Posted: June 11, 2020
Excessive consumption of alcohol increases the risk of several diseases, including seven different types of cancers. Evidence from tobacco research suggests that health warning labels (HWLs), especially those that use images showing the health risks of smoking, can change smoking behaviours. The current study aimed to investigate the impact of HWLs – communicating the increased risk of cancers associated with alcohol consumption – on selection of alcoholic drinks in an online setting.
We recruited 6024 participants who consumed beer or wine regularly to take part in this online study. Participants were randomised to one of four groups and completed a selection task where they viewed a selection of 12 drinks (six alcoholic, six non-alcoholic) and selected one they wanted to drink. Depending on the condition to which participants were randomised, the alcoholic drinks displayed either no label or one of three HWLs: (a) image-and-text (b) text-only and (c) image-only. The HWLs depicted bowel cancer, breast cancer or liver cancer.
We found that all of the HWLs reduced selection of alcohol compared to no HWL (proportion of participants that selected alcohol: no HWL: 77%; image-and-text: 56%; text-only: 61%; image-only: 49%). Selection was lowest for HWLs that included an image.
These results show that HWLs communicating the increased risk of cancers associated with alcohol consumption can reduce selection of alcoholic drinks in an online setting. These labels now need to be tested in more real-world environments, such as laboratory and field settings.
To read the findings of the study in full, click here.
Reference
Clarke, N., Pechey, E., Mantzari, E., Blackwell, A., De-Loyde, K., Morris, R., Munafò, M.R, Marteau, T. M., & Hollands, G. J. (2020). Impact of health warning labels communicating the risk of cancer on alcohol selection: An online experimental study. Addiction. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/add.15072
