ATTITUDE OF UNDERGRADUATESTO THE 18+ WARNING SIGN IN

ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE ADVERTISEMENTS IN SELECTED

UNIVERSITIES IN SOUTH-WEST, NIGERIA

ABSTRACT
Advertising has been identified as one of the factors that increase the likelihood of alcoholic
beverage consumption especially among the youth (Alcohol Concern, 2013). Through the use of
advertising execution techniques such as humour, celebrity endorsement and music, advertisers
are able to embed images that resonate with vulnerable youths. In spite of the documented social
and health repercussions of alcohol consumption and little knowledge of warning sign among
adults, literature still show that the relationship between advertising warning signs and alcohol
consumption is an understudied area. The study examined the attitude of Nigerian university
undergraduates to the 18+ warning sign in alcoholic beverage advertisements.

The study adopted the survey research design. The target population of the study was 195,000
undergraduates from nine selected universities in South-West, Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling
technique was used in the selection process. Purposive sampling was used to select three states
(Lagos, Ogun and Oyo), based on concentration of universities in the states. The universities in
the selected states were stratified into Federal, State and Private. Three universities were
purposively selected from each state (one from each stratum). Gay, Geoffrey and Peter’s formula
was adopted to draw the sample size of 1,950 respondents who were proportionately distributed to
the nine selected universities. A validated questionnaire was used as the instrument. The
Cronbach’s Alpha coefficients for the constructs ranged from 0.735 to 0.945.Response rate was
95.7%. Data were analyzed using correlation and regression analyses.

The findings revealed that there was significant relationship between students’ awareness of the
18+ warning sign and their attitudes towards consumption (r=0.242; p<0.05). There was
significant positive relationship between students’ recognition of the 18+ warning sign and
attitudes towards consumption (r=0.485; p<0.05). There was also a significant positive
relationship between students’ perception of the credibility of the 18+ warning sign and attitudes
towards consumption (r=0.664; p<0.05). It was found that the 18+ sign significantly influenced
attitudes of the underage towards consumption (R2=0.494; p<0.05). Demographic variables
significantly influenced the attitudes of undergraduates towards the 18+ warning sign (R 2=0.017;
p<0.05).

The study concluded that the 18+ warning sign in alcoholic beverage advertisements discouraged
undergraduates’ consumption of alcoholic beverages. The study recommended that advertisers, as
sponsors of the promotional messages that promote alcohol consumption, should intensify the use
of the 18+ warning sign and other warning labels for the purpose of being socially responsible.
Also advertising relevant agencies in line with existing regulations should intensify efforts at
monitoring the content of advertisements to ensure compliance with set standards.

i
Keywords:Alcohol advertising, Awareness, Perception, Alcohol consumption, Alcoholic
beverage

Word Count: 411

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Content Page
Title page i
Certification ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgements iv
Abstract v
Table of Contents vi
List of Tables viii
List of Figures ix
List of Abbreviations x

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study 1
1.2 Statement of the Problem 5
1.3 Research Questions 5
1.4 Objective of the Study 5
1.5 Hypotheses 6
1.6 Justification for the Study 7
1.7 Significance of the Study 7
1.8 Scope of the Study 8
1.9 Operationalisation of Variables 8
1.10 Operational Definition of Term 10

CHAPTER TWO:REVIEW OF LITERATURE

2.0 Introduction 12
2.1 Conceptual Model 12
2.1.1 Marketing and the Marketing Mix 12
2.1.2 Advertising as a Promotional Tool 19
2.1.3 Alcohol and Alcoholism 23
2.1.4 The Nature of Youth as an Advertising Audience 31
2.1.5 Youth, Alcohol Marketing and Advertising 35
ii
2.1.6 Regulation of Alcoholic Beverages Advertising 38
2.1.7 Alcohol Advertising Appeals and Youth Alcoholism 44
2.2 Theoretical Framework 46
2.2.1 The Social Learning Theory 46
2.2.2 Elaboration Likelihood Model 48
2.2.3 Cognitive Dissonance Theory 49
2.3 Conceptual Model of the Study 51
2.4 Empirical Framework 52
Content Page

2.5 Summary of Literature 72

2.6 Gap in Literature 74

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY

3.0 Introduction 76
3.1 Research Design 76
3.2 Populations 76
3.3 Sample size and sampling Technique 77
3.4 Instrumentation 79
3.5 Validity of Research Instruments 79
3.6 Reliability of Research Instruments 80
3.7 Data Collection Procedure 80
3.8 Method of Data Analysis 81
3.9 Ethical Consideration 81
3.10 Post-Research Benefits 81

CHAPTER FOUR:DATA ANALYSIS, RESULTS

AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
4.0 Introduction 83
4.1 Questionnaire Return Rate 83
4.1.1 Demographic Characteristics of the Respondents 84
4.2 Test of Hypotheses 97
4.3 Discussion of Findings 102

CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND

RECOMMENDATIONS
5.0 Introduction 108
5.1 Summary 108
5.2 Conclusion 112
5.3 Recommendations 113
5.4 Contribution to Knowledge 114

iii
5.5 Suggestion for Further Studies 115
5.6 Limitation of the Study 116

References 117
Appendices 125

LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
3.1: Distribution of Study Population across the three Selected States and
Universities in South-West Nigeria 77
3.2: Distribution of sample Sizes among the Selected Universities 79
4.1 Questionnaire Return Rate 84
4.2 Distribution of Respondents by Gender 85
4.3 Distribution of Respondents by Age Group 85
4.4 Distribution of Respondents by Religion 86
4.5 Distribution of Respondents by Institution 87
4.6a Distribution of Respondents based on Alcohol Consumption 88
4.6b Distribution of Respondents of between 16 years and 18 years on Alcohol
intake 89
4.7 Distribution of Respondents based on how they have been taking alcohol 90
4.8 Respondents’ Distribution by Awareness of the 18+ Sign 91
4.9 Respondents’ Distribution by Comprehension of the 18+ Sign 92
4.10 Respondents’ Distribution by Attitudes towards the 18+ Sign 93
4.11 Respondents’ Distribution by Effect of the 18+ Sign on Alcohol Consumption 94
4.12 Respondents’ Distribution by Attitude to Alcohol Consumption 95
4.13 Respondents’ Distribution by Perception of Credibility of the 18+ Sign 96
4.14 Correlation between awareness and attitude towards consumption 97
4.15 Correlation between respondents’ recognition and attitude towards consumption 98
4.16 Correlations respondents’ perception and attitude towards consumption 99

iv
4.17a ANOVA of influence of the 18+ Sign on respondents’ alcohol beverages
consumption 99
4.17b Beta Coefficient and t- ratio for relative contribution of the independent
variablesto the dependent variable 100

4.18a Showing combined effect of independent variables on the dependent variable 101
4.18b Beta Coefficient and t- ratio for relative contribution of the 18+ sign to consumption101

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure
4.1 Graph showing distribution of respondents by gender 85
4.2 Pie Chart showing distribution of respondents by age group 86
4.3 Bar Chart showing distribution of respondents by Religion 87
4.4 Pie Chart showing distribution of respondents by Institution 88
4.5 Histogram showing distribution of respondents based on alcohol intake 89
4.6 Pie Chart showing years of alcohol in-take 91

v
 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
AANA- Australian Association of National Advertisers

ACU- Ajayi Crowther University

AERC- Alcohol Education and Research Council

AMA- Australian Medical Association

AMPHORA- Alcohol Measures for Public Health Research

APCON- Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria

ASA- Advertising Standard Authority

BU- Babcock University

CUL- Caleb University, Lagos

CAPA- Code for Advertising and Promotion of Alcohol

FUNAAB- Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta

LASU- Lagos State University

LAUTECH- Ladoke Akintola University of Technology

OOU- Olabisi Onabanjo University

PSA- Public Service Announcement

SPSS- Statistical Package for the Social Sciences

UI- University of Ibadan

UNILAG- University of Lagos

vi
 CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Alcohol is perhaps the most commonly used drug among adolescents. It is a ubiquitous
toxin and the excess consumption of it can harm almost any organ or system of the body
(Anderson, 2007). Alcohol consumption carries a risk of adverse health and social consequences
as a result of drunkenness; it is responsible for a range of social, health and economic harms
which tend to be most pronounced among the youths (Australian Medical Association, 2012).
The harms caused by excessive alcohol consumption as highlighted by Chikere and Mayowa
(2011) includes worldwide disease of esophageal cancer, liver cancer, homicide, epilepsy,
cirrhosis of the liver and so on.
Alcohol consumption in the past decades was basically used at ceremonies for
entertainment, but in Nigeria today, the quantity and reason for consumption are rapidly
changing (Chikere & Mayowa, 2011). The new trend of alcohol consumption among young
people in Nigeria today contributes to Nigeria’s ranking among thirty countries with highest per
capita consumption of alcohol globally (World Health Organization, 2004). The quantity of
consumption by the Nigerian youths is what seem to result in an increased burden of alcohol-
related problems such as addiction, poor academic performance, risky driving, health issues, to
mention a few (Dumbili, 2013). Despite the effort to prevent underage alcohol consumption, it is
still a persistent public health problem (Komro & Toomey, 2002).
The role of advertising as a possible stimulus to alcohol consumption and as a contributor
to the abuse of alcohol has in recent years been controverted because advertising has been
associated with underage purchase and consumption of alcohol (Nelson, 2001). Arens (2006)

vii
defined advertising as “a structured and composed non-personal communication of information
usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature about products (good, services and ideas) by
identified sponsors, through various media” (p. 7). Advertising creates the impression that, for a
relatively small expenditure, young people can psychologically connect to positive fantasy
places, lifestyle and personality characteristics it portrays. Advertising is one potential source of
information for young people about the cost of alcohol and its benefits and information supplied
by advertising can result in more positive expectancies about alcohol, which can change actual or
intended consumption behavior (Saffer, 2002).
The effect of alcohol advertising can be found in the effect of alcohol consumption
behavior of adolescents. Alcohol advertisements become attractive to young people in early
adolescence, between the ages of ten (10) and fourteen (14). However, exposure to alcohol
advertising increases the likelihood that an adolescent will start consuming alcohol and if such
adolescent has already been consuming alcohol, there are chances that consumption will increase
(Bouwmeester, n.d; Jones & Gordon, 2013). Alcohol advertisements are seen by youths on
different communication media, but television advertising seems to be the most powerful means
of marketing alcohol because children and youths spend more time watching television than
using any other type of media. (Australian Medical Association, 2012). Radio advertising and
product placement in television programmeming provide additional avenues for promoting
alcoholic beverages (Australian Medical Association, 2012). Children have been found to
identify alcohol advertisements as the ones they like most among the advertisements to which
they have been exposed, and their liking of alcohol advertisements has been linked to alcohol
consumption among the youth (Gunter, Hansen and Touri, 2008). This was further re-affirmed in
the statement of Anderson (2007) which states thus:

The adolescent brain undergoes major development,

which makes adolescents more vulnerable to
impulsivity with greater sensitivity to pleasure and
reward. Young people who already have problems
related to alcohol are likely to be particularly vulnerable
to alcohol advertising, with the vulnerability increasing
with increasing alcohol consumption. Alcohol
advertising manipulates adolescents’ vulnerability by
shaping their attitude, perceptions and particularly
expectances about alcohol use, which then influence
youth decisions to drink. This vulnerability is
exacerbated by the enormous exposure to commercial
viii
 communications, not only through traditional media,
which are highly targeted to young people (p. 10).
Young people are at risk of alcohol related harm as a result of their body size and lack of
experience with alcohol. The greater the amount of alcohol consumed during adolescence, the
greater the risk as a young adult (Anderson, 2007). Majority of the advertisements of alcohol on
television, newspapers and magazines and even on billboards have the 18+ sign and this implies
that alcohol consumption is for people of eighteen (18) years and above. There are empirical
evidences that there is a relationship between alcohol advertisements and positive attitude
towards alcohol among young people, based on the appealing nature of alcohol advertisements to
them. Saffer (2002) concludes that alcohol advertising affects knowledge, attitude and intentions
to drink which is believed to affect drinking and there is therefore, a conclusion that there is
positive link between alcohol advertising and alcohol consumption.
Grube (2004) suggests that a large number of alcohol advertisements link drinking with
valued personal attributes such as elegance, sociability, physical attractiveness and also with
desirable outcomes which includes success, pleasure, relaxation, romance and adventure. Young
people find alcohol advertisements with these attributes appealing and they are attracted to them.
Due to the appeals, the content of advertisements is related to expectancies about the use of
alcohol among the young ones. There is however, considerable evidence that some particular
alcohol brands that appeal to the young ones are created and targeted at young people (Anderson,
2007). There is also evidence that cultural myths and symbols used in alcohol advertisements
have powerful meanings for college students (Anderson, 2007). There are some elements that
youths are attracted to, they are particularly drawn to elements of music, story, characters and
humour (Anderson, 2007).
Varied responses can be exhibited by young people to alcohol advertising and these
responses perhaps include awareness, perception, recognition and restraint. Attitude towards
advertisements and perceptions of their messages can sometimes represent important variables
which can mediate post-exposure influence of advertisements. Alcohol advertisements and the
brands they promote may be noticed and recognized by young adults even long before they start
drinking alcoholic beverages (Gunter et al., 2008). There is a concern that exposure of young
people to alcohol advertisements could create favourable dispositions towards drinking and
could also play a part in triggering early onset of alcohol consumption. There is however, a
relationship between alcohol advertising and the onset or initiation of alcohol consumption
ix
among young adults. Alcohol advertising shapes the attitude, perceptions and expectancies
around alcohol use which results in youth decisions to drink (Gunter et al., 2008; Chen, Grube
Bersamin, Waiters & Keefe, 2005).
In Nigeria, advertising practice is guided by the statutory regulating body known as
Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON). The provisions in the advertising code of
ethics cover electronic, print, outdoor media and even cinemas / viewing centers. This code of
conduct is provided under Article 32-37 of the 5 th code of the advertising practice. According to
these articles, advertising of alcoholic beverages shall not be exposed in children’s religious and
sport programmes, children, sportsmen / women shall not be used as models, it shall not employ
religious or medical suggestions or connotations, shall not be sited within a radius of 200 metres
from the nearest perimeter fence of any place of worship, hospitals, schools or motor parks
(APCON, 2012).
Despite the efforts of APCON to regulate drinking among the youths and the underage,
alcohol advertisements still seem to be appealing to the youths and even to be targeted at them.
High levels of brand recognition among the youths and the underage illustrates the weakness of
this current regulation because most of these young ones are exposed to alcohol advertising on
the internet which could bring about difficulty in preventing underage exposure to alcohol
advertising (Alcohol Concern, 2013). With the rate at which things are going which might later
result in the total ban of alcohol advertising, alcohol industries, came up with an industry-based
regulation which is the 18+ sign, in order to prevent underage drinking. The 18+ sign, implies
that alcohol consumption is for people that are eighteen (18) years and above. In the light of this,
this study seeks to investigate the attitude of university undergraduates in Southwestern Nigeria
to the 18+ sign in alcoholic beverage advertisements.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Despite regulations to protect the youth and underage from alcohol advertising, they are
still regularly exposed to high level of alcohol advertising, young people are exposed to alcohol
advertisements on television, radio, internet and in print media, whether they are targeted by
advertisers or not (Smith and Foxcroft, 2009). The use of alcohol among the youths and the
underage has been a major public health concern because drinking among these youths can result
in a number of negative consequences such as alcohol addiction, accidents, poor academic

x
performance, risky sex, injuries and even untimely death. It is has been observed that the earlier
the age young people start to drink and the more they drink at a young age, the more they are
likely to become addict and suffer alcohol related harm (Anderson, 2007).
Despite the fact that advertisements of alcoholic beverages on television, print media and
even on billboards carry the 18+ sign which is supposed to serve as a deterrent to the underage,
most of these young adults do not seem to be aware of the sign. Many young people start to drink
at an earlier (Australian Medical Association, 2012). Another concern over alcohol advertising is
the fact that advertising has frequently associated alcohol consumption with themes such as fun,
friendship and humour. Much of these alcohol advertising goes beyond describing the specific
qualities of the alcoholic beverage to creating a glamorous and pleasurable image that may be
attractive and appealing to youths, even the underage. The university undergraduates in Nigeria
today are perhaps dominated by the young adults and adolescents who should be educated on the
adverse effect of alcohol consumption on health and academic performance. The attitude of these
university undergraduates to the 18+ sign in these alcoholic beverages (Trophy, 33 larger beer,
Golgberg, Stout, Heinekens and so on) advertisements were what constituted the focus of this
study.

1.3 Objective of the Study

The main objective of this study is to ascertain the attitude of university undergraduates
to the 18+ warning sign in alcoholic beverage advertisements. The specific objectives are to:
1. determine the relationship between awareness of the 18+ warning sign and the attitude of
university undergraduates towards alcoholic beverage consumption;
2. analyze the relationship between the recognition of the 18+ warning sign and the attitude
of university undergraduates towards alcoholic beverage consumption;
3. determine the relationship between the perception of the credibility of the 18+ warning
sign and the attitude of university undergraduates towards alcoholic beverage
consumption;
4. examine the influence of the 18+ warning sign on alcohol beverage consumption among
underage university undergraduates and
5. determine the influence of demographic variables on the attitude of undergraduates
towards the 18+ warning sign.

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1.4 Research Questions
1. What is the relationship between awareness of the 18+ warning sign and the attitude of
university undergraduates towards alcoholic beverage consumption?
2. Is there a relationship between recognition of the 18+ warning sign and the attitude of
university undergraduates towards alcoholic beverage consumption?
3. How does perception of the credibility of the 18+ warning sign affect attitude of
university undergraduates towards alcoholic beverage consumption?
4. To what extent does the use of the 18+ warning sign in alcoholic beverage advertisements
influence alcohol beverage consumption among underage university undergraduates?
5. To what extent does demographic variables influence attitude of undergraduates towards
the 18+ warning sign.

