Heightening Adolescent Vigilance toward Alcohol Advertising to Forestall Alcohol Use

Abstract

The authors structured an antialcohol intervention program for adolescents to help them develop negative attitudes toward alcohol advertising, to develop strategies for coping with the techniques used in alcohol advertisements, and to reduce their intentions to drink in the future. The authors derived the program from theories of inoculation, reactance, associative learning, and persuasion knowledge. Young adolescents who experienced the intervention—in particular, those who had drunk alcohol—reported greater understanding of persuasive strategies, more critical attitudes toward alcohol advertising and advertisers, and greater intentions not to drink in the future than those in the control group. The intervention appeared to be successful in helping the adolescents develop persuasion-coping behaviors; they reported that they would increase their vigilance and counterarguments when confronted with alcohol advertising in the future.