The alcohol brand preferences of underage drinkers vary by race and age and do not correlate to cost or availability, according to a study released Tuesday by the Boston University School of Public Health.
The study was based on a survey of 1,031 people aged 13-20. The drinks chosen by this demographic change according to age, with hard liquor becoming more popular as people get older, the study found.
“Across all demographic groups, Bud Light was ‘overwhelmingly’ the most popular brand, with a prevalence of past 30-day consumption ranging from 19.3 percent among black respondents to 38.2 percent among Hispanic youths,” a press release stated. “Bud Light also was the most popular brand among female drinkers, with a reported consumption rate of 27.7 percent.”
Michael Siegel, a professor in SPH and the lead investigator on the study, said he feels that the most interesting part of the study is the strong loyalties youths feel to their alcohol brand choices.
“It doesn’t appear to be the case that youth are choosing the cheapest brands or that they are choosing whatever is available in their parents’ liquor cabinet,” Siegel said. “It’s very clear that they have specific brand identities that appeal to them and that they preferentially choose these small set of brands over all the other brands that are available on the market, even brands that are much less expensive.”
The study also found that the brand choices vastly differ based on race and ethnicity. Siegel said there are several brands popular with black underage drinkers that are not popular at all with white underage drinkers. This is a result of differing exposure to these products, he said.
“What we found was interesting was that with each of those brands [popular with black youths], we were able to find brand mentions in the lyrics of popular rap songs,” Siegel said. “Brands are a part of the culture and it is not a coincidence that youth are choosing to drink these brands.”
Siegel said he is hopeful that the results of this study, which is the first of its kind according to the release, will lead marketers to reevaluate the effects of exposing youth to alcohol advertising. He said that the most important aspect of the study is being able to use the information to create useful intervention programs to prevent underage drinking.
“We found evidence that the brands to [whom] advertising youth are most heavily exposed are the brands which youth are choosing to drink,” Siegel said. “Society might consider public policy that would restrict advertising that is targeted at underage drinkers.”
Siegel said he also wants to educate youth about the harmful effects of alcohol advertising. He said that media literacy training about the true nature of alcohol advertisements may be able to prevent underage drinkers from being “pulled in” to choosing to drink just based on an attractive advertisement.
“If we can teach kids to understand what the advertisers are trying to do to them, how they’re manipulating their ideas about the brand, we might be able to counteract the effect of this advertising,” he said. “We may actually be able to change youth’s attitudes about alcohol.”
Several students said they agree alcohol advertising contributes to underage drinking and the brands preferred by underage drinkers.
“I think today with the prevalence of social media and word of mouth, people see what their friends are drinking and buy the same stuff,” said Niki Etebari, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. “Also, the more experience someone has with a certain type of alcohol, the more likely they are to buy it because they know what it’s like.”
Michaela Morrison, a freshman in the College of General Studies, said she also believes that underage drinkers choose brands they know well.
“I think they as developing drinkers start to actually buy and consume alcohol, they choose brands that are known to them,” she said. “That could be well-advertised brands which are easily accessible or brands their parents use.”
Yvette Pollack, a junior in the College of Communication, said that she was not surprised by the results of the study, as alcohol advertising seems to directly target young people.
“I think the advertisements play drinking up as something everyone who is older than you and cooler than you does,” Pollack said, “even when it’s not true.”