1.5 Hypotheses
The following hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance
H01: There is no significant relationship between university undergraduates’ awareness of the
18+ warning sign and their attitude towards alcoholic beverages consumption.
H02: There is no significant relationship between university undergraduates’ recognition of the
18+ warning sign and their attitude towards alcoholic beverages consumption.
H03: There is no significant relationship between university undergraduates’ perception of the
credibility of the 18+ warning sign and their attitude towards alcoholic beverages
consumption.
H04: The use of the 18+ warning sign in alcoholic beverage advertisements does not
significantly influence alcohol beverages consumption among underage university
undergraduates.
H05: Demographic variables do not significantly influence the attitude of undergraduates
towards the 18+ warning sign.

1.6 Justification for the Study

This study is relevant because of the need to regulate or control exposure of young
people, especially the underage to alcohol beverages advertisements. Quite a number of alcoholic
beverage advertisements on electronic media, print media and also outdoor media have an 18+

xii
sign which implies that alcohol consumption is for people from the age of eighteen (18) years
and above. Alcohol consumption among the youth and underage however, has been a pervasive
problem in Nigeria. Nigerian universities today are dominated by youths who belong to the
underage group and who should abstain or be prevented from consuming alcohol. It has been
observed that quite a number of these university undergraduates who take alcoholic beverages
started doing so before the age of 18 years. Some of the these university undergraduates do not
seem to recognize or even notice this 18+ sign on the alcoholic beverage advertisements, while
some do not seem to know the meaning. This study was necessary because there is a need to
understand the havoc alcohol has wrecked on the average youths in Nigeria, especially the
underage. Therefore, this study sought to investigate attitude of university undergraduates in
South-West, Nigeria to the 18+ sign in alcoholic beverage advertisements.

1.7 Significance of the Study

This study served as a contribution to the body of knowledge about alcohol advertising
and underage drinking. The study is relevant to the field of advertising because it would go a
long way in assisting alcoholic beverage industries and advertisers whose advertisements appeal
to and attract young adults and the underage; thereby discouraging or rather reducing underage
drinking to the barest minimum. This study is also relevant to all countries all over the world and
not to Nigeria alone, because underage drinking has been a persistent problem among youths and
university undergraduates all over the world. The study is helpful young adults and the underage
to realise the consequences of underage drinking which were discussed in this study so they
could abstain from it. This study is also relevant to regulators as it would help them monitor
advertisements so as to know advertisers who violate the APCON code of Advertising and
Promotion guidelines.
This study is also relevant to parents so that they could monitor or caution their children’s
exposure to alcohol advertising as most of these young ones do not even notice or recognize or
even know the meaning of the 18+ sign in alcoholic beverage advertisements. It is also helpful to
parents in making their children understand the consequences of underage drinking which
involves a lot of harm to their body systems. It is also relevant to brewers because they are the
producers of alcohol. This study is also relevant to the field of academics, it has allowed the
researcher contribute to the body of knowledge about 18+ sign in alcoholic beverage
advertisements which might not be noticed, recognized or even conspicuous to young adults who
xiii
see the advertisements on different communication media. The study would also serve as a
reference point to researchers writing on related topics.

1.8 Scope of the Study

This study focused on attitude of undergraduates to the 18+ warning sign in alcoholic
beverage advertisements. The study sought to examine the dispositions of university
undergraduates in South-West, Nigeria to the 18+ warning sign in alcoholic beverage
advertisements. There are three categories of universities in South-West, Nigeria, namely:
private, state and federal, which were the focus of this study and these categories of universities
were chosen from three different states (Lagos, Oyo and Ogun states). Though, there are
different alcoholic beverages which includes, beer, distilled spirits, alcoholic wine, alcoholic
herbal drinks and so on, this study is limited to alcoholic beverages that are advertised. This
study was conducted from July – December, 2016. The research focused on university
undergraduates in South-West, Nigeria, from ages 16years-25years.

1.9 Operationalisation of Variables

The independent variable of this study is “18+ warning sign in alcoholic beverage
advertisements” (x), the dependent variable is “Attitude of university undergraduates” (Y), and
the intervening variable is the university undergraduates’ demographic factors (z). The variables
of this study are therefore operationalized thus:
Y = f(x)…………………..(1)
Attitude of undergraduates to consumption is a function of awareness of the 18+ warning
sign in alcoholic beverage advertisements.
Y = f (z)(x)…………………..(2)
Attitude of undergraduates to consumption is a function of recognition of the 18+
warning sign in alcoholic beverage advertisements.
Where x = 18+ warning sign in alcoholic beverage advertisements
Y = Attitude of university undergraduates
Z = University Undergraduates demographic factors

Y = y1 + y2 + y3 + y4

xiv
 y1 = University undergraduates’ awareness of the 18+ warning sign and
their consumption habit
y2 = University undergraduates’ recognition of the 18+ warning sign
and their consumption habit
y3 = University undergraduates’ perception of the credibility of the 18+
warning sign and their consumption habit
y4 = University undergraduates’ influence on underage consumption
due to the 18+ warning sign
z = z1 + z2 + z3 + z4
z1 = Undergraduates’ age range
z2 = Undergraduates’ religion
z3 = Undergraduates’ institution
z4 = Undergraduates’ gender
H01 = y1 = f(x) ……………………………. (i)
University undergraduates’ attitude towards consumption is a function of
awareness of the 18+ warning sign
H02 = y2 = f(x) ……………………………. (ii)
University undergraduates’ attitude towards consumption is a function of
recognition of the 18+ warning sign
H03 = y3 = f(x) ……………………………. (iii)
University undergraduates’ attitude towards consumption is a function of
perception of the credibility of the 18+ warning sign
H04 = y4 = f(x)
University undergraduates’ influence on consumption is a function of the 18+
warning sign in alcohol advertising
H05 = y5 = f (z1)(x) ……………………………. a
University undergraduates’ attitude towards consumption is a function of
undergraduates’ age range
y = f (z2)(x) ……………………………. b
University undergraduates’ attitude towards consumption is a function of
undergraduates’ religion.
y = f (z3)(x) ……………………………. c
xv
 University undergraduates’ attitude towards consumption is a function of
undergraduates’ institution = f (z4)(x) ……………………………. d
University undergraduates’ influence on underage consumption is a function of
undergraduates’ gender and the 18+ sign in alcoholic beverage advertisements.

1.10 Operational Definition of Terms

1. Attitude: Attitude refers to manner of dispositions with regards to a person or a thing. It
could be negative or positive. Attitude in this study refers to drinking despite the
restriction on the age of consumption, seeing the warning sign as of no use in
advertisements of alcoholic beverages; and believing that the sign does nothing in
discouraging underage consumption.
2. 18+ Sign: The 18+ sign is an industry based regulation on alcoholic beverage
advertisements. The sign implies that alcohol consumption is for people or adults who are
eighteen (18) years and above, and not for the underage.
3. Awareness: This refers to the state or quality of being conscious of something.
Awareness in this study refers to the acknowledgement of the existence of the 18+ sign in
alcoholic beverage advertisements, by university undergraduates, being familiar with the
warning sign and seeing the sign as bold enough not to be ignored in any alcoholic
beverage advertisement.
4. Recognition: This refers to identification of a thing or a person from previous
encounters or knowledge. Recognition in this study refers to the acknowledgement of the
18+ sign as a warning sign in alcoholic beverage advertisements, by university
undergraduates; believing the sign is meant to discourage underage consumption or even
totally discourage alcohol consumption or rather seeing the sign as a trademark or logo of
some special brands of alcoholic beverages.
5. Perception: This refers to the way in which something is regarded, understood and
interpreted. Perception in this context means seeing the sign as potent enough to
discourage the consumption of alcohol, believing the sign could guide the underage
against early intake of alcohol and could also reduce alcohol consumption among the
underage and the adults as well.
6. Influence: This refers to the capacity to have effect on the behavior of someone or
something, or the effect itself. Influence in the context of this research has to do with how
xvi
 the 18+ sign affect the attitude of university undergraduates whether positively or
negatively. The positive effects have to do with whether the sign is effective in
discouraging underage consumption. The negative effect however, involves the
undergraduates consuming alcohol before the age of 18years despite their knowledge of
the 18+ warning sign.
7. Consumption Habit: Consumption is the act of eating or drinking something or the
amount that is eaten or drunk, while habit refers to something that has become part of
someone. Consumption habit in this study refers to the frequency at which university
undergraduates consume alcohol and the company of people with which they love to
drink alcohol- whether in the company of friends or with their parents.
8. Alcoholism: This is being used interchangeably in this study as alcohol consumption. It
refers to drinking which comes as a result of alcohol promotion and which could result in
problems or harms to the body system. According to this study, alcoholism can also result
in social problems, health problems and even risky situations such as risky driving,
unsafe sex, automobile accidents and even death.
9. Advertising appeal: Advertising appeals refers to ways and approaches that are being
used in attracting the attention of target audiences so as to influence their feelings
towards a particular product. As regards this study, the appeals used were personal, social
and humour appeals. Personal emotions that can drive people to purchase alcoholic
beverages in the scope of this study were joy, happiness, pleasure, esteem and pride,
while social factors that can drive people to purchase alcoholic beverages are recognition,
respect, involvement, status and approval.
10. Advertising Effects: This refers to the influence advertising has on people. Advertising
effects can be positive and it could be negative. Advertising effect is positive when it
becomes favourable to the audience and negative when it is unfavourable. Positive
advertising effect includes recognition of the 18+ sign by the underage and adhering to
the warning while negative advertising effect includes overlooking the sign and drinking.
11. Self-regulation: These are industry based regulation; they are rules and laws stipulated
by the advertising industries. An example of an industry based regulation in advertising is
the 18+ sign in alcoholic beverage advertisements which simply implies that alcohol
consumption is for adults who are eighteen (18) years and above.

xvii
 CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
2.0 Introduction
This chapter reviews relevant literatures on alcoholic beverage advertisements and the
youths. It also discusses alcohol and its consumption as well as the nature of youths as an
advertising audience. The regulation of alcoholic beverage advertisements, theoretical
framework for the study and empirical framework for the study, are also the focus of this
chapter.

2.1 Conceptual Model

2.1.1 Marketing and the Marketing Mix
There are a number of definitions of marketing because it encompasses such a broad
scope of activities and ideas. Bonne and Kurtz (2005), defined marketing as “the process of
planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion and distribution as well as to create
and maintain relationships that will satisfy individual and organisational objectives”. According
to this definition, the marketing effort will proceed in accordance with ethical practices and it
will effectively serve both society and the organisation. Marketing is seen as a process because it
involves a series of action taken in order to achieve a particular result. It is also a process of
planning because it is not done haphazardly and this process of planning involves setting down
of some specific objectives and the ways by which those objectives can be achieved. Also,
according to Boone and Kurtz (2005) definition, marketing is said to execute the conception,
pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods and services. Pricing in marketing here,
involves considering customers, costs, competition, and different market segments, while
promotion involves campaigns that could encourage customers to buy a particular product.
Marketing therefore, involves establishing and maintaining relationships with customers in order
to understand them.
Bonne and Kurtz (2005) definition of marketing corroborates the definition of marketing
by Dibb, Simkin, Pride and Ferrell (2012), who defined the term, marketing as consisting of
individual and organisational activities that facilitate and expedite satisfying exchange
relationships in a dynamic environment through the creation, distribution, promotion and pricing
of goods and services and ideas. A dynamic environment is one that is not static, an environment
xviii
that is capable of changing or being changed. In the same view, Calvert (2008), citing American
Marketing Association (2007), defined marketing as “an organisational function and a set of
process for creating, communicating and delivering value to customers and for managing
customer relationships in ways that benefit an organisation and it stakeholders”. Marketing is
seen as a communication process because it involves some sequential steps in transferring
messages as well as feedback; it involves sharing of meaningful information between two or
more people; it also involves steps taken in order to successfully communicate and this process
of communication include a sender, encoding of message, selecting a communication channel,
receiver and the decoding of the message.
Marketing facilitates the exchange process and also the development of relationships
which involves carefully examining the needs and the wants of customer developing a product or
services that satisfy these needs, offering it at a certain price, making this product or service
available through a particular place or channel of distribution and developing a programme of
promotion or communication to create awareness and interest (Belch & Belch, 2012). In a simple
sentence, marketing is the process by which companies or organisations create value for
customers and build strong customer relationships in other to capture value from customers in
return (Kotler & Armstrong, 2013). Creating values for customers has to do with the benefit of
the product being marketed to the customers and this could be in two forms which include
desired value and perceived value. Desired value refers to what the customer desired in the
product or service, while the perceived value is the benefit that a customer believes he or she
received from the purchase product. Creating value for customers perhaps mean receiving value
for what is been paid.
Value created for customers will go a long way in building strong customer relationships,
according to the definition of marketing by Kotler and Armstrong (2013) and this customer
relationship involves the way and manner in which organisations develops, establishes and also
maintain relationship with its customers. Customer relationship building is perhaps the most
important purpose for people who are into business because no organisation can survive without
its customers. The aim of marketing is therefore, to make selling superfluous; it is to know and
understand the customer so well that the product or service fits him or her and sells itself (Dibb
et al, 2012; Londre, 2016 ).
The marketing mix is a common term used to define the key aspect of marketing; it is
essentially a conceptual framework which helps to structure the approach to each marketing
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challenge (Institute of Alcohol Studies, 2013; Smith & Taylor, 2010). There are different
approaches to the marketing mix and examples of these approaches are the 4ps, 5ps, and the 7ps.
The elements of the marketing mix was classified into four groups which is been referred to as
the 4ps (product, price, place, promotion), by Professor Jerome McCarthy in 1960 and was called
the marketing mix (Smith & Taylor, 2010). These 4ps have been the most commonly used
framework for many years and it is being referred to as the traditional 4ps (Smith & Taylor,
2010).
The product has been regarded as the heart of marketing because without it nothing else
is required (Masterson & Pickton, 2004) this means that without a product, there is no need for
marketing. That is why the product is been seen as the heart of marketing. A product or service
says more to the user than any amount of advertising (Smith & Taylor, 2010). In essence, the
way a product is being packaged and the product itself is a means of communication. This means
that a product can actually communicate. Product could be tangible products like cars, furniture,
food and it could be intangible such as services at hotels or service provided by professional such
as consultant, lawyers, doctors, and nurses (Kermally, 2003). Tangible products are products that
can be perceived by touch while intangible products are products that can involves rendering of
services. Every business must have a product that the customers want and which they are ready
to pay for; it is a bundle of benefits that is been offered to a customer by marketer for a price
(Wallace & Wallace, 2001). This means there are products that customers want and customers
also have desired value, that is, what they desire in a product.
The second element in the marketing mix is the Price. This is the one element of the
marketing mix which does not need a budget; it is what a particular business charges its
customers for the goods and services it provides (Masterson & Pickton, 2004). Price could be
seen as an amount fixed for a product or services. It is the amount an organisation or business
desires to sell its product. The price of a product is usually the most significant part of the value
that a customer handover in exchange for a product (Masterson & Pickton, 2004). This assertion
explains the fact that price is important among the element of the marketing mix because it
indicate the value that is been placed on the product. There are perhaps some factors that
determined the price that a marketer fixed for his/her product. These factors could include the
cost of production, demand for the product, objective, price of competitors, marketing method
used, to mention a few. Price therefore communicates and it is used by many buyers to indicate

