American Academy of Pediatrics In May 2016, it was carried out on more than 2,600 young people between the ages of 15 and 20, who were asked about their television viewing habits. The researchers asked them how much the 10 most popular TV shows watched, along with questions about their drinking behavior and favorite brand of alcohol.
Greater visibility translates to deeper filtration for alcohol brands
The results of the study showed that the brands that were most prominent and visible on television shows were more popular with underage youth, who invariably chose them as their favorite brands. Budweiser, Dos Equis, and Heineken are some of the most visible alcohol brands on national television. It is not surprising that these alcohol brands have a strong influence on the youth of the country.
The study also found that youth with higher levels of watching TV shows with a more prominent brand location reported higher levels of problem alcohol behavior, such as binge drinking.
Alcohol regulation needs reform
The researchers said the government should formulate stricter regulations on alcohol, as current regulations are largely not enforced. “The current approach to alcohol self-regulation in the television media represents a failure of our government to protect children from the marketing of the alcohol industry,” said lead author Joy Gabrielli, Ph.D., a clinical child psychologist and Postdoctoral Researcher at Dartmouth College & Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.
“Despite the fact that alcoholic beverage companies report in a 2012 Federal Trade Commission summary that they pay little for the brand placement of their products, highly publicized brands were commonly featured on some popular television shows among consumers. young minors. This raises the question of whether companies are accurately reporting such payments to government regulators, “Gabrielli said.
Parental intervention
Parents play a key role in preventing their children from watching television shows that promote alcohol brands. “Parents should be aware that their children are very likely to be exposed to alcohol brand locations if they watch television programs rated TV-PG or higher, and that this could affect their drinking behavior,” Gabrielli said.
Treatment options available
Alcoholism can be cured with the right treatment intervention programs. While severe alcoholism needs inpatient addiction treatment centers, milder ones can also be treated in outpatient centers. Tea inpatient addiction treatment centers they are especially good and are famous in the country.