Liquor advertising and consumption in the United States: 1971-2008

Abstract

Much of the confrontational efforts in the last four decades regarding the reduction of alcohol consumption have focused on the advertising of alcohol beverages. Critics of alcohol beverage advertising argue that the amount and substance of the alcohol advertising results in increased consumption of those beverages. A good deal of the research that supports this viewpoint utilises either cross-sectional data or controlled experiments, and identifies advertising as one of the possible factors influencing alcohol consumption. Using time-series analyses, this manuscript examines the relationship between distilled spirits advertising expenditures and consumption in the US from 1971 to 2008 on an aggregate and brand level. This four-decade period is especially interesting because it includes a decade in which the spirits industry ended a voluntary ban of advertising on electronic media.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Gary B. Wilcox

Gary B. Wilcox is the John A. Beck Centennial Professor in Communication in the Department of Advertising & Public Relations at the University of Texas at Austin. He received his PhD from Michigan State University. His current research interests include the long-term effects of advertising, and measurement of social media. His publications include one book, several book chapters, and articles that have appeared in the International Journal of Advertising, Journal of Advertising Research, Journal of Advertising, Journalism Quarterly, Journal of Media Planning, and Communications and the Law among others.

KyungOk Kacy Kim

KyungOk Kacy Kim is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Advertising & Public Relations at the University of Texas at Austin. She earned her BA in Economics from Chung-Ang University, Korea, an MA in Economics from SungKyunKwan University, Korea, and an MA in Advertising from the University of Texas at Austin. Her training in economics concentrated on strategic information transmission under asymmetric information in terms of Game Theory as well as marketing metrics. She intends to capitalize on her quantitative and analytical skills by conducting research in the field of advertising and marketing. Her research interests are the economic aspects of advertising, effectiveness/efficiency models, and measurement of social media.

Heather M. Schulz

Heather M. Schulz (PhD, University of Texas at Austin) is an Assistant Professor of Marketing in the College of Business and Technology at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. Current research interests include advertising, consumer behaviour, conspicuous consumption, and identity signalling. Her research has been published in Advances in Consumer Research and Journal of Research for Consumers.