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the quality of a product, but a business needs to know how much customer are prepared to pay
for a product and what competitors charge (Smith & Taylor, 2010, Wallace &Wallace, 2001).
The third element of the marketing mix is Place. The place of purchase also
communicates because an item purchased in a super market has a different perceived value to an
item purchased from a street stall (Smith & Taylor, 2010). Place in marketing could refer to the
route, or channel through which products move from the producer to the final user or consumers.
It could also mean intermediaries like wholesalers and retailer who help in getting the product to
the final user. The place where a product is being sold will go a long way in determining the
quality of a product being sold, that is why Smith and Taylor say that place also communicates.
Place communicate in the sense that it shows the value that is being placed on the product. In the
same view, place refers to the whole distribution process-from customer enquiry to after-sale
service and nature of the product helps to determine the nature of the channel (Masterson &
Pickton, 2004). Dibb et al. (2012) assert that a product should be sold at the right retail outlet; the
appropriate distribution channel should be selected. The right retail outlet refers to the location of
the customers. This could also mean the strategies organisations can employ to get the products
from the producer to the end users or customers. An organisation or a business should therefore,
figure out the best way by which its product or service could be channeled to the customers. So,
a place is a method and channel for effective distribution of product.
The last element of the 4ps of the marketing mix is the Promotion element. This involves
informing the customers about the product by using a range of methods from personal selling to
expensive advertising campaigns so as to encourage customers to buy the product or patronize
the particular service (Wallace & Wallace, 2001). In the light of this definition, the range of
methods for informing the customers include personal selling which involves face-to-face
communication with a potential buyer; Advertising, which is any form of paid sales presentation;
Sales promotion which involves the use of incentives such as coupons, contests, discount or
special displays- to entice a customer; Public relations which involves building the image of the
organisation; and direct marketing which allows organisations to communicate directly to
customers via variety of media like postal mail, e-mail, telephones, websites, online, adverts, to
mention a few. Kernally (2003), therefore, describes the objective of promotion as to create the
AIDA principle which means Awareness, interest, Desire and Action.
Since the 1960s, the four elements of the marketing mix have been the driving force of
marketing activities, but some people found the 4ps too limiting and inaccurate, and so added
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further elements to the list. This was observed by Masterson & Pickton (2004), who believed that
the 4ps was too limiting. Dibb et al (2012), therefore, added another P to the 4ps, making 5ps. In
the book, “Marketing Concepts and Strategies”, the 4ps were seen to be inaccurate because some
scholars believe that there are some elements that should be added to the 4ps to make it more
accurate. The fifth P added by Dibb et al (2012) stood for People, which represents customers or
staff and is being argued to be the most important “P” in the elements of the marketing mix.
People communicate, as staff can create a good or bad experience through the quality of service
delivered at any point in time (Smith & Taylor, 2010). For example, according to this assertion, a
customer may fail to complete a purchase because of the way he or she is being treated by a staff.
That is, the way and manner a customer is being treated by the staff of an organisation or
business will determine whether the customer will still want to have a relationship with the
organisation or not. This makes the fifth ‘P’- People-, as an important element of the marketing
mix but which was quite missing in the traditional 4ps of the marketing mix.
However, when considering services marketing, some other scholars also extended the
4ps to 7ps instead of the 5ps discussed by Dibb et al (2012). This is because so many products
now have service element to them which include warranties, guarantees, after-sales services, to
mention a few (Masterson & Pickton, 2004). The additional 3ps according to Masterson and
Pickton, (2004) include people, physical evidence and process. People here, refers to the people
or staff of an organisation who deliver the organisation’s services to the customers. The skills,
attitude and efficiency of these staff will go a long way in determining how satisfied customers
will be. Masterson and Pickton(2004), opines that is important for customer-facing staff to be
well trained, appropriately turned out and should have courtesy, even if it is a telephone call
conversation, a good telephone manner is essential.
Physical evidence, which is also one of the added 3ps involved services having a tangible
element, for example, an appointment card to see a doctor, ticket for flight booking and some
other things which are key elements in shaping customers’ perception of the quality of service.
The last among the added 3ps is the Process, which involves the way in which the service is
being provided. For example, how bookings are made and how customer enquiries are being
handled could be part of the services process, other examples of such services include; where and
how cars are parked at restaurants, cinemas, theatres and airports.
Though the 4ps have been the most commonly used framework which has enjoyed
tremendous popularity over the years but it has been found to be insufficient and inaccurate
xxii
mainly on the ground that it is insufficiently customer focused (Masterson & Pickton, 2004). In
view of this assertion, for the 4ps to be found insufficient, it means that there are some factors or
elements that should be included in the traditional 4ps that were missing. The tradition 4ps
focuses mainly on customers but insufficiently, that is why it has been said to be inaccurate by
Masterson and Pickton (2004). However, the 5ps by Dibb et al (2012) too has been found to be
inaccurate, hence the 7ps in Masterson and Pickton (2004), which has become more commonly
used. The 7ps was proposed by Booms and Bitner in 1981 and is perhaps the most widely used
extension of the traditional marketing mix for services marketing. The 7ps is also being
supported by Smith and Taylor (2010) as the 4ps and the 5ps were seen to be two limiting.
Promotion is an important element of the marketing mix, linking consumers to the
prospects of products and services. The term ‘promotion’ includes all activities which involve
communicating with costumers about the product, the benefits and the features of such product;
it is the communication aspect of the marketing mix (Martin, 2014). Promotion is the
communicating aspect of the marketing mix because it is through promotion that the customers
get awareness of product, develop interest in the product, and desire the product marketed or
patronizing the service being marketed. In the same view, Belch and Belch (2012) sees
promotion as an element of marketing by which firms communicate with their customers; it
includes all the promotional mix elements which such as advertising, public relations/publicity,
personal selling, direct marketing and sales promotion.
Promotion refers to the various marketing communication activities of an organisation
(Belch & Belch, 2012). Marketing activities of an organisation include any activity that an
organisation undertakes so as to build brand awareness. Communication activities are therefore
an important part of marketing as they are part of the promotion elements. They help facilitate
sales. Marketing communications could be seen as tools that are being used by organisations to
deliver a range of promotional messages to the target markets. These marketing communication
activities involve the use of tools such as brochures, websites, advertisements, and exhibitions,
personal selling, sales promotion, mail shots and press publicity campaigns. These marketing
communication tools can be used in isolation and can also be blended together for maximum
impact. In essence, the objectives of promotion is to build awareness of a product or the
existence of a brand, to create interest, stimulate demand and to persuade customers to actually
pick a particular product or brand over all others and continue to buy it (Kermally, 2003, Martin,
2014).
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 The role of promotion in the marketing mix is to create a channel of conversation with
the targeted consumer (Dibb et al, 2012). These channel of conversation are the routes through
which messages get to the target audience, and such messages can get to them through
advertising, personal selling, direct marketing, public relations, to mention a few. In an
organisation, the role of promotion is to communicate with individuals, groups or organisations
so as to directly or indirectly facilitate exchange by informing and persuading the audiences to
accept the organisation’s product or services. (Dibb et al, 2012; Martin, 2014). This is because
today, customers have a wide choice of product and services on which they can spend their
money, therefore, organisations or sellers try to influence this choice through the use of
promotion which is part of the marketing mix that is primarily concerned with communication
(Masterson & Pickton, 2004).
Organisations use various promotional approaches to communicate with their target
audiences (Dibb et al, 2012). These promotional approach as earlier mentioned includes
advertising, public relations, personal selling and direct marketing. The use of these promotion
ingredients of marketing mix by practitioners is being referred to as marketing communications
so that it would not be confused as sales promotions (Dibb et al, 2012; Masterson & Pickton,
2004). Sales promotion is a process of persuading a potential customer to buy a product and it is
one of the elements of the promotional mix while marketing communications are tools used by
organisations to get promotional messages to the target audience.
As earlier mentioned, promotion in the marketing mix incorporates all aspects of the
promotional mix including advertising, personal selling, public relations, direct mail, sponsorship
and sales promotion, which are the basic tools to accomplish the communication objectives of an
organisation and are often referred to as the promotional mix.(Belch & Belch, 2012; Dibb et al,
2012). These elements of the promotional mix mentioned are perhaps viewed as an integrated
marketing communication tools and these integrated marketing communication tools coordinate
all promotional strategy because it involves all other organisational units that interact with the
consumer. In integrated marketing communications, all the elements of the marketing
communications are integrated together as one. In the words of Bonne and Kurtz (2005); Dibb et
al (2012), the concept of integrated marketing communication helps to harmonize and also
coordinate the promotional activities of an organisation.
Moreover, the extent of an organisation’s usage of any of the marketing communication
tools depends on its marketing needs, objectives and strategy because each marketing
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communication tool offers particular opportunities and benefits to the marketer (Arens, 2006). In
the light of this statement, organisations have different needs and objectives in their areas of
marketing. The marketing objectives of some organisations could be to create awareness about a
particular product or service while the objective of another organisation might be to increase
company sales, so different companies have different marketing needs. The needs or objectives
of a particular organisation will therefore go a long way in determining the usage of any of the
marketing communication tools.

2.1.2 Advertising as a Promotional Tool

Advertising is one of the elements of the marketing communication which enables

marketers to reach prospects at lower costs. (Arens, 2016). Prospects here refer to target
customers, and advertising is seen as the cheapest way to reach them because an average person
sees at least an advertisement every day. These advertisements could be seen on television, radio,
newspapers, magazines, billboards, posters, to mention a few. Shimp (2010), defined advertising
as a paid, mediated form of communication from an identifiable source, designed to persuade
the receiver to take some action, now or in the future. According to this definition, advertising is
paid for and it comes through a media channel from a known source and it is meant to persuade
the target customers to take an action by buying the advertised product. This definition of
advertising sees advertising as coming through a mediated form of communication; this means
that it is carried out by the use of information communication technology rather than face to face.
Examples of these information communication technologies include devices such as radio,
television, cellular phones, computer, to mention a few.

Arens (2006) defined Advertising as a structured and composed non-personal

communication of information usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature about products
(goods, services and ideas) by identified sponsors, through various media. This definition of
advertising says advertising is a type of communication which is well structured and composed
which means it is well organised and arranged. It is a non-personal communication of
information. This means it is directed at a specific target audience and it involves sending of
information through verbal and nonverbal elements. Advertising according to this definition is
usually paid for and persuasive in nature; this means most advertisements are paid for and most

xxv
advertisement are persuasive in nature and are about products by a known sponsor through
various media such as television, radio, newspapers, magazines, billboards, to mention a few.
Advertising is a type of communication which is well structured, employing both verbal
and nonverbal elements that are composed to fill specific space and time format which are being
determined by the sponsor. The paid aspect of the definition reflects the fact that the space or
time for an advertising message must be bought except it is a public service announcement
(PSA) whose advertising space or time is being donated by the media (Arens, 2006; Belch &
Belch, 2012). An advertisement identifies its sponsor and it reaches the target audience through
various media of communication such as print media, electronic media, word of mouth and such
that can transmit a message to a large group of individuals, often at the same time (Arens, 2006;
Belch & Belch, 2012; Shimp, 2010). An advertisement identifies its sponsor in the sense that
every advertisement has an advertiser and the advertiser must be known.
Advertising is meant to persuade, that is, to win a convert to a product, service or idea
and to influence action either presently or in the future (Arens, 2006; Shimps, 2010). In the light
of this assertion, advertising is to win a convert to a product; a convert is a person who has been
persuaded to take an action whether immediately or later in the future. The ideas of advertising
influencing action is perhaps, the ultimate objective of any form of marketing communications,
this idea is to affect behaviour rather than just consumers’ brand awareness and favorability of
their attitude towards the advertised brand. Affecting consumer behavior has to do with
persuading consumers that they need a particular product or service, therefore, the message of an
advertisement must be appealing to consumers and should speak directly to the target customers
so that they will most likely need or want the advertised product. Advertising should be more
than creating awareness of a brand and favourabilty of customer attitude towards the brand being
advertised.
Advertising is one type of marketing communications and it is regarded as the best
known and most widely discussed form of promotion maybe because it is persuasive (Arens,
Weigold & Arens, 2013; Belch & Belch, 2012). Advertising is seen as the best known of all
marketing communications because it is the most used with low cost among all other marketing
communications such as public relations, publicity, sales promotion and personal selling. It is
also said to be pervasive because it spreads widely throughout an area and among groups of
people. Advertising is therefore, a very important tool of promotion because of its ability to
reach a large audience at the same time; it is often the most effective promotional tool and the
xxvi
major promotional mix component for thousands of organisations (Belch & Belch, 2012; Boone
& Kurtz, 2005; Masterson & Pickton, 2004;). Advertising is seen as the most effective
promotional tool because it is the easiest way to reach target customers even at low cost and
besides, everyone sees an advert everyday whether through print media, electronic media and
through internet. Advertising is just one member of the marketing communication team whose
primary role is at times to facilitate other marketing communication efforts and it also enhances
the effectiveness of other marketing communication efforts (Shimp, 2010). The goal of
marketing communication is to reach a defined audience so as to affect the behavior of the
audience by informing, persuading and reminding them about a product or service. Advertising
therefore, helps in reaching this defined audience in an easy way. Another goal of marketing
communication is to build and reinforce relationships with customers.
Advertising primarily involves the mass media such as newspapers and magazines,
television, radio and bill boards and it also includes electronic and computerized forms of
promotion which includes, web commercials, video tapes, and video screens in supermarkets
(Boone & Kurtz, 2005). This means that advertising gets to the target audience through print
media, electronic media, billboards and video screens at supermarkets. Through these media
channels, advertising spread throughout and among target audience which makes it pervasive in
nature. Advertising is valued because it is being recognized as performing some critical
communication functions which includes informing, educating, entertaining, promotion of
products; informing has to do with publicizing brands which makes consumers aware of new
brands and educating them about the brand’s distinct features and benefits (Shimp,2010).
Effective advertising influences prospective customers to try advertised products and services, it
also serves as a reminder by keeping a company’s brand fresh in the consumer’s memory,
advertising adds value to brands by influencing perceptions and its primary role is to facilitate
other marketing communication efforts (Belch & Belch, 2012).
Advertising plays a very important role in our everyday life; it determines the image and
way of life and also has an impact on our thinking as well as the attitude towards us and also the
world around us (Frolova, 2014). This means that advertising has a way of influencing our
thinking; it affects our behaviour and our attitude one way or the other. Advertising reflects what
happens in the society. Despite the importance of advertising, it is not without its criticisms as it
is seen as been untruthful and deceptive which occurs when an advertisement falsely represents a
product and consumers believe the false representation (Shimp, 2010). For an advertisement to
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be untruthful and deceptive, it means such an advertisement claims what the product is not,
thereby deceiving the target audience. Advertising is also seen as manipulative as it can
influence people to do what they would not otherwise have done if not for advertising exposure;
other criticisms of advertising sees advertising as offensive and in bad taste, it makes people buy
things they do not really need, it creates and perpetuates stereotypes and it plays on people’s
fears and insecurities (Arens, 2006; Shimp, 2010,).
Everyone is being influenced by advertising, even without realizing it and the general
goal of advertising has to do with transmitting information to a specific group of people
receiving the message in order to achieve the desired effect (Miller, Alt & Michelis, 2011). In the
light of this assertion, it is clear that everyone is being influenced or affected by advertising
whether consciously or unconsciously. One might not even realise that he or she is being
influenced by an advertisement until one comes across the advertised product.
Moreover, when a product is being advertised or information is being transmitted to a
specific group of people, the ultimate goal is to achieve the desired result which is for the
receiver of the message to take an action by buying the advertised product or patronizing the
advertised service. Advertising, therefore, offers the reason why a product or service fits into the
lifestyle of a consumer (Boone & Kurtz, 2005). Thus is why an advertisements talks about the
product benefits which will help the consumer or target audience to know why he or she needs
the advertised product. Advertising information is transmitted to the target audiences through the
mass media such as radio, television, cinema, billboards, posters, newspaper, magazines, to
mention a few (Arens et al, 2013; Boone & Kurtz, 2005; Masterson & Pickton, 2004). The
aforementioned are channels of communication through which advertising gets to the target
audience. The kind of product to be advertised, the budget on ground and the target consumers
will go a long way to determine the type of media channel that is suitable for the product so that
the desired result will be achieved at the end of the day. Advertising fulfils a number of roles and
it has a number of aims which includes creating awareness, serving as a reminder to customers
and also changing and reinforcing the consumers’ altitudes, perceptions and beliefs (Masterson
& Pickton, 2004). It can further be said that advertising is not only to create awareness of a
product but the customers need to be constantly reminded about the product for the customers’
attitude, perceptions and benefits to be reinforced. The ultimate goal of advertising, however, is
perhaps to promote a product of which alcohol is one.

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2.1.3 Alcohol and Alcoholism

Alcohol is one of the most significant fast moving consumer goods (FMCGs) that is
being marketed today (Institute of Alcohol Studies, 2013). Fast moving consumer goods are
products that are sold quickly and at relatively low cost, examples of such goods include
toiletries, soft drinks, drug sold over the counter and other consumables of which alcohol is one.
Alcohol is a ubiquitous toxin which can be harmful to almost any system or organ of the body
(Anderson, 2007). A ubiquitous toxin is a poisonous substance found everywhere. Alcohol is
seen as a poison which is being found everywhere all over the world and which has constituted a
lot of problems to young people all over the world. It is a drug which is commonly used by
youths and a drug refers to a substance which could bring about a change in the biological
function through its chemical actions (Alcohol Health watch, 2003; Fareo, 2012; Okoye, 2001;
Tanski, Mclure, Li, Jackson, Morgenstern & Sargent, 2015).
A drug could also be considered as a substance which modifies perceptions, mood,
cognition, behavior and general body functions, of which alcohol is one (Balogun, 2006). A drug
modifies perception, mood, cognition and behavior in the sense that it changes or alters the way
one sees things, one’s mood, one’s reasoning and even one’s altitude or behavior and this is what
alcohol does, which is why it is seen as a drug. Alcohol, perhaps affects the general body
function – the system or organs of the body. Alcohol is therefore, the most harmful drug for an
individual, as well as for society because it is associated with many adverse consequences
(Bouwneester, n.d; Alcohol Health watch, 2003). According to this assertion, alcohol is seen as
the most harmful drug for individual and society because it has a negative effect on the organs of
the body which could result into death. Some of the adverse consequences of alcohol include
automobile accidents, which occurs as a result of drunkenness; diseases such as cancer, high
blood pressure, addiction, impaired brain development, liver disease, depression, poor academic
performance for students, to mention a few.
Alcohol is a drug which is being classed as a depressant; this means that it slows down
vital functions in the body which results in slurred speech, unsteady movement, disturbed
perception and the inability to react quickly (Foundation for a drug free world 2008). This could
perhaps mean that alcohol changes the normal function of the body to abnormal, brining about
mental retardation by slowing down the system or organ of the body and it is perhaps the most
commonly used addictive substance among the youths all over the world. Alcohol is a drug that

xxix
affects the mind; it reduces someone’s ability to think rationally, which could also bring about
distortion in the person’s judgment (Foundation for a Drug Free World, 2008). Alcohol is
perhaps one of the major recreational drugs that change the mood because of its ability to affect
the mind. Recreational drugs are drugs that have the ability to alter the mind and are used for
non-medicinal and leisure purposes, just like alcohol. Alcohol changes and alters the mind and it
ends up affecting the way one speaks, walks and even one’s reaction and behavior.
Alcohol is a universal toxin (Anderson, 2007) and it is not an ordinary commodity
(Babor, Caetano, Caswell, Edwards, Giesbrecht, Graham, Grube, Gruenewald, Hill, Holder,
Homel, Osterberg, Rehm, Room and Rossow (2003). Alcohol is referred to as a universal toxin
because it is found everywhere; it is a poisons substance found all over the world especially
among the young adults. Alcohol can bring about a state of dependence and depression and also
stimulation of the central nervous system, with no means of discovering or identifying if an
individual is at risk of becoming dependent or not (Anderson, 2007). Alcohol contains ethanol
which is being produced by fermentation of grains and fruits, and this fermentation occurs
through a process whereby yeasts act upon some ingredients in the food, thereby creating alcohol
(Foundation for drug free World, 2008). However, ethanol is a principal type of alcohol found in
alcoholic beverages. It is also called ethyl. Ethanol is used as a solvent in the manufacture of
perfumes and as a preservative for biological specimens. It is used in preparing flavorings and in
the preparation of some medicines and drugs. The Medicine Net.Com (2016) asserts thus:

Alcohol is an organic substance formed when a hydroxyl

group is substituted for a hydrogen atom in a hydrocarbon.
The type of alcohol used in alcoholic beverages, ethanol,
derives from fermenting sugar with yeast. After alcohol is
ingested, the body converts it to sugar-based fuel. Alcohol
acts as a central nervous system depressant and it may be
part of solutions used as preservatives, antiseptics or
medications (p. 15).
In some countries of the world, alcohol is the most widely used and socially acceptable
recreational drugs and such countries include Australia (Australian Drug Foundation 2008). For
something to be socially acceptable, it means it has been accepted by majority of the population
of a particular country as normal. Alcohol is perhaps seen as a socially acceptable drug because
it is believed that alcohol is not dangerous except it is taken in excess. That is perhaps why
alcohol advertisement encourages drinking responsively. Alcohol is also traditionally acceptable

xxx
in countries like China during major social events like wedding ceremonies, spring festivals and
birthday parties (Tang, Xiang, Wang, Cubells, Babor & Hao, 2013). If something is traditionally
acceptable, it means it is satisfactory and approved according to the traditions of a country and is
being used at events or ceremonies in that particular country or society. Despite the negative
effects of alcohol on the health of drinkers, it is commonly consumed to relieve stress, facilitate
social interaction and foster good relations among friends and even colleagues working in the
same environment; it is served in many social and recreational situations and its use is often
encouraged (Tang et al, 2013; Australian Drug Foundation, 2008).
Alcohol still remains the most commonly used drug among adolescents in countries all
over the world (Komro & Toomey, 2002; Tanski et al 2015). Adolescents however, are young
people who have undergone puberty but have not reached full maturity, yet these adolescents are
the ones who peradventure, commonly use alcohol. In the priority areas of public health, alcohol
use is one of the world’s top three which causes health issues (Kaithuru & Stephen, 2015). This
implies that alcohol use is one of the leading public health issues in the world today because of
its negative effect on the health of drinkers. Also, in the words of Bouromeester (n.d), alcohol
has become an aspect of everyday life for youths all over the world. Alcohol can increase the
possibility of accidents because it has a lot of effect on reaction time, reasoning, coordination,
care and judgment (Australian Drug Foundation, 2008). This explains the fact that some people
take alcohol, get drunk and still attempt to drive and because alcohol slows down the organs of
the body and causes unsteady movement, it affects the driving of the drinker which possibly
results in automobile crash. Alcohol comes in different forms, flavors and even level of potency,
that is, there are different types of alcohol and they are wine, beer and liquor (Andromeda, n.d).
A. Wine

Wines are mostly produced from grapes and it is the smallest of the main types of
alcoholic beverages in volume and in pure alcohol consumed (WHO, 1999). This means that
among alcoholic beverages, wine is said to contain the lowest volume of alcohol compared to
other alcoholic beverages. Wine is produced from various fruits through fermentation which
allows the fruits to decompose and break down which becomes alcohol in the process
(Andromeda, n.d). Also, according to Andromeda (n.d), the most common ingredient for making
wine are grapes, but peaches, berries and other fruits also work. Yeasts absorb the sugar in the
grape juice during the fermentation process, and converts it into alcohol and they usually range

xxxi
in strength from 10 – 14 percent (WHO, 1999). Wine is usually divided into different categories
such as red wine, which includes merlot and Burgundy, white wine which includes chardonnay,
sherry and Madeira and fortified wines which includes sherry and brandy which are sometimes
called spirits due to their alcohol content (Andromeda, n.d).

