The embodied dimensions of road cycling and the formation of gendered cycling identities

This thesis aims to offer a better understanding as to why road cycling remains one of Australia’s most popular leisure activities, despite a reported 38 road cyclists killed annually and another 12,000 seriously injured (AIHW, 2019). By investigating cycling sensations of the body and cycling, this thesis responds to calls from feminist geographical scholarship to embraced embodied approaches. Building on feminist readings of the work of Deleuze and Guattari (1987), this thesis offers the concepts of the ‘cycling assemblage’ and ‘cycling refrain’ to help rethink the relationship between mobility, subjectivities and place. Two important implications arise. First, attention is drawn to how road cycling is always more than a human achievement through the involvement of the topography, weather, bikes, clothes, light and so on. Second, identification as a road cyclist is never fixed or pre-existing, rather is always emerging through the sensations felt during the coming together of ideas and materials on the move. Insights into becoming a road cyclist build on methodological arguments that call for a sensory ethnography. Cycling sensory ethnographies designed for this project combined semi-structured interviews with go-alongs and qualitative geographic information systems. 27 people consented to participate. All identified as leisure road cyclists and lived in the car-dominated small city of Wollongong, on the east coast of New South Wales, Australia. The sensory analysis involved mapping affective moments that provide important insights into the gendered dynamics of leisure cycling and self-tracking technologies, the embodied dimensions of mobility justice, and rethinking wellbeing through cycling as a more than human achievement. The thesis concludes by highlighting contributions to the academy and future research

Using social marketing to promote cold and flu prevention behaviors on an Australian university campus

Background: Cold and influenza transmission is a serious public health issue for universities. This case study describes a coordinated social marketing campaign that incorporated health messages and products. It was designed to motivate behavior change to prevent the spread of colds and influenza on a university campus. Methods: The aims of this multi-component intervention were to raise awareness of the importance of individual behavior in preventing the spread of colds and flu and to encourage staff and students to adopt three simple habits: hand washing, cough or sneeze in sleeve, and stay at home if sick. A repeated, cross-sectional survey design assessed the following pre- and post-campaign: salience of colds and flu; perceived severity of, and susceptibility to, colds and flu; beliefs about effective prevention strategies; and engagement in preventative behaviors. Campaign message and product recall were assessed post-campaign. Results: Campaign message recall was high (over 80% of staff and 70% of students); fewer staff (one-third) or students (one-quarter) recalled campaign products. Few pretest-posttest differences were observed in perceived susceptibility or severity. Recognition of cough or sneeze into your sleeve as an effective prevention strategy increased pre- to post-campaign (a percentage increase of 39.6% for staff and 25.1% for students); campaign exposed respondents were significantly more likely than unexposed to rate this strategy as effective post-campaign. Substantial pretest-posttest percentage increases in the top ranked prevention strategies were found for the three core messages: hand washing (51% for students); cough in sleeve (59.2%, staff; 71.1%, students); and stay at home if sick (120%, staff). Conclusions: This setting-based intervention clearly reached staff and students with the primary messages. Success can be attributed to using consumer insight to develop multiple marketing messages and strategies, rather than a single- strategy communication campaign

Alcohol advertising during televised Australian Football finals

Alcohol marketing during sport, and alcohol industry sponsorship of sporting events, is highly lucrative; however, concerns have been raised over the impact on child and adolescent viewers of repeated exposure to alcohol marketing messages. The aim of this research project was to investigate the amount and type of alcohol marketing during two major sporting events in 2012 - the semi-finals and grand final of the AFL and NRL. The broadcasts of these six games were audited for alcohol advertisements and other advertising communications. Almost one-fifth of the screen time included alcohol marketing. Policy and practice implications of these findings are discussed

Patron offending and intoxication in night time entertainment districts (POINTED) : a study protocol

Risky alcohol consumption is the subject of considerable community concern in Australia and internationally, particularly the risky drinking practices of young people consuming alcohol in the night-time economy. This study will determine some of the factors and correlates associated with alcohol-related risk-taking, offending and harm in and around licensed venues and night-time entertainment precincts across five Australian cities (three metropolitan and two regional). The primary aim of the study is to measure levels of pre-drinking, drinking in venues, intoxication, illicit drug use and potentially harmful drinking practices (such as mixing with energy drinks) of patrons in entertainment areas, and relating this to offending, risky behaviour and harms experienced. The study will also investigate the effects of license type, trading hours, duration of drinking episodes and geographical location on intoxication, offending, risk-taking and experience of harm. Data collection involves patron interviews (incorporating breathalysing and drug testing) with 7500 people attending licensed venues. Intensive venue observations (n=112) will also be undertaken in a range of venues, including pubs, bars and nightclubs. The information gathered through this study will inform prevention and enforcement approaches of policy makers, police and venue staff.<br /

Alcohol energy drinks: engaging young consumers in co-creation of alcohol related harm

