![]()
Examples of potential defensive reactions to alcohol warning labels have been found to occur in a number of studies including Andrews et al.’s stream of research exploring believability of alcohol warning messages. Findings show that participants who had a more favourable attitude towards drinking were less likely to believe warning label messages (Andrews et al., 1990). Further those who consume alcohol more frequently also found the alcohol warning messages to be less believable (Andrews et al., 1991). In an experimental study with students examining the effectiveness of the USA warning for alerting drinkers to the risks associated with consuming alcohol, Snyder and Blood (1992) found that drinking intentions were stronger for drinkers amongst those exposed to the warning as compared to drinkers that were not. These authors also showed the same pattern of effects for perceiving alcohol products to be beneficial.
![]()
The above effects shouldn’t be looked at in isolation but such boomerang effects highlight the need to comprehensively evaluate potential alcohol warning label policies. Further, alcohol warning labels are only one small part of an effective counter alcohol policy and though their use is supported by researchers additional research is needed to improve their effectiveness (Martin-Moreno et al., 2013). Examining the possibility of using warnings that engender a positive emotional response could also be undertaken as this approach has been fruitful in other risky consumption contexts (e.g., Lewis et al., 2007).
Andrews, J.C., Netemeyer, R.G., and Durvasula, S. (1990), “Believability and attitudes toward alcohol warning label information: The role of persuasive communications theory,” Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, 9, 1–15. Andrews, J.C., Netemeyer, R.G., and Durvasula, S. (1991), “Effects of consumption frequency on believability and attitudes toward alcohol warning labels,” Journal of Consumer Affairs, 25, 323–38. Blumberg, S. (2000), “Guarding against threatening HIV prevention messages: An information-processing model,” Health Education and Behavior, 27, 780-95. Brown, S., and Locker, E. (2009), “Defensive responses to an emotive anti-alcohol message,” Psychology & Health, 24, 517-28. Good, A., and Abraham, C. (2007), “Measuring defensive responses to threatening messages: a meta-analysis of measures,” Health Psychology Review, 1, 208-29. Lewis, I.M., Watson, B., White, K.M., and Tay, R. (2007), “Promoting public health messages: Should we move beyond fear-evoking appeals in road safety?,” Qualitative Health Research, 17, 61-74. Martin-Moreno, J.M., Harris, M.E., Berda, J. et al. (2013), “Enhanced labelling on alcoholic drinks: reviewing the evidence to guide alcohol policy,” European Journal of Public Health, 23, 1082–87. Rains, S.A. (2013), “The nature of psychological reactance revisited: A meta-analytic review,” Human Communication Research, 39, 47–73. Ringold, D.J. (2002), “Boomerang effects in response to public health interventions: Some unintended consequences in the alcoholic beverage market,” Journal of Consumer Policy, 25, 27–63. Rucker, D.D., and Petty, R.E. (2006), “Increasing the effectiveness of communications to consumers: Recommendations based on elaboration likelihood and attitude certainty perspectives,” Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 25, 39–52. Snyder, L.B., and Blood, D.J. (1992), “Caution: Alcohol advertising and the Surgeon General’s alcohol warnings may have adverse effects on young adults,” Journal of Applied Communication Research, 20, 37–53. Stewart, D.W., and Martin, I.M. (1994), “Intended and unintended consequences of warning messages: A review and synthesis of empirical research,” Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, 13, 1–19. |