B. Beer

The most commonly consumed alcoholic beverage is beer (Andromeda, n.d). Among
alcoholic beverages being consumed, beer is perhaps the most common maybe because of its
availability and low cost compared to all other alcoholic beverages. Beer is made through the
process of fermentation by which a liquid mix called wort, is prepared by combing malted cereal
and yeast such as corn, rye, wheat or barley (WHO, 1999). Beer ferments quickly (Andromeda,
n.d), so, the process of fermentation is stopped before it is completed so as to limit the alcohol
content (WHO, 1999). The alcohol produced in beer contains 4 – 8 percents of alcohol (WHO,
1999).

C. Liquor

Liquors are usually consumed in small quantities after dinner and they are made by
adding sugar and flavoring which includes fruits, flowers or herbs to brandy or to a combination
of water and alcohol (WHO, 1999). Liquors are high potency alcoholic beverages that have been
distilled from grains, fruits and vegetables and they usually have an alcohol content of over 30
percent (Andromeda n.d). Common liquors include gin, whiskey, rum, tequila, vodka, all of
these have many varieties, flavors and alcohol percentages (WHO, 1999).
There are some attributes that are related to alcohol, that is, alcohol has some
characteristics associated with it and these attributes as discussed by DUI FOUNDATION
(2015); Emmite and Swierzewski (2015) including the following:

1. Craving: The most common characteristics in users of alcohol are craving. This occurs
when alcohol becomes part of a person’s daily routine; it brings about a strong desire to
take alcohol especially at some certain times of the day or after certain activities such as
eating or after waking up. When a user of alcohol, therefore, craves for alcohol and the
habit is being interrupted, it results in the user being angry or annoyed.

xxxii
 2. Loss of control: Another attribute of alcohol is loss of control of the users. When an
alcohol addict is under the influence of alcohol, he or she engages in risky behaviors and
is more likely to partake in some activities that are not only harmful to him or herself but
also to others. Such dangerous activities include driving under the influence of alcohol
which could cause automobile accidents and may lead to death, having unsafe or
unprotected sex which could make the victim contract diseases; displaying abnormal
behavior such as violence, to mention a few.
3. Dependence: This has to do with continued use of alcohol despite negative
consequences. When someone develops dependency on alcohol, the body needs the
alcohol in higher system to function normally. Therefore, withdrawal symptoms occur
when alcohol is suddenly absent. Withdrawal symptoms are the symptoms that appear
when an addict discontinues the intake of alcohol and such withdrawal symptoms include
feeling of confusion, seizure, increased heart rate and sometimes shaking.

Moreover, these attributes of alcohol is what perhaps lead to alcoholism. The American
Psychological Association (2016) defined alcoholism as the loss of reliable control of alcohol
use. Alcoholism is perhaps the consequences of excess consumption. Therefore, according to this
definition, alcoholism is the lost of quality and trusted control of the consequences of drinking
too much. Alcoholism is a major risk factor causing many health problems and thus, a major
contributor to the global burden of disease (Rehm, 2012). For something to be a risk factor, it
means such a thing has the attribute or characteristics of developing a disease or injury. This is
exactly what alcoholism does to people who have lost reliable control over its use. Hingson, Zha
and Weitzman (2009), therefore, defined alcoholism as “an addiction to the consumption of
alcoholic liquor or the mental illness and compulsive behavior resulting from alcohol
dependency” (p.12).
Alcoholism is when one has signs of physical addiction to alcohol and still continues to
drink despite problems with physical and mental health and social, family or job responsibilities
(Franciscan Medical Group, n.d). This could be seen as dependence, which occurs as a result of
continued use of alcohol despite negative consequences. Alcoholism is a serious disease which
affects the lives of millions; it is currently listed as the third leading cause of death in global
society (Research society on Alcoholism 2011; Torr, 2004). The first stage of alcoholism is
craving which has to do with a strong desire or need to drink, this then leads to loss of control,

xxxiii
which has to do with not been able to stop drinking and which eventually leads to dependence
and this is when withdrawal symptoms appear. Alcoholism is a major problem with university
undergraduates in Nigeria (Hingson et al (2009). This is because a lot of such students believe
that drinking makes them fit in some kinds of friendship and have more fun. There are perhaps
some factors which could contribute to drinking problems among university undergraduates and
such factors could include where the students live, the characteristics of the schools they attend
and the kind of company a student keeps.
Alcoholism is a serious disease which affects the lives of millions of people, it devastates
families, compromises national preparedness, depresses economic vitality and burden’s the
nation’s health care system (Research society on alcoholism, 2011). Alcoholism is seen as a
serious disease because of its major contribution to preventable illness and death, it devastates
families in the sense that an alcoholic person can disrupt family life and cause harmful effect
which could last a life time. It could be responsible for more family problems. Alcoholism also
compromises national preparedness and depresses economic vitality. National preparedness here
has to do with how a community prepares for all types of disasters and emergencies, while
economic vitality has to do with the power of an economy of a community to continue to
produce and be successful. Alcoholism also burdens the nation’s health care system in a state
whereby millions of people are suffering from alcohol related harm and the country’s health care
system is heavily loaded with a lot of people suffering from different diseases and illnesses as a
result of alcoholism.
Sher (2004), divided alcoholism into two form; it includes alcohol abuse and alcohol
dependence. Alcohol abuse is when one’s drinking leads to problem but not physical addiction,
though if individuals with alcohol abuse continue to drink, it may result in alcohol dependence
(Sher, 2004). Alcohol dependence, however exists when an individual craves alcohol, develops
tolerance for it and finds it difficult to refrain from drinking despite the negative consequences
he or she is experiencing. (Tang, Xiang, Wang, Cubells, Babor & Hao (2013). These negative
consequences perhaps include cancer, liver damage, and depression, poor academic performance
on the part of students and even death which could also occur through automobile accidents due
to drunkeness. Alcoholism is a chronic disease which affects millions of people; it can cause a
large number of medical problems and it is associated with child abuse and violence (Torr,
2000). A chronic disease refers to medical conditions that are long-term and generally
progressive and such diseases include stroke, heart disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease,
xxxiv
asthma, to mention a few. These chronic diseases are the consequences of alcoholism. Underage
drinking, however could lead to behaviours with serious and dangerous health consequences and
these health consequences as discussed by the Juvenile Justice Bulletin (2012), includes the
following:

1. Risky sexual behavior: Youth who drink alcohol more commonly tend to be susceptible to
sexual experiences at an earlier age and could have sex with multiple partners. Young adults
who start to drink at an early stage are most likely to have unplanned and unprotected sex
which could result in unwanted pregnancies. However, female youths who drink alcohol with
pregnancy go through the risk of delivering their babies through FAS disorders. FAS
disorders mean Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, which occurs when a female young adult
takes alcohol while pregnant. (Children born under this condition could have birth defects
which include abnormal facial features, growth deficiencies and central nervous system
problems.
2. Alcohol poisoning: This can occur when young adults consume a large amount of alcohol in
a short period of time and one of the most dangerous causes of alcohol poisoning is binge
drinking. The foundation for Drug-free World (2008), defines binge drinking as “the practice
of consuming large quantities of alcohol in a single session usually defined as five or more
drinks at one time for a man, or four or more drinks at one time for a woman”. Teens and
college students, who are mostly first-time or inexperienced drinkers, are the ones that most
likely binge drink.
3. Alcohol – Related Mental Disorders: Hingson, Heeren and Winter (2006); Mastern, Faden,
Zucker and Spear (2009), opine that early use of alcohol increases the risk for chronic
alcohol addiction and other alcohol problems in later life. This is because of thebconstant
craving for alcohol dependence, which is where addiction comes in. This is possibly why
Anderson (2007) asserts that the earlier the age young adults start to drink, the more they
drink at a young age, the more they are likely to suffer alcohol related harm and to become
dependent on alcohol as young adults.
4. Other drug use: Hingson et al (2008) believes that the younger a person is when he or she
starts using alcohol, the more likely the particular person is to use other drugs. Alcohol could
easily be followed with the use of tobacco, marijuana and other illicit hard drugs.

xxxv
 Moreover, alcohol does not only harm the alcoholic but it also has a negative impact on
the family as it causes extreme emotional pain and suffering. There are different reasons why
different people consume alcohol. Some of these reasons are discussed by VicHealth (2011)
as follows:

1. Family example and attitude: This occurs when parents drink alcohol and parents who
drink alcohol are more likely to have children who do the same even at risky levels.
Therefore, some children tend to take after their parents when they have parents who
consume alcohol. Some parents perhaps introduce their children to alcohol and when they
start to drink at an early age, they tend to drink more as young adults. Some parents even
serve alcohol at home believing that it teaches children to drink responsively.
2. Family Relations: VicHealth (2011) asserts that young people from families where there is
excessive punishment and conflict are more likely to drink more than young people who
believe that their parents care about them and are supportive of them. In essence, lack of
parental care by parents for their children could lead those children into drinking even at an
early age.
3. Peer Example and Pressure: Teens mostly believe that all other teenagers drink, so most of
these young adults are influenced to drink when their peers also do so. Young adults who
move with friends that drink alcohol are more likely to also consume alcohol due to peer
pressure
4. Social Status and Societal Attitude: Some of the young adults believe that drinking helps
them fit in into a social status, so they believe that without alcohol, they will not have the ego
and confidence to fit into some social situations. Alcohol is present in many of the social
situations in Nigeria, so this makes it seem that alcohol is a normal thing to do for everyone.
5. Alcohol Advertising: Alcohol advertising has been seen to be one of the reasons young
adults consume alcohol. When young adults see celebrities or role models drinking, they
could easily assume it is a socially desirable thing to do. Exposure to alcohol advertising is
perhaps the major reason why young adults consume alcohol because alcohol advertising has
a way of influencing the knowledge, attitude and behaviours of young adults, even the
underage. This effect brings about the intention to drink.

2.1.4 The Nature of Youth as an Advertising Audience

xxxvi
 Different categories of people drink alcohol; of concern to this study is the rate at which
youths consume alcohol. The young adults seem to be the target of alcohol advertising due to the
nature of the youths. Youths are perhaps easy prey, they have much insecurity, they are prone to
peer pressure and they also have the desire to fit in a social status and also respond well to
humour. Advertisers, therefore target a lot of these characteristics in their strategies in order to
make their product sell. However, Arens (2006) defined target audience as a group of people at
which advertising is aimed. Many advertisers therefore, target the youths because they believe
that youths shape the buying patterns of their families; so, to influence youth is to influence the
buying decision of the entire family (Calvert, 2008).
The opinion of Barvo, Sood, Nithya and Virtmane (2015) also corroborates the statement
of Calvert (2008). Barvo et al (2015) states that advertisers have strategies they employ in
advertising their products to children and young ones, as children and these young ones play a
very important role in influencing purchase decisions; and one of the ways advertisers target
these children and the young ones is through television advertising.
Youths have a keen awareness of icons and images that are being presented in alcohol
advertisements (Chen, Grube, Bersamin, Waiters & Kefee, 2005). These icons and images used
to create a favourable mental picture in the mind of consumers so as to increase consumer
awareness of the product and thereby create familiarity with the purpose of influencing consumer
buying behavior. Icons and images in advertising make the advertisement memorable to the
consumers. Australian Medical Association (2012) therefore asserts that images, messages and
associations relating to alcohol are woven into the television the youth’s watch, the music they
listen to, their online communication and their events and venues they attend. According to this
assertion, alcohol advertisers reach the mind of the youths through images they come across in
televisionas well as the image created in their minds even through the music they listen to and
the places they go. This is why Grube (2004) opined that image-oriented advertising and lifestyle
results in more favourable altitudes among the youths, towards alcohol products than product-
oriented or informational advertising. Safer (2002), therefore says that:

Advertising and other marketing techniques are one

potential source of information for young people about the
costs and benefits of alcohol. Advertising creates the
impression that, for a relatively small expenditure, young
people can psychologically connect to the positive fantasy,
places, lifestyle and personality characteristics that it
xxxvii
 portrays. Advertising supplied information can result in
more positive expectancies about alcohol, which can change
actual or intended consumption behavior. In addition, for a
bounded community of youth, such as a college campus,
alcohol advertising can increase alcohol consumption by the
whole community. In effect, the new social norms provide
new information about costs and benefits of drinking
especially social costs and benefits (p.102).
Youth means the time between childhood and adulthood. The Cambridge English
dictionary (2016) defined youth as the period of one’s life when one is young, or the state
of being young. Youths are therefore known for strength, vigour, freshness. Netochukwu
(2016) opines that the youthful age is a time of large input, vigour, optimism, strength and
a time where there is surge of dynamism. The youths are known for vigour and strength
because they are restless at their youthful age. They also have enthusiasm and this
enthusiasm could make them gullible when it comes to advertising. Youths are being
targeted by advertisers because youth and children somehow influence the buying pattern
of their family.
The rapid growth in the number of television stations and the internet has also led
advertisers to market directly to youths, even children (Calvert, 2008). This is also due to the
effect that youths and children are heavy users of the media and they also adopt newer
technologies, media marketing and advertising, early enough than adults. Television is usually a
preferred medium in reaching target audiences, especially the youths and children, mostly
because of its audio-visual nature. Television is considered as the most suitable and influential
instrument of mass communication; mostly young people communicate with the outside world
through television (Asadollahi & Tanha, 2011). Television is considered suitable and influential
because of its audio-visual nature, which makes it superior to other instruments of mass
communication. It is perhaps the most heavily used medium among the young ones. Belch and
Belch (2012) asserts that Television advertising makes it possible to reach a large number of
audiences because nearly everyone, regardless of age, sex, income or even educational level,
watches at least some television, while most people even do so on a regular basis. Advertisers
use various media of mass communication in reaching their target audience but television seems
to be the mostly used medium because of its creativity, impact, captivity and attention. This is
because television provides the opportunity of presenting the advertising message with the

xxxviii
interaction of sight and sound as well as motion which offers tremendous creative flexibility
(Belch & Belch, 2012).
One of the ways by which advertisers also target the young people is through the internet.
An increase in the number of websites tries to entice children and youths to make direct sales and
many of these sites us slick promotional technique to target young people. To use slick
promotional technique means to use efficient and well organised ways in attracting the youth
audience. The internet is an extremely desirable medium for advertisers and marketers who are
aiming at the young ones (Media Smart, n.d). Internet advertising has fundamentally changed the
nature of marketing to youth because today, it encompasses not only more sophisticated and
enticing banner advertisements, but also online videos, virtual worlds, branded websites and
social media marketing (Dablinski, 2014).

Online videos are videos placed on the internet for advertisement of a product or service,
virtual world, however, is a computer-based online community environment designed and shared
by individuals in order for them to interact in a custom-built, simulated world. Branded websites
are online brand management technique that use the World Wide Web as a medium for
positioning a brand in the market place and the aim is to create value for customers through
enhancing customer satisfaction and persuasive promotional offers. Dablinski (2014) defined
social media marketing as “the process of promoting a product or service through the various
social media channels. There are reasons why advertisers use the internet in targeting the youths
and these are discussed by Media Smart (n.d)as follows:

1. It is part of youth culture: The generation of the youth we have today is growing up with
the internet as a daily and routine part of their lives. Even children today are familiar with
the internet. The internet has recently become part of mainstream culture and the
business world (Borders, 2009)
2. Parents do not understand the extent to which children and young ones are being
marketed online because children and young ones are often online without the
supervision of their parents. Through this, the children and the young ones have access to
different types of advertisement which end up influencing their attitude and behavior
whether negatively or positively.
3. The broadcast media for example, have codes regarding advertisements to children and
the young ones, but the internet is unregulated. Advertisers therefore target the young
xxxix
 ones through the internet in order to influence their actions concerning a particular
product or service, which could be detrimental to the lives of these young ones.
4. Sophisticated technologies facilities easy collection of information for young people for
marketing research and also to target individual youths with personalized advertising.
5. Internet advertising helps organisations to build brand loyalty among the youths
especially at an early age. This is done by creating engaging, interactive environments
based on products and brand names. Relationship building through advertisements
connects with consumers by building personal relationships between the consumers and
the brand.

