Report on the impact of European alcohol marketing exposure on youth alcohol expectancies and youth drinking.

This deliverable reports on two possible outcomes of alcohol marketing exposure among youth: its impact on expectancies on alcohol as well as the drinking behavior. By including both outcomes in one analysis it was not only studied whether alcohol marketing exposure affects youth drinking behavior, but also whether the possible effect is mediated by expectancies on drinking alcohol. In this way, the authors attempt to provide a deeper understanding into the mechanisms behind the hypothesised impact of alcohol marketing exposure. In order to study the impact of alcohol marketing exposure, two studies have been conducted: one study on online alcohol marketing (Study A) and a second study on alcohol-branded sport sponsorship (Study B). Focus groups held within the AMPHORA study revealed the possible importance of digital media and sport sponsorship according to European youth. Although alcohol marketing expenditures of these types of alcohol marketing are growing steadily, there is still a gap within the scientific literature on the impact of these types of alcohol marketing. This report concludes with take home messages which give a summary of the most important findings

European longitudinal study on the relationship between adolescents’ alcohol marketing exposure and alcohol use.

This is the first study to examine the effect of alcohol marketing exposure on adolescents’ drinking in a cross-national context. The aim was to examine reciprocal processes between exposure to a wide range of alcohol marketing types and adolescent drinking, controlled for non-alcohol branded media exposure. School-based sample in 181 state-funded schools in Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland. A total of 9075 eligible respondents participated in the survey (mean age 14 years, 49.5% male. Adolescents reported their frequency of past-month drinking and binge drinking. Alcohol marketing exposure was measured by a latent variable with 13 items measuring exposure to online alcohol marketing, televised alcohol advertising, alcohol sport sponsorship, music event/festival sponsorship, ownership alcohol-branded promotional items, reception of free samples and exposure to price offers. Confounders were age, gender, education, country, internet use, exposure to non-alcohol sponsored football championships and television programmes without alcohol commercials. Conclusions: There appears to be a one-way effect of alcohol marketing exposure on adolescents’ alcohol use over time, which cannot be explained by either previous drinking or exposure to non-alcohol-branded marketing