Targeting of Outdoor Alcohol Advertising: A Study Across Ethnic and Income Groups

Abstract

The marketing and advertising of alcoholic beverages is socially and ethically sensitive and subject to particular interest of regulators, public interest groups, and societal watchdogs because of its potential impact on vulnerable populations such as low-income consumers, certain ethnicities, adolescents, and alcoholics. While alcohol advertising is pervasive across a variety of media, outdoor advertising facilitates the targeting of specific neighborhoods that, in a sense, represent a captive audience of people who live and/or work in those neighborhoods. In a study of outdoor advertising in New York City across multiple ethnic and income neighborhoods, we examine the proportion of alcohol advertising found in each neighborhood and the variation of advertising appeals used. The results suggest that marketers of alcoholic beverages do not selectively target their products based on income, but evidence was found that targeting based upon ethnicity is occurring. Black and Hispanic neighborhoods receive a greater percentage of alcoholic beverage advertising than do white and Asian neighborhoods, and Hispanic neighborhoods also receive more influential advertising appeals such as celebrity endorsements, affiliation, and status appeals.

Acknowledgments

This article was accepted by Claude Martin and James Leigh, previous editors of the Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising.

Notes

Note: Data from Chen et al. (2006).

Note: Data in each cell refer to the number of quarter-square mile sectors to which the Manhattan Borough was divided. Numbers in parentheses refer to the percent of total sectors as measured by ethnicity.

Note: Ethnic distribution is among low-income sectors and income distribution is among white sectors.

Note: n, Number of sectors surveyed, and refers to only the current study. Outliers removed for one sector each in Hispanic and white neighborhoods.

^a Mean percentage of alcohol advertisements per sector.

^b Altman et al. and Lee and Callcott studies contain both alcohol and tobacco advertisements.

^c Hackbarth et al. study groups all minorities into one category.

^d Differences between the percent of alcohol ads are statistically significant at p < .05.

Note: Values are mean presence of alcohol type, expressed as a percentage of the total by ethnicity or income. Consumption is given as percent allocation of per capita consumption of alcohol for 2005 (Lakins et al. 2007).

^a Differences statistically significant at p < .05.

^b Differences statistically significant at p < .1.

Note: Mean presence of alcohol characteristic, expressed as a percentage of the total by ethnicity or income.

^{a, b, c} Differences statistically significant at p < .01.

^{d, e} Differences statistically significant at p < .05.

^f Differences statistically significant at p < .1.