Youth marketing is any marketing effort directed toward young people; it is a term used
in marketing and advertising industry, which describes activities to communicate with people in
the age range of 12 – 34 years (Dablinski, 2014). Dablinski explained further that the youth
market is critical because members in this group have huge influences on how family members
spend. The young ones perhaps set trends that other demographic group adopt because young
consumers are more inclined to purchase products that their peers are purchasing. Advertising
specifically target the young ones, not only through television or online advertisements but also
through other varied media channels such as the radio, movies, print media, billboards and sports
stadium signs. (American Academy of Family Physicians, 2016).
Youth respond mostly to television and internet advertising because advertisements
through these channels spark their interest (Stinson & Weller, 2003). This is because
advertisements through television and the internet are more colourful, displaying the advertised
product in a visual way. Youths therefore, are not likely to ignore enjoyable, colourful, moving
graphic advertisements more than older people; so, they click on these eye-catching
advertisements more than any other age group. Advertising has persuasive influence on the
young ones because the they view more than forty thousand (40,000) advertisements per year on
television alone and they are also exposed to advertising on internet, in print media such as
newspaper and magazines and also in schools (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2016). This
heavy exposure may therefore contribute immensely to a lot of things which includes alcohol
use.

2.1.5 Youth, alcohol marketing and advertising

xl
 The explosive rise in alcohol marketing and advertising has a great and powerful effect
on young people (Australian Medical Association, 2012). In essence, alcohol marketing and
advertising influence and shape the attitudes and behaviours of young people by encouraging
them to drink and even drink more, once they try it. Youths are heavy users of television and
consequently they are immersed in drinking portrayals and alcohol product placement (Grube,
2004).The youths who take alcohol are more likely to have been exposed to alcohol advertising
because the young ones make decisions about alcohol at an early age (American Academy of
Pediatrics, 2016). Alcohol advertising manipulates the vulnerability of the youths by shaping
their altitudes, perceptions, particularly their expectancies about the use of alcohol (Anderson,
2007). Vulnerability, according to this definition means the quality of being easily hurt or
attacked. Youths are therefore seen as being vulnerable, and alcohol advertisers manipulate this
factor in them by shaping their attitude, which is the way they feel about something. Alcohol
advertisers also shape the perceptions and expectancies of the youths. Perception in this regard is
the way in which something is being regarded or understood and expectation is a feeling that
something will happen. Since youths are vulnerable, it is easier for advertisers to influence their
attitude and perceptions. Though, the alcohol industry argue that it does not deliberately set out
to target youths, especially underage drinkers, but most young people are exposed to alcohol
marketing and advertising regularly through multiple sources and media platforms (Australian
Medical Association, 2012).
Young people, especially in the developed world are the target and biggest users of
television and the internet and the alcohol industry has not been slow in realizing the marketing
implication of this fact (Alcohol watch, 2003). In essence, the alcohol industry has realised that
youths and children are heavy users of the internet and television and they realise the importance
of making use of this advantage in marketing their products. The Alcohol Healthwatch (2003)
also identified other technologies for viral marketing which presents the alcohol industry with a
whole new range of possibilities, and these technologies include cell phones.
Alcohol marketers and advertisers use a variety of techniques to attract audiences so as to
increase product purchase (Calvert, 2008). Some of these techniques include repetition,
bandwagon, claims and promotion. Repetition in this sense involves repeating the same
advertisement over and over again so as to create familiarity with the product by the audience in
order to increase the likelihood of purchasing and using the product. Bandwagon has to do with
using a group mentality to try to convince individual consumers that a product is worth
xli
purchasing. Claims however, involves the act of asserting that something is true. Every
advertisement has its product claims which could be true or misleading. The last but not the least
is the technique of promotion which has to do with the use of various marketing communication
activities in advertising such as publicity, personal selling, public relations and so on.

As regards what interest youths about alcohol advertisements, Chen et al (2005)

identified that children and adolescents respond positively to animals, humor and musical
elements featured in television beer advertisements. Children for example are fond of animal or
cartoon characters such as Ben 10, Winnie the Pooh, Spiderman, to mention a few. Adolescents
and youths however are being influenced by music, lifestyle, or advertisements featuring
celebrities rather than non celebrity endorsers. These among other things are perhaps what
alcohol advertisers and industry use in attracting the young ones to alcohol advertising. The male
youths are mostly attracted to alcohol advertisements depicting sports personalities (Grube,
2004) and the presence of young people in alcohol advertising has also been found to be
effective in attracting the attention of young actual or potential drinkers (Gunter et al, 2008).
One of the various and important aspects of alcohol advertising is the level to which it
contains techniques which are designed to make the product brand more appealing and the sales
pitch more persuasive (Gunter, et al, 2008). These techniques includes sexual appeals, use of
character, use of celebrity figures, promotional techniques, music, slogans, use of special effects
and colours, use of cartoon or animal characterization to mention a few. Young people are the
most important customers of the alcohol industry because they are not only a substantial part of
the market but are also in the process of establishing themselves as long term adult drinkers
(Alcohol Healthwatch, 2003). This is perhaps the reason alcohol industry focus majorly on
youths as their target audience. Adolescents are most likely to have been exposed to alcohol
advertising because the young ones begin making decisions about alcohol at an early age
(American Academy of Pediatrics, 2006). This decision about alcohol may come as a result of
the exposure of these young ones to alcohol advertising through different media of
communication such as television, radio, the internet and cell phones.
It has been observed that exposure to alcohol advertising could initiate drinking and also
increase consumption among underage drinkers (Anderson, Bruijn, Angs, Gordon and Hastings,
(2009); Collins, Ellickson, McCaffery and Hambarsoomians (2007); Snyder, Milia, Slater, Sum
and Strichakova, (2006). Though the alcohol industry claim that the underage are not the target

xlii
of their advertisements, but they are more exposed to alcohol advertisements through various
media channels and communication outlets. Several key factors have been found to heighten the
vulnerability of children and adolescents to persuasion attempts in general and particularly to
alcohol marketing (AMA, 2012). One of these factors is the changes in the brain structure during
adolescence which reduces inhibiting control and making young people more susceptible to
marketing (Pechmann, Levine, Loughlin & Leslie, 2005). This assertion corroborates the opinion
of Health Action Partnership Internationals (2012) which opines that the consumption of alcohol
by adolescents is of concern for a number of reasons among which is the issue of the brain which
undergoes enormous structural and development changes during adolescence because of the
evidence that alcohol is neurotoxic to the brain at this time.
Since it has been observed that exposure of the youths to alcohol advertising is likely to
increase consumption, therefore, limits on alcohol advertising can significantly reduce alcohol-
related harm, from youth drinking (Alcohol Justice Report (2013). Alcohol advertising is one of
a range of factors which increases the likelihood of starting to drink because alcohol advertising
commonly draws on themes such as humor, sociability, success, physical attractiveness, fun
activities, celebrity and music (Alcohol Concern, 2013). These are contents which are likely to
appeal to young audiences and even the underage. Humor in advertisement, for example,
improves advertising effectiveness; it could make an advertisement appealing to the audience
and easily remembered. Sociability of celebrity and physical attractiveness in advertisements
could make the youths or young ones want to be like the person seen in the advertisement. This
makes them desiring to imitate what the personalities in the advertisement are doing in order to
be like them. Grube (2004) therefore agrees that alcohol advertising may influence the beliefs as
well as the behaviours of young adults and it could result to such young adults drinking albeit
illegally.
Alcohol marketing frequently uses images, messages and elements which appeal to the
young adults, even the underage (Australian Medical Association, 2012). Australian Medical
Association (2012) explains further that these young adults are drawn to music, characters,
humour and they find the unusual, playful and disruptive elements of alcohol advertising
appealing. The use of animal characters is known for engaging children and younger audiences.
Anderson (2007) also corroborates this assertion by stating that the content of advertisements is
related to expectancies about the use of alcohol among the young adults and the role alcohol play
in their lives.
xliii
2.1.6Regulation of Alcoholic Beverages Advertising

The proliferation and social impact of advertising have conferred on the industry
enormous influence to the concern of stakeholders within and outside the industry. Some of the
criticisms against advertising, which generated concerns, include deception, subliminal
advertising myth, effect of advertising on societal value system, the use of stereotypes and
offensiveness (Arens, Weigold & Arens, 2008). As critics raise concerns about the negatives
impacts of advertising on the audiences, marketing and advertising professionals often react in
defense of the industry. Some of the arguments in defense of advertising are based on the
premises that advertising encourages the acceptance of innovations in products and services;
foster employment; gives consumers a wide variety of choices; controls pricing by encouraging
mass production and competition; stimulates healthy competition among producers and
marketers to the benefits of buyers (Arens et al, 2008)
Regardless of the defense put forward in favour of advertising, there remains the need for
advertising as an industry and its practitioners as members of the society to be socially
responsible. Social responsibility in the sense of regulation refers to advertising professional
practice in ways the society considers as good for the people’s welfare. Even in the pursuit of
economic and non-economic goals, advertising players and practitioners owe it a duty to the
society to regulate practice in line with codes of ethics. This account for general regulation of
advertising on many fronts: by government agencies, by the advertising industry itself and by the
media that carry advertising messages (Vivian, 2006). Apart from the general regulatory
principals guiding advertising on different fronts, specific products are considered specifically
for additional regulatory concerns, especially those that are considered as harmful to certain
audience groups. One of such (harmful) products that attract special regulatory attention is
alcoholic beverages.
Advertising of alcoholic beverages has been attracting special regulatory attention
perhaps due to the increasing controversies surrounding their production and marketing on the
one hand, and the health and special risks associated with their consumption on the other hand,
for these reasons, O’ Guinn, Allen and Semenik (2009) classify alcoholic beverages among
controversial products, which some critics question their production, marketing and advertising.
The concerns for regulating alcoholic beverages advertising are often backed with empirical
xliv
evidences showing that this category of advertisements target consumers, especially the youth,
resulting in dangerous and addictive consumption (Deveny, 1991; Limett, 2000).
There seems to be a global concern about regulating alcoholic beverages advertising as
different countries of the world have instituted different measures at different levels to mitigate
the harmful effects of alcoholic beverages advertising. For instances, the Association of
Television and Radio Sales House (2011) reports that the ban on television alcohol advertising
has existed since the 1980s, a total restriction on television advertising of alcoholic beverages
has been in place in Norway since 1972, Denmark has imposed a ban on television advertising of
alcoholic beverages for long but the country lifted the ban in 2003; in Germany, no building
restriction exists for television alcohol advertising but there is a general rule regarding the
protection of minors; in China, the ministry of commerce issued a regulatory policy barring the
sale of alcoholic beverages to minors in 2005 as a follow-up to the 1995 regulation that prohibits
airing of alcoholic beverages commercial during broadcast prime time (Tang, Yiang, Wang,
Cubells, Babor & Hao, 2013).
In countries where advertising of alcoholic beverages has not been totally banned,
various measures of control have been instituted. In Canada for instance, the government
intervention strategies to reduce the toll of alcoholic related harm through marketing and
advertising include policies aimed at eliminating marketing of alcohol to youth; reducing
marketing by government liquor boards and agencies and by the private sector; implementing
effective, efficient interventions for breaches of advertising policy; and limiting alcohol
industry’s sponsorship of cultural or sporting events (Giesbrecht, Stockwell, Pendall, Strang &
Thomas, 2011). Nelson (2001) identifies four actions that have generated concerns in the United
States about alcoholic advertising regulations. The first was a 1991 report on Youth and Alcohol-
controlling Alcohol advertising by the US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)
and the accompanying statement by Suggeon General Novello.
Secondly, in 1996, the US Distilled Spirit Council decided to lift the industry’s 48 year
old voluntary ban on liquor advertising on television and radio. The third action was a federal
appeals court’s decision in 1996 which upheld a constitutional challenge to a Baltimore City
Ordinance prohibiting outdoor advertising of alcoholic beverages in most areas of the city. The
fourth were successful efforts at banning tobacco advertising as part of Master Settlement
Agreement. Nelson (2001) notes that the last two actions particularly generated a number of

xlv
local regulations restricting billboards and other public display of advertising in Chicago,
Cleveland, Detroit, Los Angeles and Oakland.
Apart from state regulation of alcoholic beverages advertising, there are non- statutory
controls aimed at reducing or eliminating harmful effects on the audience. Vivian (2006)
illustrate the (subtle) way by which media gate keeping amounts to some kind of regulation by
referring to a shift from the 20th Century ‘Caveat emptor’ (let the buyer beware) to the 21 st
century ‘caveat vendor’ (let the seller beware). He adduces this shift to the growing consumer
movement which places the onus on the advertiser to avoid misleading claims – the function
which the media are said to be positioned to assist in performing. Another non state regulation of
alcoholic beverages advertising occurs at the industry level. Industry self-regulation is carried
out by many organisations, statutory, professional and sectoral – which spell out ethnical codes,
moral principles, industry policies and standards that players should follow to regulate practice.
Anderson (2007) observes that though there is no scientific evidence available that attest to the
effectiveness of industry self-regulation of alcoholic beverages advertising but the author
explained the advantages of self-regulation over governmental regulation to include efficiency,
increased flexibility, increased incentives for compliance, reduced cost, better knowledge of the
subject and practice by industry players than government agencies and ability to tailor
regulations to specific and prevailing industry circumstances, which are better appreciated by
industry participants.
On the other hand, critics have raised a number of disadvantages of self-regulation. These
include concerns about industry participants suing their expertise to the benefits of the public,
despite their technical knowledge of the subject; the pursuit of profitability, which may influence
regulatory principles and directions the possibility of industry to subvert regulatory goals to its
own business goals; industry pressure on regulatory groups, which may subvert the process, lack
of adequate attention to the needs of the public; and the adequacy or effectiveness of
enforcement (Anderson, 2007). Nevertheless, self-regulation (of alcoholic beverage advertising)
is not only in force in many countries but also useful to some extent. Arens et al (2008) observe
that advertisers maintain careful systems of advertising review to ensure that advertisements
meet both their standards and those of the industry, media and law. Agencies and professional
associations also monitor members’ activities to prevent breaches that may trigger government
sanctions. Forms of regulating alcoholic beverages advertising at the industry level vary from

xlvi
country to country but the basic issue remains advertising ethics. Other forms of industry self-
regulation that complement codes of ethics according to Anderson (2007) include the following:
a. Public service announcements(PSAs): messages sponsored by non-governmental
organisation, health agencies and media organisations that promote responsible drinking
as ways to reduce hazards associated with alcohol consumption.
b. Counter-advertising: Dissemination of information about alcoholic products and their
negative effects in order to decrease appeal and usage of the products,
c. Media advocacy: The use of mass media marketing to create and reinforce community
awareness of the problems created by alcohol consumption and to prepare the ground for
relevant authorities for specific policy interventions. The approaches often used by the
mass media are education and public enlightenment programmes to change drinking
behavior and mobilise public support for policy intervention.
d. School-based education: This form of regulation targets young people to achieve
sustained behavioral change by educating them on the harmful effects of alcohol use in
classrooms and the school environment in general.
e. Public education campaigns: These are campaigns designed to inform and enlighten
members of the public about harmful effects of alcohol consumption as antidotes to pro-
drinking persuasive messages. Examples are warnings written on sign posts such as “Say
NO to alcohol, they cut off your emotions in the end”, “Stay out of the slammer, don’t get
hammered”, “When life gives you lemon, make lemonade, but when life gives you
alcohol, stay away”
f. Drinking guidelines: This refers to key prevention strategies applied in some countries
that adopt liberal polices as a way to deter increases in alcohol consumption. Guidelines
are set and made available to the public to prevent alcohol harm. An example is “Drink
Responsibly”, which is being said at the end of an alcohol beverage advert.
g. Industry responsible advertising: Manufacturers of alcoholic beverages place some
messages in the media to discourage drinking in certain conditions: for instance, drinking
and driving and driving by certain groups or people such as minors, pregnant women,
sports men and women. They also encourage people to use alcohol responsibly and in
moderation.
h. Warning labels: These are printed on alcoholic beverages containers to emphasize age
limits, moderate or responsible drinking and unsuitability of products to certain groups.
xlvii
 Anderson (2007) observes that warning labels are required in Canada and the United
States typically to emphasize the potential for birth defects when alcohol is consumed
during pregnancy, the danger of driving and operating machines under the influence of
alcohol and health risks associated with alcohol consumption. In Nigeria the use of such
warning labels is part of industry self-regulations and it puts the age limit of 18 years by
inscribing the 18+ sign and encourages responsible drinking. It is the use of 18+ sign that
comes under the purview of this study.

In Nigeria, the formal regulation of advertising practice is undertaken by the Advertising

Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON), established by the APCON Act No 55 of 1988 as
amended by Act No. 93 of 1992 and Act No. 116 of 1993 (APCON, 2012). The council spells
out in the Nigerian Code of Advertising practice, appropriate sales promotion and other
Rights/Restrictions on the practice (5th Edition) ethical principles that are meant to set standards
of conduct in the industry. One of the areas of focus in the code is alcoholic beverages
advertising, which is treated in chapter three titled special provisions. Articles 32 to 44 of the
code contains ethical provisions that are set to regulate alcoholic beverages advertising covering
radio/television, print media, outdoor, cinema/viewing centre, sponsorship, gift items, claims,
insinuations and associations, time of exposure, product-in-use, age limit of models, social
acceptance, sexual indulgence and attributes. The issues of the use of warning labels such as the
18+ sign is not covered in the code; hence, it is an alcohol-producing industry self-regulatory
principle. Issues leading to the adoption of the 18+ warning sign on container of alcoholic
beverages stem from research evidences pointing to the harmful effects of advertising in the area
of health risks (Komro & Toomey, 2002); the link between advertising and alcohol consumption
among the underage (Nelson, 2001); the potentials of advertising to make children identify
alcoholic product brands and like them (Gunter, et al, 2008).
The need for the alcohol industry to demonstrate social responsibility as a way of
avoiding the outright ban placed on tobacco advertising in Nigeria may include the motivations
by the alcohol industry in Nigeria to adopt the usage of the 18+ sign in the warning labels of
alcoholic product containers. The sign indicates that alcoholic beverage should not be consumed
and is not suitable for persons under the age of 18 years. Children are considered as a unique
group among advertising audiences. The factors that make them unique include vulnerability,
deception and citizenship (Burton, 2010). By factor of vulnerability, children are considered too

xlviii
open to advertising influence because they lack perceptual capacities to differentiate commercial
from editorial messages. As consumers, they may be deceived by advertising to make harmful
and excessive consumption of products. As a citizen, children need to be trained to imbibe
acceptable norms and value of the society for them to function optimally in it. Regulators and the
alcohol industry owe it a duty therefore to protect children from undue advertising influence.
Hence, the adoption and usage of the 18+ warning sign by alcohol industry as part of its warning
labels.