Alcohol-energy drinks are a relatively new entry to the alcohol market, but have rapidly gained popularity among young drinkers. Unfortunately, these products are also associated with higher levels of alcohol-related harm, including negative health effects and increased levels of aggression and violence. This paper reports on the social image functions served by these products, as perceived by university students; and suggests that there is a need to look beyond alcohol advertising to other factors that increase consumption – including pricing, distribution, use of social media, and consumer co-creation of brand image. Keywords: attitude, behaviour, experience, perception, public health, responsibility, alcoho

Why social marketing? Because knowledge is not enough to deter secondary supply of alcohol to minors

Australian teenagers are increasingly drinking at risky levels, defined as consuming seven or more alcohol drinks on a single day for males, and five or more for females (White and Smith, 2012). Alcohol consumption by adolescents presents serious health and social problems unique to their age group (Lubman, Yucel and Hall, 2007; National Centre on Addiction and Substance Abuse, 2002). A significant factor contributing to underage drinking is the \u27secondary supply\u27 of alcohol to minors (i.e. the supply of alcohol to minors by persons other than licensees/staff employed by licensed premises, such as parents, siblings and older peers). In a recent survey of NSW students aged 12-17 years, parents were reported as the most common source of alcohol supply for those who had consumed alcohol in the past seven days (NSW Department of Health, 2008). Secondary supply by parents for consumption in private settings is legal in most states of Australia including New South Wales (NSW) (Liquor Act 2007 No 90). We undertook a survey in three Local Area Commands (LACs), in collaboration with NSW Police, to identify knowledge, awareness and attitudes of parents and young people towards the supply of alcohol to minors and to explore the extent to which secondary supply laws act as a barrier to supply to minors

RTDs in Australia: expensive designer drinks or cheap rocket fuel?

Introduction and Aims. The ready-to-drink (RTD) market is growing rapidly, and this product category has been shown to be particularly appealing to young drinkers. The purpose of this study was to identify and describe the range and availability of RTDs available in New South Wales (NSW) (including metropolitan, regional and rural areas), with a particular focus on the variations in alcohol content and pricing. Design and Methods. A total of 52 alcohol outlet audits were conducted across nine locations, including metropolitan, regional and rural New South Wales. Trained auditors recorded the RTDs for sale in each outlet, including product characteristics and prices for each product, and overall fridge/store space allocated to RTDs. Results. Across the 52 bottle shops audited, 150 individual RTD alcohol products were identified, ranging from 4.8% to 7.5% alcohol by volume and from 1.0 to 2.7 standard drinks (SD) per unit. When purchased in multipacks (typically four or six units), the cost per SD ranged from $1.95 to$3.70, decreasing to as low as $1.22 per SD when on special. Discussion and Conclusions. The proliferation of high-strength RTDs and the substantial discounting of multipack purchases means that RTDs can no longer be seen as expensive low-strength sweet-flavoured drinks targeted at female drinkers, but as a broader product category that includes high-strength male-targeted brands. There is a need for further research to examine young people\u27s preferences for these different product types; and consideration of policies, alongside price-based interventions, that address broader marketing strategies

\u27As long as you have some of that, it cancels it out\u27: How advertisers use guilt to sell us quick-fixes for our unhealthy behaviour

In a society with numerous guidelines for „healthy living‟, people make conscious decisions to substitute or trade certain health behaviours with others. The current study investigates young adults‟ perceptions of messages in advertising which imply that use or consumption of a product may have health benefits or may even provide a „solution‟ or trade-off for a consumer who has made (or would like to make) a suboptimal health behaviour choice. Using focus groups and a survey, we found that these types of decisions are common, and that people spontaneously recall editorial and advertising messages that convey such messages. Responding to an advertisement for low carbohydrate beer, young adult consumers perceived messages that suggest alcohol consumption could be traded for exercise

Declining physical activity levels as an unintended consequence of abolishing mandatory campus service fees

Objective: This study investigates the effect of the introduction of voluntary student unionism and subsequent increase in campus facility fees on engagement in physical activity on campus. Participants: Participants were 1,904 students from a large regional NSW (Australia) university across 3 time periods (926 in 2005, 504 in 2006, and 474 in 2007). Methods: Students completed a survey across the 3 time periods, responding to questions about physical activity levels, use of on-campus and off-campus facilities, and barriers to facility use. Results: Participation in physical activity at university facilities was low overall, and declined substantially between 2005 and 2007, with the proportion of students identifying cost as a barrier more than doubling over this time period. Conclusions: There is a need for policy makers to consider the unintended health impacts of such policy changes, particularly in relation to the impact on already insufficient levels of physical activity

Point-of-sale alcohol promotions in the Perth and Sydney metropolitan areas

There is considerable evidence that reducing the price of alcohol increases the amount consumed, particularly among young people. However, there is an absence of research on other point-of-sale (POS) alcohol marketing strategies - such as those that ‘reward’ purchasers with free gifts. The purpose of the present study was to document the nature and extent of POS alcohol promotions in bottle shops in two Australian capital cities. An audit tool was developed and point-of-sale promotions were found to be ubiquitous, with 416 promotions identified across 24 audits (an average of 17.3 promotions per outlet; 19.8 in Sydney and 14.9 in Perth). The most concerning finding was that these promotions appear to provide an incentive for (young) consumers to increase their purchase quantity