Alcohol advertising is recognized to have little or no influence on the amount or frequency of alcohol drinks consumption by the population. The rate of liquor drinking is impacted by factors other than commercial representation.
Explanation:
Recently, there has been a significant rise in alcohol advertising restrictions aimed at controlling the popularization of alcohol drinks. Due to the generally perceived harmful effects of alcohol consumption, a continuous discussion of the pros and cons of alcohol advertisements has been at the center of public concern for many years.
However, the study conducted by the scholars at The University of Texas at Austin found that there is very little connection between the representation of alcoholic beverages in commercials and the consecutive rate of alcohol consumption by the population.
The scholars analyzed the data about the expenditures of liquor producing entities on advertising and the income earned from the sales of alcohol during the last four decades. The results showed that the income from sales of wine, beer, and liquor has not significantly changed over the years. However, the expenditures of the companies on advertising has risen by 400%.
Therefore, the overall rate of alcohol consumption is not influenced by the representation of such beverages in advertisements. Instead, the authors of the research claim that there are other factors that contribute to the frequency of drinking.
As for the relation of advertising to consumers’ purchasing behavior, it is suggested that people tend to choose particular brands among the available variants based on their representation in the commercials. Conclusively, advertising bans will not help reduce the rate of alcohol consumption.