2.1.7 Alcohol Advertising Appeals and Youth Alcoholism

The proliferation of alcoholic beverages advertising message continues to generate

concerns about the effects of such messages on alcohol consumption habits among the youth.
Parents and policy makers have paid attention to the proliferation of television advertising of
alcoholic products but recent happenings have shown that children and youths can be targeted
outside the television box (Schor, 2005). The popularity of social media platforms for instance
and the increasing appeals associated with these platforms in terms of their relevance and usage
offer additional avenues through which alcoholic beverages can be promoted to youths.
Concerns about health and other hazards associated with alcohol consumption have focused
partly on the appeals used in advertising messages to lure youths into consumption, leading to
adverse trends in child well-being (Schor, 2005 p.2). Such trends identified by Schor (2005)
include mental and emotional disorders, behavioral disorder and feeding disorders.
Generally, the creativity with which advertising messages are produced makes them
highly persuasive and influential. This factor coupled with children’s lack of perceptual
capacities to differentiate commercial from editorial messages makes advertising of alcoholic
beverages highly appealing to young people. Anderson (2007) explains the vulnerability of
young people to advertising messages is based on their appeals from three perspectives:
impulsivity, self-consciousness and self-doubt as well as elevated risk from product use.
Impulsivity is said to be linked to a temporal gap between the onset of hormonal and
environmental stimuli into some gradual development of inhibitory control through planning and
decision making function of the pre-frontal cortex. Self-consciousness and self-doubt are
attributable to the emergence of abstract thinking, evident in the greater frequency and intensity
xlix
of negative mood state of the adolescent. Elevated risk from product use includes impulsive
behavior such as drinking and driving and greater susceptibility to toxins because of the
spasticity of developing brain as well as its sensitivity to identifying pleasure and reward.
Advertising messages appeal to adolescents as they progressively internalize messages
about alcohol thereby influencing their drinking behavior (Anderson, 2007). Television portrays
alcohol in ways that appeal to the minds and brains of young people. Anderson (2007) report that
content analyses of portrayals of alcohol use on television suggest that incidents of drinking
occurs frequently and that these portrayals present drinking as activity that has no negative
consequences. The author also reports that content analyses of the appeals used in alcoholic
beverages advertisements suggest that drinking is portrayed as an important part of sociability,
physical attractiveness, masculinity, romance, relaxation and adventure. Elements of alcoholic
beverages advertisements on television that have strong appealing powers include music, color,
motion, the use of young beautiful talent and models, display of elegant drinking locations and a
show of satisfaction in drinking, to mention a few. Also, alcoholic beverages advertisements are
displayed across different channels to which young people are attached. These include music and
music videos, films, the internet, social media, outdoor media and sports sponsorship.
Generally, advertising appeals are of different types. Arens et al (2008) broadly classify
them into rational and emotional appeals. Rational appeals are the kinds of appeals “directed at
the consumer’s practical, functional need for the product or services” (Arens et al, 2008, p. 374).
Emotional appears are those that target the psychological, social or symbolic needs of the
consumer. Rational appeal types include those that stress durability, safely, cleanliness,
economy in purchase, dependability in use, variety of selection, enhancement of earnings,
efficiency in operation or use to mention a few. Emotional appeals involve emphasis on
ambition, avoidance of laborious tasks, curiosity, entertainment, pride of personal appearance,
pride of possession, cooperation, devotion to others, guilt, humor, home or personal comfort,
fear, health and appetite. Other emotional appeals communicate security, sexual attraction,
romance, social achievement, social approval, taste, style or beauty, simplicity, sport, play and
physical activity. Arens et al (2008) observe that the rational and emotional appeals address
human needs in a hierarc hy: beginning withphysiological, safety, social, esteem and self-
actualization needs.
Specifically, alcoholic beverage advertising adopts predominantly emotional appeals of
lifestyles, sexuality, sport/activity and risk. (Department of Health and Human Services, USA,
l
n.d). This has raised concerns among stakeholders because of the practice in which alcohol
advertising goes beyond describing the specific qualities of the beverage to creating glamorous,
pleasurable images that attract youths. Lifestyles appeals in alcohol beverages advertising are
aimed at getting consumers to identify with the image created, associating drinking with wealth,
success, social approval and leisure. Sexual appeals use sexuality as a direct appeal, using
attractive models wearing revealing clothing or couples in warm embrace. The use of sports
personalities in alcohol beverages commercials is common and this practice is effective as many
youth consider these personalities as their heroes. Risk in alcohol beverages messages entails
showing people shooting, climbing mountains, boating, skiing or driving. Advertisement often
mislead and associate the dexterity of models carrying out such exciting activities with drinking
or showing that drinking alcohol is a reward for the activities.
The underlying influence of the appeal types used in alcoholic beverages advertisements
is illustrated in the social learning theory. Defleur (2010) argues that “social learning takes place
almost incidentally from observing what people do or say as they are depicted”. Humans
generally, especially children in their formative age, learn from observation in real life or in
media portrayal. Television, being an audio-visual medium with creative potentials to arrest and
sustain audience attention, especially young ones, depicts characters that are observed. Two
forms of learning occur in observation: imitation and identification. Imitation can be described as
the direct mechanical reproduction of observed behavior, for instance, alcohol drinking.
Identification refers to copying a model, which goes beyond specific acts as motivated by the
desire to be like the model with respect to some broad characteristics (Baran & Davis, 2003).
Sportsmen, women as well as other personalities used in alcohol advertising are seen as models
after which (drinking) behaviors are shaped. Thus by means of imitation and identification,
advertising of alcohol beverages could lure youths into drinking. There could thus be a direct or
an indirect link between advertising appeals and alcohol consumption among young people.

2.2 Theoretical Framework

This research is anchored on three theories including Social Learning theory, the
Elaboration likelihood model and the Cognitive Dissonance theory.

2.2.1 The Social Learning Theory

li
 The social learning theory was propounded by Albert Bandura in 1960s when the
theorist began to see a need for a different kind of explanation of how and why individuals
acquire, adopt and use (learn) certain patterns of overt behavior (Defleur, 2010). The basic tenet
of this theory is that humans generally learn from observation, especially children in their
formative age. This theory posits that learning is a cognitive process that takes place in a social
context and can occur purely through observation or direct instruction. Defleur (2010) opines
that social learning takes place almost accidentally from observing what people do or say as they
are pictured. Social learning theory, therefore maintains that if performing an overt action in a
particular situation consistently brought about some type of reward, then, there is an increased
probability that the activity will be repeated. This explains the fact that by observation, people or
audiences learn the values, feelings, attitude and actions from characters which may influence
their attitude and behavior. Such learning, or whatever is being observed may result into positive
or negative influences and this depends on the content they are exposed to.
Baran and Davis (2003) describe social learning theory to mean how people learn
through observation of others in the environment. This aspect includes what someone can see
which is not only limited to watching of televisions. Learning by observation within the context
of this work is focused on advertisements of alcoholic beverages. Baran and Davis (2003)
however identified two forms of social learning and they are imitation and identification.
Imitation is being described as behavior which selectively duplicates that of another person while
identification has to do with copying a model as motivated by the desire to be like the model
with respect to some characteristics seen in the model. These two forms (Imitation and
Identification) could occur among children and youths as a result of exposure to alcohol
advertisements on various media of communication. The social learning theory is relevant to this
research in the sense that if an advertisement appeals to the audience or to youths, regardless of
the age, by observation they can learn and by identification, they can also learn so and this
learning could result into negative influences, especially in the case of alcohol advertisements.
Children, however, observe the people around them behaving in various ways. They pay
attention to some of these people and encode their behaviors, these individuals that are being
observed are seen as models and these models include parents within the family, characters on
television, friends within their peer group and teachers in their different schools (Bandura, 1977).
Bandura therefore opines that children pay attention to some of these people called models,
encode their behavior and at a later time imitate their behavior or attitude observed in them. For
lii
example, an advertisement that employs humor, lifestyle and other appeals which could make the
advertisements appealing to the youths; even the underage could learn how to drink by
observation, especially when they do not perceive any negative consequence. The social learning
theory is also relevant to this study in the sense that there are some online alcoholic beverage
advertisements that give reward to drinkers for drinking a given quantity of a particular alcoholic
beverage with provision of evidence. In this regard there is an increased probability that the
action will be repeated and in this way the reward that is usually a consequence of the action will
definitely provide reinforcement of the habit.
Social learning theory is an important key to understanding how people acquire new
ways of responding to their environment and this type of learning takes place when an individual
observes some kind of action performed by someone else and comes to understand that the
behavior either benefits or punishes the observed person (Defleur, 2010). This describes the two
forms of social learning identified by Baran & Davis (2003)- imitation and identification.

2.2.2 Elaboration Likelihood Model

The Elaboration Likelihood Model is a theory of persuasion developed by Richard Petty

and John Cacioppo in the early 1980s; it is a dual process model which describes how people
choose to manage the information they encounter, either systematically or heuristically. (White,
2011). Elaboration can be seen as going extra mile on something; it can also be seen as the
process of expanding or developing something beyond expectation. Griffin (2012) defined
elaboration as “the extent to which a person carefully thinks about issue-relevant arguments
contained in a persuasive communication” the Elaboration Likelihood Model attempts to explain
how attitude are formed, shaped and also reinforced through persuasive arguments (Yocco,
2014). Yocco explains further that the idea behind the Elaborate Likelihood Model is that some
level of elaboration occurs when someone is presented with information, therefore, the term
elaboration has to do with the effort that is made by someone to evaluate a message, remember
the message and either accept or reject the message. Elaboration in the viewpoint of this research
focused on advertisements of alcoholic beverages.
White (2011), however, identified two routes to persuasion and they are the central route
and the peripheral route. White describes the central route as involving receivers of messages
scrutinizing the central, logical merits of a persuasive message while the peripheral route is

liii
heuristic; it is the means by which receivers of a message evaluate persuasive messages when
they are not motivated and/or unable to elaborate on its logical merits. Persuasive messages in
this context are messages that are sent in order to convince an individual or a group to take
certain specific actions. Persuasion however is aimed at changing someone or a group of
persons’ attitude or behavior toward an event or idea. The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)
is a model of persuasion which refers to attitude changes which occur by different level of
evaluative processing (Shrum, Liu, Nespoli & Lowrey, 2012). According to Shrum et al (2012)
the Elaboration Likelihood Model posits that when people have the ability and the motivation to
process information presented in a persuasive communication, the likelihood of elaboration of
such message is high and people will take the central route, which involves scrutinizing of such
message, but when the likelihood of elaboration of such message is low, people will take the
peripheral route to persuasion which involves discovering and learning by oneself.
The relevance of the theory to this study lays in the fact that individual audience member
processes persuasive messages received in respect of products and services. This theory is
relevant because it has to do with how advertising audiences, in the case of this research
undergraduates in South-West, Nigeria, receive, process and use advertising messages for their
heuristic and other needs. After reception, the 18+ sign as a warning message against underage
drinking is likely to undergo elaboration in the mind of the audience - the effort that is made by a
receiver to evaluate a message, remember the message and either accept or reject the message.
The message may pass through the receiver’s central or the peripheral route depending on the
logical benefits the warning may have in the consideration of the audience. Consequent upon the
level of elaboration, which may be high or low, the receiver may form or change his or her
attitude towards the warning and/or actual consumption of alcohol. As regards the 18+ warning
sign, undergraduates’ attitude can be positive in the sense of restraints from drinking among the
underage; or negative in terms of not being convinced about the dangers inherent in underage
drinking.

2.2.3 Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Another theory on which this research is anchored is the Cognitive Dissonance Theory.
This theory was developed by Leon Festinger in the year 1957 and is concerned with the
processes that a person goes through to justify or rationalize his or her behaviour after a decision

liv
or commitment has been made (Folarin, 2003). Cognitive Dissonance Theory is based on three
fundamental assumptions which are the following:

1. Humans are sensitive to inconsistencies between actions and beliefs.

2. Recognition of this inconsistency will cause dissonance, and will motivate an
individual to resolve the dissonance.
3. Dissonance will be resolved in one of three ways such as change beliefs, change
actions and change perception of action (P.75)

The Cognitive Dissonance theory is a communication theory adopted from social

psychology and it applies to all situations involving attitude formation and change. Cognition
refers to intellectual activity such as thinking, or reasoning, while dissonance means
inconsistency between the beliefs one holds or between one’s actions. Cognitive Dissonance
therefore refers to a situation involving conflicting attitude, beliefs or behaviour which produces
a feeling of discomfort, leading to an alteration in one of the attitude, beliefs or behaviour to
reduce the discomfort and restore balance.
This theory is also relevant in the sense that undergraduates in South-West, Nigeria
below the age of 18 years may encounter inconsistency between their positive disposition to
drinking (perhaps as a result of previous persuasive messages and other social and psychological
influences) and the discouragement of drinking as a result of the 18+ warning sign. This
inconsistency may lead to dissonance or imbalance as the affected individual may resort to
seeking information from other sources (parents, peers, to mention a few) either to confirm the
warning against underage drinking or refute the warning. The result of the process is that attitude
towards the message and actual consumption of alcoholic products may change depending on the
strength and direction of information received to resolve dissonance. The alcohol drinking habits
of the undergraduates and/or their perception of alcohol drinking may also change as a result of
the process. This study examined the change in attitude, perception and actions towards alcohol
consumption among undergraduates in South-West, Nigeria.

lv
2.3 Conceptual Model of the Study

Independent Variable Dependent Variable

Awareness of the 18+

warning sign H1

Recognition of the 18+ Demographic

Attitude
sign H2 factors H5
towards
consumption of
Perception of the
credibility of the 18+ Alcoholic
sign H3 Beverage

Influence of the use of

18+ sign on underage
consumption H4

Figure 2.1: A conceptual model of the attitude of undergraduates to the 18+ warning sign
in alcoholic beverages advertisements in selected universities in South-West, Nigeria.

Source: Researcher, 2016

The 18+ sign on alcoholic beverage advertisements produces different advertising effects
which depicts Hypotheses one to four – Awareness, Recognition, Perception, Influence and
Demographic factors. Line one which represents Hypothesis One (H 1) means that the awareness
lvi
of the 18+ sign on alcoholic beverage advertisements by university undergraduates will influence
their attitude and their consumption habit which could result either positively or negatively. The
awareness of these university undergraduates of the 18+ sign in alcoholic beverage
advertisements will determine if they will consume alcohol always, often, seldom or if they will
dislike alcohol or have an indifferent attitude towards alcohol consumption. Therefore, the level
of awareness of this 18+sign will determine the attitude of these university undergraduates
towards their consumption habit.
Line two which represents Hypothesis Two (H2) means that the recognition of the 18+
sign on alcoholic beverage advertisements by university undergraduates will influence their
attitude towards consumption habit which could also result positively or negatively. This implies
that, how such university undergraduates perceive the 18+ sign on alcoholic beverage
advertisements will determine whether they will consume alcohol always, whether they will
consume it often or seldom; whether they will dislike alcohol or whether they will have an
indifferent attitude towards alcohol consumption.
Line three which represents Hypothesis Three (H 3), means that the perception of
university undergraduates of the 18+ sign on alcoholic beverage advertisements will influence
the attitude of such university undergraduates towards alcohol consumption. Therefore, how
convinced these university undergraduates are about the 18+ sign on alcoholic beverage
advertisements, will determined if they will consume alcohol always, often, seldom. The
university undergraduates’ level of conviction about the 18+ sign on alcoholic beverage
advertisement will also determine if they will dislike alcohol or whether they will have an
indifferent attitude towards alcohol consumption.
Line four which represents Hypothesis four (H4) means that the 18+ sign on alcoholic
beverage advertisements will influence the attitude of the underage towards consumption. The
influence of the 18+ warning sign on alcoholic beverage advertisements will determine underage
consumption of alcoholic beverages which will lead to whether they will consume alcohol
always, often, seldom or whether they will dislike alcohol or will be indifferent towards it
consumption.
Line five which represents Hypothesis five (H5) means that demographic factors of the
respondents will determine the attitude of university undergraduates towards the 18+ sign which
will lead to their consumption habit.

lvii
2.4 Empirical Framework

Concerns about harmful effects of alcohol on young people are rife among social
crusaders on health, public health institutions and non-governmental organizations dealing with
health, culture and the development of adolescents and youths. These concerns have spurred
considerable research interest, raising the focus of scholarship on alcohol and alcoholism among
young people. Areas of concern on the subject include young people exposure to promotional
messages and the effect of such habits on the health, safety and well-being of young people. Of
particular relevance to the focus of this study is the portrayal of alcohol consumption or alcohol
advertising exposure to young people, especially the underage. In line with the focus of this
study, exposure of alcoholic beverages advertisement to the underage and young people below
the age of 18 years has the potential of encouraging consumption. As a social responsibility
measure to discourage underage drinking, the alcohol producing industry in Nigeria has
introduced the use of the 18+ sign as part of warning labels on alcoholic beverages container. In
the light of effects of alcohol advertising on consumption and the empirical studies to be
reviewed in this section, this study aims to examine the influence of exposure to the 18+ sign
warning in alcoholic beverages advertisement on young people’s attitudes to the advertising
messages as well as to alcohol consumption.
Literature is replete with studies related to youth’s exposure to advertising messages
about alcoholic beverages. Saffer (2002) reviewed empirical studies of alcohol advertising and
youth, addressing the central question of whether aggregate alcohol advertising messages
increase alcohol consumption among college students. The author classifies empirical studies of
alcohol advertising and youth into three categories: targeting studies, attitudinal studies and
econometric studies. Targeting studies are those that examine how advertising targets youths by
studying media placement and content. Focus of these studies includes consumer information in
advertisements (such as the 18+ warning sign), brand symbolism and lifestyle portrayals that
appeal to youth. Attitudinal studies are those that attempt to establish a correlation between
alcohol advertising messages and consumption habits, intentions or attitude. The focus of
econometric studies is to collect large scale survey data and aggregate statistics for various
communities. Such studies are aimed at examining the effects of alcohol advertising spending on
market share and total alcohol consumption.

lviii
 In the first category, the author cites some studies including that of the Centre for Media
Education (1998). The study monitored alcohol promotion websites for the period between
August 18 and October 13, 1998 and found evidence of youth targeting in alcohol advertising on
the internet. The study reported that 62% of the 77 alcohol sites examined used strategies that
appealed to youth. Studies related to attitudinal research on alcohol advertising include that of
Parker (1998). The researcher examined how alcohol advertisements are perceived by college
students, using a meaning based model of advertising to incorporate message with students’ life
themes, personal conflicts, view of self and view of others. The students drawn into the study
were asked questions about their interpretation of alcohol advertisements and their responses
were compared with their life experiences. The study found out, among other things, that the
meanings of alcohol advertising messages are derived from individual’s experiences. The study
also reported that college students were able to identify cultural myths in the advertisement but
did not believe them. Econometric studies of alcohol advertising such as that of Nelson (1999)
which used quarterly advertising data showed no correlation between advertising spending and
industry demand in the United States.
Alcohol Healthwatch (2003) reports studies of the effects of alcohol advertising on the
individual, particularly young people’s responses to advertising messages. One of the major
results common to the studies reported is that alcohol advertising has considerable impact on
young people. Citing a survey study by Cooke, Hastings and Anderson (2002), Alcohol
Healthwatch (2003) reports that:

Many of these studies in particular more recent studies

involving sophisticated methodologies, point to the link
between advertising and young people’s drinking behavior.
In essence, the more familiar, aware and appealing the
advertising is to the target groups, the more likely they are
to drink now and in the future (p.9)
The study of Cooke et al (2002) can be classified under the targeting category of alcohol
advertising studies (Safer, 2002). By targeting young people, Cooke et al (2002) established a
link between alcohol advertising content with young people’s awareness and familiarity with
brands as well as their interest in drinking now and the future based on the appeals used in the
messages.
Grube (2004) embarked upon an extensive review of advertising research on the effects
of alcohol portrayals in adverting on alcohol consumption among youth. He classified research in
lix
this category into experimental or laboratory studies, iconological studies and survey and other
correlational studies. The author reports an experimental study aimed at investigating the effects
of television beer advertising on alcohol expectancies among young people who are not regular
drinkers. The study selected groups of students in the fifth and eighth grades and exposed them
to prepared videotapes of five beer commercials, five soft drink commercials and two anti-
drinking commercials. Memory task was conducted and results showed children paid attention to
the advertising messages, remembering seeing the beer and soft drink commercials. Findings
however showed that in spite of the attention given to the commercials, neither exposure to the
beer commercials alone nor exposure to the beer commercials in combination with the anti-
drinking commercial influenced scores on alcohol expectancy scales. The finding of this study is
in dissonance with those of Cooke et al (2002) which point to the link between young people’s
exposure to alcohol advertising and their drinking behavior. This could be adduced to difference
in methodology: Cooke et al’s (2002) study was a survey while that reported by Grube (2004)
was an experimental studies, Grube (2004) observe that the findings of the experimental study
offer little evidence linking alcohol advertising to favourable drinking beliefs or increased
consumption.
Rand Health (2006) commissioned a longitudinal study that investigated young people’s
exposure to beer advertisements. The focus on beer advertisements in the study was justified by
their pervasiveness over other kinds of alcohol advertisements. In the first study, 3,000
adolescent students were studied through the tracking of their exposure to beer advertisements
and subsequent drinking. Three sets of survey questionnaire were used as data collection
instruments each designed for a baseline drinking habit at the start of grade seven, a survey about
alcohol advertising and television viewing, at the end of grade 8; and a survey about past year
drinking at the end of grade 9.

The study sample was divided into two groups: initial non-drinkers –grade seven students
who said they never took alcohol amounting to 39% and initial drinkers – grade seven students
who said they have taken alcohol before, 61%. Four channels of beer advertisements were
examined in the study: magazines, concession stands, grocery or convenience stores and
television. Findings of the study showed that exposure to alcohol advertisement were directly
linked to subsequent drinking in mid-adolescent. Nearly half of the grade seven non-drinkers
became drinkers when they got to grade nine; more than three quarters of the grade seven initial
lx
drinker respondents had used alcohol during grade nine and the more advertisements youth saw
during grade 8, the greater the likelihood they fell into one of the two groups of grade nine
drinkers. Also, result showed that different kinds of advertisements have difference influences on
youths, depending on the individuals prior alcohol use. In this regard, in-store beer
advertisements exerted the most influence on the youth for initial non-drinkers while for initial
drinkers, advertisement in magazines and displays at concession stands, sports and music events
had the most effect. The findings of this study are in tandem with that of Cooke et al (2002)
perhaps because it adopted the same survey method. The link between alcohol advertising
exposures to drinking among young people could thus be better understood when they are
studied in real life situation rather than in experimental set-ups. The study commission by Rand
Heath (2006) scored its merit over others reviewed so far in that it adopts a longitudinal approach
in studying young people’s exposure to beer advertisements as they grew from middle school to
high school.
Similarly, Snyder, Milici, Slater, Sun and Strizhakova (2006) conducted a study on the
effect of alcohol advertising exposure on drinking among young people, using a longitudinal
panel survey. The aim of the study was to test whether alcohol advertising spending and the
degree of exposure to alcohol advertisements affect alcohol consumption among youth.
Respondents of between ages 15 years and 26 years were randomly chosen from Clusters of 24
United States Nielsen media markets, totaling 4, 420. The researchers concluded four telephone
interviews during 21 month durations: April to July 1999, December to January 2000, May to
June 2000 and December to January 2001. In the study, respondents were asked three outcome
measure questions about alcohol use: On how many days they drank any alcohol beverage in the
past four weeks (frequency); when they drank alcohol, how many drinks, glasses, bottles or cans
did you have per day on average (average quantity); the maximum number of alcohol drinks
glasses, bottles or cans they had on one occasion (maximum quantity). Advertising exposure
measure was determined using two questions that assessed self-reported beer or liquor and
premised drinks exposure thus: ‘How many times in the past four weeks have you seen (media)
advertisements for beer or liquor or premised drink?; In what media did you see advertisement
for beer/ liquor or premixed drinks?’.
Results of the study showed that youths who saw more alcohol advertisement on average
drank more with each additional advertisement seen increasing the number of drinks consumed
by 1%. Young people in markets with higher advertising spending consumed more alcohol,
lxi
which each additional advertising dollar per capital spent raising the number of drinks consumed
by 3%. Advertising expenditure on exposure was also observed to influence even youth younger
than the legal drinking age of 21 years as youths in markets with more alcohol advertisements
showed in the study by Snyder et al (2006) is the combination of different measures in
establishing the link. The study combined respondents’ drinking outcome measure with
advertising exposure measures, markets alcohol advertising spending per capita, time measure
(21 month duration), alcohol sales per capita and demographic variables.
In Weir (2007), a review of different categories of people examining alcohol advertising
is reported. The one that to relevant is this study was conducted by Stacy, Zogg, Unger and Dent
in 2004 titled “Exposure to televised alcohol ads and subsequent adolescent alcohol use”. It was
a cohort study carried out in 20 Los Angeles country middle schools randomly selected in a
cluster design, using all pupils in grade seven during the baseline year as participants. The study
used both opportunity based and ‘memory- based’ measures, the former relying on viewing
certain TV programmes as a proxy measure of alcohol advertisement exposure while the latter
relied on self reported questionnaire eliciting exposure frequency data to direct viewing of
alcohol advertisements.
Findings of the study revealed that there were significant positive associations between
watching TV shows and beer drinking; watching TV sports programmes and beer drinking,
watching TV shows and liquor or wine drinking as well as watching TV shows and three
drinking episodes. Also, self reported frequency of exposure of alcohol advertising on TV was
positively related to beer consumption. On the other hand, no significant positive associations
were found between cued memory recall test and wine liquor drinking. This study scores its
merit in combining the opportunity based with memory based measures in linking exposure to
televised alcohol advertisement with drinking behavior among youths. Its result also confirms
previous findings on the link between the two constructs. However, results from the two
measures were inconsistently raising concern about which of the two is the most valid measure
that can best establish the link between televised alcohol advertising exposure and drinking.
In a more specific approach as regards how advertising influences drinking among
young people, Gunter, Hanseen and Touri (2008) conducted a study. The study titled: “
Representative and reception of meaning in alcohol advertising and young people’s drinking,
investigated young people’s patterns of alcohol consumption in relation to a range of other social
and psychological factors; including their exposure to alcohol advertising. Young people
lxii
between the ages of 17 years and 21 years recruited from among university of Leicester and
further education college population respondents were selected through class tutor were asked to
complete a questionnaire after the researcher explained to them the purpose of the study. A total
of 298 respondents were drawn into the study, made up of 169 university and 129 secondary
school students. To measure consumption of alcohol, the researcher used self- reported
frequencies of drinking alcohol, getting drunk, drinking more than five units of alcohol in a
single session and consumption of different types of alcohol beverages such as beer, wine, cider,
spirit and alcohol. Exposure to alcohol advertising was based on a self-reported data frequency
on recall of exposure to commercial messages in different media for different alcoholic brands,
differentiated according to types of alcoholic drinks.
Findings of the study showed that there was no evidence that exposure to alcohol
advertising were an important predictor of the overall amount of reported consumption. Parental
and peer group influences were observed to be more significant as male parents drinking and
drinking with friends were the most important factors linked to frequency and volume of
drinking. Also, the study reported evidence that peer group influence was a more important
predictor of how often respondents got drunk. A relationship between alcohol advertising
exposure and excessive drinking was observed, though the direction of the relationship between
the two constructs was not always the same. Exposure to cinema advertising however, was
observed to be negatively related to the frequency of getting drunk among respondents. Exposure
to television commercial was observed to be a positive predictor of the frequency of getting
drunk in the previous 12 months among the respondents. By implication, high level of explosive
to televised commercial could be responsible for excessive drinking. Findings also revealed that
the extent to which specific types of alcoholic beverages had been recently consumed was the
major predictor of the measure of consumption.
In this regard, advertising exposure did not predict overall consumption but there was a
relationship between overall consumption and point-of-scale promotion. Consumption of a
combination of two types of alcohol namely cider and alcopop was predicted by exposure to any
form of advertising. In the case of these two types of drinks, exposure to televised advertising
was observed to have predicted frequency of consumption. The merit scored by this study over
the previous ones reviewed is the consideration of a range of other social and psychological
factors – for instance parental and peer influences – in examining how advertising influenced
drinking. This perhaps account for the richness and diversity of its findings. One major findings
lxiii
of this study that is consistent with previous ones is that television commercials exert great
influences on drinking patterns in the areas of drinking frequencies, volumes, combination and
getting drunk. It however adds another dimension to advertising influence, which is the influence
of point of sale promotion on drinking patterns among young people.
The Alcohol Education and Research Council (AERC) (2008) reports summaries of key
findings made from research and development activities supported by grants. In Alcohol Insight,
the AERC reported a multi- faceted enquiring on the nature and impact of alcohol advertising on
television, in the print media and at points-of-sale in the UK conducted in 2005. The study
surveyed a sample of young adults about their alcohol drinking habits in relation to exposure to
alcohol advertising. Evidence from macro-level econometric analyses was varied: while some
indicated statistical links between alcohol advertising expenditure and consumption level, others
did not replicate the findings. Thus, it has been difficult to relate advertising expenditure to
volume of consumption. However, exposure to alcohol advertising was reported to be capable of
raising familiarity with brands among young people but the issue of direct link to the onset of
drinking is reported to be uncertain, hence debatable. Exposure has however been linked to brand
recognition and thinking about drinking which can eventually lead to drinking. The uncertainty
about the direct relationship between advertising exposure and the commencement of drinking
among young people was supported by Gunter et al (2008) in their consideration of other social
and psychological variable that may influence drinking among youth. This recent direction of
research is an indication that advertising as a mass communication message could function
through a nexus of social variables hence, a one-to-one influence between exposure and
alcoholic consumption may be difficult to establish.
In furtherance of Gunter et al (2008) findings AERC (2008) reports that parental and peer
group influences emerged stronger and more often than did advertising in predicting overall
frequency and amount of alcohol consumed by youth. The debate about whether alcohol
advertising is fully or partially responsible in a causal association has prompted a study by
Research Power Incorporated (2009) titled; “Effects of alcohol advertising on alcohol
consumption among youth”. The study commissioned by Nova Scotia Department of Health
Promotion and Protection, Canada presented a report of review of findings in empirical literature
such as journal of studies on Alcohol and Drugs, Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent
Medicine, Journal of Adolescent Health, to mention a few. The results of a review and synthesis
of the academic literature showed that children and teenagers below the drinking age were
lxiv
regularly exposed to high level of alcohol advertising. One out of every six magazine
advertisements and one out of every fourteen television commercials promoting alcohol were
reported to have targeted underage drinkers. Studies also proved that alcoholic beverages
advertisements use techniques that specifically target and appeal to youth, making such messages
attractive to them. Such techniques as the use of animals, humour, music, innovative technical
effects and bar or party settings appeal to youths, encouraging them to drink. On the impact of
alcohol advertising exposure on the onset of drinking, studies reviewed suggested that alcohol
advertising shapes youth’s attitude, perception and particularly expectancy about alcohol use. A
progression has been established from liking of alcohol advertisements, to positive expectations
about alcohol use, to intention to drink and to actual drinking. This progression in advertising
effect should not be seen as the sole factor responsible for consumption but could be responsible
for preparing the ground for consumption, which other social and psychological factors referred
to by Gunter et al (2008) could assist.
A study that has its focus on alcohol advertising’s targeting of young people was
conducted by Hillier, Cole, Smith, Yancey, Williams, Grier and McCarthy (2009). Titled
“Clustering of unhealthy outdoor advertisements around child serving institutions: A comparism
of three cities. The study used GPS devices and digital cameras to survey outdoor advertisements
in Austin, Los Angeles and Philadelphia. The location and contents of the outdoor advertisement
in each city were recorded within a 60 day period – between June and September, 2005. In the
study, child-serving institutions were operationalised as public, private and charter elementary,
middle and high school, day-care centres (public and private), public recreational centres and
public libraries. Findings of the study showed that in Austin the ratio of child serving institutions
to unhealthy (alcohol) advertisement was approximately 4:1, implying that for every four
schools, day- care centre, recreation centres and libraries in the study areas, there was one
unhealthy advertisement. In Los Angeles the ratio was approximately 2:1 while in Philadelphia,
the ratio was 1:3. Advertisements of unhealthy products did not cluster around child serving
institutions in Austin but they did in Los Angeles and Philadelphia. However, this study did not
consider how the clustering of unhealthy advertisements (such as those alcohols) as well as their
exposure to children in child-serving areas could impact the likelihood to drink or actual
drinking. It is useful in considering alcohol advertising targeting youths as a prelude to exposure
and eventual consumption of alcoholic beverages.

lxv
 A study of Smith and Foxcroft (2009) focus on the effect of alcohol advertising,
marketing and portrayal on the drinking behavior of young people, adopted a systematic review
of cohort studies. The review evaluated the relationship between exposure to alcohol advertising,
marketing and portrayal on subsequent drinking habits of young people by analyzing cohort
longitudinal students identified in academic literature through the search of data bases, with no
date restriction, supported by manual searches of reference list of reviewed articles. At total of
seven cohort studies that examined more than 13,000 young people of between ages 10 years to
26 years reported in nine articles were analysed. The focuses of the studies ranged from exposure
to different alcohol advertisements to other marketing activities in the print and broadcast media,
and they measured drinking behavior by the use of different outcome measures.
Some of the studies reported by Smith and Foxcroft (2009), which have not been
reviewed in this study include the one by Conolly and colleagues, which investigated the
relationship between alcohol consumption at the age f 18 and alcohol-related mass media
communication recalled at ages between 13 and 15 years among a sample of 435 respondents in
New Zealand. Findings of the study showed that male respondents who recalled more alcohol
advertisements at age 15 drank significantly more beer at 18 than those who recalled less. There
was observed a negative relationship among female respondents between alcohol advertisement
recall at age 13 and frequency of beer consumption. When multi-variate analyses that examined
the roles of media exposure, gender, occupation, living situation, socio- economic status and peer
approval of drinking were carried out, these variables proved to be potential confounders of
drinking habits among young people. Within the group of respondents that drank beer at 18
years, results showed that liking of alcohol advertising and brand loyalty had a positive impact
on the volume of beer consumed at age 21. The findings of this study have been corroborated by
those of Research Power Incorporated (2009) in two major ways. Firstly, there is an agreement
about the influence of parental and peer factors, which Gunter et al (2008) had established;
secondly, there is an agreement about the influence of advertising in shaping youths attitude,
perception and particularly expectancy about alcohol use. This study took a step further by
identifying other confounding variables influencing youth’s alcohol consumption and these
include current occupation, living situation, and socio-economic status.
Another study reported in Smith and Foxcroft (2009) was that by Ellickson, Collins,
Hambarsoomians and McCaffrey (2005). The researchers examined the relationship between a
range of alcohol advertising exposure and subsequent drinking among a sample of adolescents of
lxvi
between ages 12 and 13 in the United States. The study recorded 48% of the research sample as
baseline non-drinkers and found out that they initiated drinking within a two years follow-up.
For baseline non-drinkers, exposure to point-of-sale beer displays, moderated by general TV
viewing, social influences, social bonds, gender, ethnicity and attitude, predicted onset of
drinking at the follow-up. Young people’s exposure to TV beer advertisements, magazines with
alcohol advertisements and point-of sale displays all showed positive associations with drinking,
though none was significant. Among the baseline drinkers (52% of the total research sample), the
majority (77%) showed alcohol consumption in the past one year of follow-up. Among this
group, exposure to alcohol magazine advertisements and to beer promotion at stand, at sports or
music events was observed to predict frequency of drinking during the period of follow-up.
Television and point-of-sale exposures were however not significant predictors of drinking
frequency when multiple control variables were considered alongside. The intervening
influences of social and demographic variables on baseline non-drinkers onset of drinking
reported in this study confirms previous studies results in this direction (AERC, 2008, Gunter et
al, 2008, Research Power Incorporated, 2009) with additions of ethnicity and attitude by this
study. The study also illuminates the relative influences of point- of-scale (especially in store)
displays over other media of advertising on drinking habits among youth drinkers, and the
relative influences of magazines advertisements and bee concessions at sports and music events
among baseline drinkers.
Similarly on the strengths of audio-visual advertising media, Bulk and Beullons (2005)
examined the relationship between television viewing, music video exposure and subsequent
alcohol consumption using a sample of 2,546 students of first and fourth year secondary schools
in Flanders, Belgium. Results showed that majority of the respondents watched TV and music
videos several times a week, while about one-third watched daily. Findings also showed that
overall TV and music video viewing at baseline significantly predicted the amount of alcohol
beverages the young people consumed while going out at a follow-up of one year, results of
regression model of the study showed that there were significant moderating influences of
gender, school year, smoking and pubertal status on the relationship between television viewing
and music video exposure and subsequent alcohol consumption among young people. The
moderating roles of gender and school year have been confirmed by Ellickson et al (2005),
AERC (2008) and Gunter et al (2008) while smoking and pubertal status were additions to the

lxvii
school and psychological variables that intervene in the effects of alcohol advertising exposure
on drinking.

In the study by Tanski, McClure, Li, Jackson, Morgenstern, Li, James and Sargent (2015)
the reach of television advertising to children and its effects on drinking behavior among them
was the focus. The researchers established the importance of the study on the background that
“alcohol is the most common drug among youth and a major contributor to morbidity and
mortality worldwide” (p.264). A total sample of 2,541 US adolescents of between ages 15 and 23
years was drawn into the study at baseline. Longitudinal telephone and web-based surveys were
conducted over period of two years (2011 to 2013). Cued recall of television advertising images
for top ten beers and distilled spirit brand that were aired nationally between 2010 and 2011 was
tested among the respondents in the study. Measures set to examine the relationship between
cued recall and alcohol consumption included the onset of drinking among non drinkers, the
onset of binge drinking among those who were never binge drinkers and the onset of hazardous
drinking among those with an alcohol use disorders.
Findings of the studies showed that exposure to television alcohol advertising between
participants within the legal ages of drinking and underage participants were almost the same,
with the latter slightly less likely to be exposed to alcohol advertisements. Exposure to the
advertisements aided recall and this in turn was observed to predict transition to multiple
drinking outcomes. The transition to binge and hazardous drinking was observed to occur for
29% and 18% of youths aged between 15 to 17 years and for 29% and 19% of youth aged
between 18 to 20 years respectively. The study concluded that regulation of alcohol advertising
has failed to present exposure to large numbers of underage person, which accounts for their
drinking patterns. This study is lopsided in its lack of consideration of social, psychological and
demographic factors that could intervene television exposure to encourage drinking.
Similarly, Collins, Martino, Kovalchick, Becker, Shadel and Mico (2015) conducted a
study on alcohol advertising exposure across media and venues, with a view to determining
venues of greatest exposure and identify the characteristics of youth that are most exposed. A
total of 589 youths of between 11 and 14 years of age in Los Angeles were studied over a 10
month period in 2013. The sample was drawn from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds and was
made to complete a paper-and-pencil questionnaire that measured their background
characteristics and their exposures to alcohol advertisements measured by handheld computers as

lxviii
they occurred. Findings showed that African Americans and Hispanic youths were exposed to an
average of 4.1 and 3.4 advertisements daily respectively. This was twice as many as the exposure
rates of non-Hispanic white youth who were exposed to 2.0 advertisements daily. Along gender
lines, girls were exposed to 30% more advertisements than boys. Most of the exposures were to
outdoor advertisements while television commercials ranked second. The study concludes that
there was frequent alcohol advertising exposure to the underage middle – school youth, calling
for greater restrictions on outdoors and television advertising by regulators and the alcohol
industry. The results of this study are in consonance with those of the centre for media Education
(1998), which found evidence of youth targeting in alcohol advertising; and those of Hillier et al
(2009) which found a high ratio of clustering of unhealthy (alcohol) advertisements around child
serving institutions in Los Angeles and Philadephia. However the study did not consider the
influence of such exposure on drinking.
In furtherance of research on the relationship between exposure to alcohol advertising
and alcohol consumption among the underage, Seigel, Ross, Albers, DeJong, King, Naimi and
Jernigan (2016) examined the relationship between brand-specific alcohol advertising and brand
specific consumption among underage drinkers in the United States. The study examined the
relationship between the two constructs focusing on brand-specific advertising of alcohol
beverages in national magazine and television programmes, and consumption prevalence by
brand among a population of young people between the ages of 13 and 20 years. The study relied
on the most comprehensive monitoring of age specific alcohol advertising exposure during US
cable and broadcast television programmes conducted by Nielsen as a standard measurement of
brand specific advertising exposure (Seigel et al, 2016). To measure brand-specific alcohol
consumption prevalence, the researchers gathered data for a period of 30 days on alcohol
consumption among respondents of between 13 and 20 years.
Findings of the study showed that average band specific consumption prevalence among
the study population increased steadily with both magazine and television advertising exposure.
Also, television advertising of alcohol was observed to be associated with more than five-field
increase in underage drinking prevalence when brand price and overall market share were
considered as mediating variables. To examine the linearity of the relationship between brand-
specific advertising exposure and consumption prevalence, a Lowes curve was constructed and
the curve showed a liner relationship between total advertising exposure and consumption
prevalence over the full range exposure observed in the study. The study concluded that there is
lxix
a strong positive influence of alcohol advertising on brand choice as an important aspect of
drinking behavior among underage youth drinkers. The results of this study confirm previous
findings especially on the influence of television as an advertising medium to promote underage
drinking more than other media. The study however did not consider social and psychological
variables that could intervene in the relationship between exposure and consumption. Also,
advertising was not considered as a reinforcement of an already established drinking habit, brand
liking and brand choice. The nature of the relationship between advertising exposure and
consumption prevalence was thus not specified in the context of other factors in the underage
drinkers’ domains.
Alcohol Action Ireland (2016) reports a series of studies, which examined the
relationship between young people’s exposure to alcohol advertising and the onset or prevalence
of drinking. Among the studies reviewed in the report of the working group on regulation of
sponsorship of major sporting events by alcohol companies was the one carried out by the
Science Committee of the European Alcohol and Health Forum in 2009. The study was
longitudinal research that investigated the impact of marketing communications on the initiation
and continuation of alcohol use among 38,000 young people of between 10 and 21 years of age
in the United States, New Zealand, Belgium and Germany. Findings of the study were
summarized in the committee’s conclusion that alcohol marketing communications tools of
advertising, sponsorship and other forms of promotion potentially influence adolescents’ onset
and continuation of drinking. Exposure to alcohol advertising was thus established to be
influential in encouraging the start of underage drinking as it is also linked to drinking
prevalence among underage drinkers. The study did not specify if other factors could be
responsible in assisting or inhibiting advertising influence.
One of the studies reported by Alcohol Action Ireland (2016) was the one published by
the Alcohol Measures for Public Health Research (AMPHORA), which examined the impact of
alcohol marketing in Europe on youth alcohol expectancies and drinking. The study investigated
the relationship between alcohol-brands sports sponsorship exposure and underage drinking,
using over 6,600 adolescents with an average age of 14years. The study sample was drawn
across four countries: Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Poland. Findings of the study showed
that exposure to alcohol-branded sport sponsorship increase adolescent expectancies of alcohol
use by making them feel positive, activated, aroused and experience less negative effects of
alcohol consumption. Sponsorship of sporting events was also found to be associated to
lxx
underage alcohol use. The study concluded that the frequency of exposure to alcohol-branded
sports sponsorship influenced expectancies and actual drinking among adolescents. Based on the
series of empirical evidences linking alcohol advertising especially sports sponsorship exposures
to underage drinking, as well as the attendant health safety and other social risks associated with
underage drinking, the working group on regulating sponsorship by Alcohol companies of major
sporting events in Alcohol Action Ireland (2016) submits that :

Therefore, we believe that implementing a ban on alcohol

sponsorship of sports is not only the right thing to do, but the
proposal is also proportionate and allows sporting organisations
time to seek sponsorship from alternative sources. While claims
have been made that a ban on alcohol sponsorship will impact
on our ability to attract and host major international
tournaments, this is at odds with the evidences. France since the
implementation of the Loi Evin banned alcohol sponsorship of
sports in 1991 has hosted both the soccer and rugby world cups,
in 1998 and 2007 respectively (p.19).
The submission of the group is apparently a call for stiffer regulation of alcohol
advertising through sponsorship of sporting events. The regulation is in the realm of a total ban
of sponsorship by alcohol companies based on numerous evidences linking exposure to underage
drinking, borrowing from the experience of France. The call for staffer regulations of alcohol
advertising has raised the controversy about the impact of such regulation in mitigating the
influence of advertising on underage drinking. One of such studies on regulation of alcohol
advertising was carried out by Alcohol Justice (2013) titled, The Bus Ads Don’t Stop For
Children: Alcohol Advertising on Public Transit”. The study established in its background that
there is the need for policy actions aimed at reducing youth exposure to alcohol advertising or
public property in view of the dangers of underage drinking and alcohol- related problems that
may occur later in life.
The study carried out a survey of alcohol advertising polices of 32 major metropolitan
transit agencies and other departments that control transit advertising in the United States.
Findings of the study showed that 18 agencies have explicit bans on alcohol advertising as
matters of agencies policy, contract requirements, government policy or a combination of these
measures. New York, Chicago and Atlanta were observed to lag behind the other 14 major
transit agencies that protect youths with bans on alcohol advertising. Model transit alcohol bans
were observed to include Seattle, San Francisco, Boston and Philadelphia. Major cities in the US
lxxi
were observed to continue to allow alcohol advertising on outdoor media such as street furniture.
The study recommends a total ban by transit agencies on alcohol advertising by agencies that
allow such. Formal agency polices that provide for monitoring and enforcement protocols as well
as heavy fines for non-compliance should be formulated. Legislators should work to ban alcohol
advertising on public property, including public transportation vehicles and street furniture.
Legislation should also be made to restrict out-of-home advertising to specific areas not
predominantly inhabited by the underage. Such regulatory measures are important to protect
youth from exposure to alcohol advertisements with the aim of protecting the health and safety
of the public, especially youth (Alcohol Justice, 2013).
Regulation of alcohol advertising varies from country to country: from making alcohol
expensive, making it less available to outright banning promotion and/ or sale of alcohol in a bid
to reduce harmful effects of drinking (Jones & Gordon, 2013). The nature and effectiveness of
various regulatory polices across the world remain subjects of controversy and areas of low
research concentration. One of the few scholarly studies that focused on the impact of alcohol
advertising regulation was conducted by Jones and Gordon (2013). The research examined the
effectiveness of Australia’s regulatory polices of alcohol advertising on consumption, comparing
such polices to what obtained in New Zealand, Canada and the United Kingdom. In the study, a
review of related researches identified through a systematic search of academic journals
published between 1990 and 2012 was carried out. The journals were searched from six
databases of ProQuest, science Direct, Psycinfo, Scopus, Expanded Academic and Web of
Science using the key words “alcohol “, “advert”, “Australia”, “New Zealand”, “Canada” or
“United Kingdom”. A total of 123 articles related to regulation of alcohol advertising in the
selected countries were reviewed in the report. Also, 20 articles were reviewed in order to
examine trends in community attitude to alcohol advertising regulation in the four countries.
Results of the studies reviewed showed that the regulatory codes of alcohol advertising or
marketing in the four selected countries were Australia Association of National Advertisers
(AANA) code of Ethics and Alcoholic Beverages, Advertising Authority (ASA) code of ethics
and Code for Advertising and Promotion of Alcohol (CAPA) in New Zealand; Advertising
Standards Canada’s (ASC) Canadian Code of Advertising Standards, Canadian Radio-Television
and Telecommunications Commission’s (CRTC) Code for Broadcast Advertising of Alcohol
Beverages; Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP), Committee of Advertising
Practice (CAP) and Portman Group all in the United Kingdom. The Regulation provisions in the
lxxii
Australian policies include some restrictions on placement of alcohol advertising on television
and outdoor media in which cases the broadcast of advertisements on commercial TV is
permitted only between 8:30pm and 5:00am – the periods tagged mature classification, mature
audience classification or adult violence classification. The exception to the rule is broadcast of
sporting events on weekends and public holidays, which Jones and Gordon (2013) observe make
young people vulnerable to undue influence. Outdoor advertising in Australia is restricted to
fixed signs located within a 150 metre sight line of a primary or secondary school, except where
the school is in the vicinity of any venue where alcoholic products are sold. This is to prevent
clustering of unhealthy outdoor advertisements (of alcohol) around child-serving institutions,
which Hillier et al (2009) report portend dangers to young ones. Industry self-regulation is also
instituted by the Alcoholic Beverages Advertising Committee.
Alcohol advertising in New Zealand according to Jones and Gordon (2013) is primarily
self-regulated and it covers all alcoholic products. The code for advertising and promotion of
Alcohol is designed to ensure the need for responsibility and moderation in merchandising and
consumption. The code also discourages alcohol consumption among minors. Regulation is
reported to be far more comprehensive in New Zealand than Australia, especially as regards
discouraging the use of appeals that associate consumption with success and hazardous activities.
It also prohibits featuring of identifiable young heroes and heroines, restricts competition and
sets guidelines for sponsorship. Regulation in New Zealand allows for complaints about alcohol
advertisements in writing or online like it is provided for in Australia, but it provides for the
disclosure of address of the written complaint on the website unlike the case in Australia.
A system of co-regulation of broadcast advertising of alcoholic beverages is adopted in
the United Kingdom handled by Ofcom (the UK Communications regulator) and the Advertising
Standards Authority (ASA). The Broadcast Committee of advertising, predominantly made up of
people in advertising industry specifies rules in its code guiding alcohol advertising for the
protection of children. The code prohibits alcohol marketing to children, requires that alcohol
advertisements must not be likely to appeal strongly to people under the age of 18; prohibits the
use of models under the age of 25 in advertisements and requires that no one may behave in an
adolescent or juvenile way in alcohol advertisements. The code also prohibits placement of
alcohol advertisement adjacent to children’s programmes or targeting people of below 18 years
of age. A system of self-regulation of alcohol marketing is also in operation in the United
Kingdom handled by the committee of advertising practice an industry body that regulates
lxxiii
advertising copy for non-broadcast advertisers and Portman Group, an industry group
comprising alcohol producers and brewers. The former regulates the style of presentation,
content and context of alcohol advertising, while the latter regulates the naming, packaging and
promotion of alcohol drinkers. Also, there is the social responsibility standards for the
Production and sale of alcoholic Beverages, which is a self- regulatory document written by the
alcohol industry to offer guidelines on best practice on production and sale of alcohol. Alcohol
retailers are also involved in self-regulation through the Responsible Retailing of Alcohol
Guidance for Off-Trade code which is a document that advises on the positioning of alcohol in-
store, alcohol promotions and staff training. Some of the provisions of the code are prohibition of
irresponsible marketing that leads to excessive drinking, appealing to the underage and implying
sexual prowess.
Alcohol advertising in Canada is also co-regulated, combining statutory regulation at the
Federal level with industry self-regulation (Jones & Gordon, 2013). Statutorily, the federal
government regulates alcohol advertising through the Canadian Radio-Television and
Telecommunications Commission. Provincial governments also have regulatory authorities that
legislate the control alcohol advertising. The advertising industry regulates alcohol advertising
through Advertising Standards Canada’s (ASC) and Canadian Code of Advertising Standards.
Industry self-regulation was introduced in Canada in 1997 when the process of censoring alcohol
advertisements was relaxed. The ASC oversees a voluntary pre-clearance process and also
reviews alcohol advertisements when complaints about them arise.
On the effectiveness of the regulatory systems in the four selected countries on the
exposure of the underage to alcohol advertising, Jones and Gordon (2013) observe that available
research evidence suggests that in Australia, adolescents are exposed to a high level of alcohol
advertising despite the regulations. Citing a study commissioned by the Commonwealth
Department of Health and Ageing in 2005, the scholars report that teenagers of between ages 13
and 17 years were exposed to the same amount of alcohol advertising on free-to-air television as
young adults of between ages 18 and 24 years. Also, the study found out that Children of
between ages 0 to 12 years were exposed to almost half as much alcohol advertisements as
teenagers. Children in grades 5 and 6 were observed to have high level of exposure to alcohol
brands and they considered alcohol as a product preferred by males, young people, and
humorous people and sports men. Specifically, alcohol advertising exposure in magazines, bottle

lxxiv
shops, pubs, bars and through promotional materials was found to be associated with initiation of
drinking among young ones.
In New Zealand, Lin, Caswell, You and Huckle (2012) conducted a study that examined
young people’s engagement with alcohol marketing and their brand allegiance in relation to early
years of drinking. The study drew a sample of 2, 538 young people of between ages 13 and 14
years into a survey. Findings of the study showed that awareness of alcohol marketing avenues
increase the propensity to drinking among young people by 8% for each additional channel
through which awareness was created. Engagement activities such as downloading a screensaver
or owing a branded merchandise and brand allegiance were reported to be associated with
substantial increases in the propensity and frequency of alcohol consumption among young
people.
Similar research evidences pointing to high exposure of young ones to alcohol
advertising have been reported in the United Kingdom despite the high level of regulation in the
country. For instance, Gordon, Harris, Mackintosh & Moodie (2011) reported that adolescents of
13 years of age had a high level of exposure to at least one of 15 different forms of alcohol
marketing. Also, Winpenny, Patril, Elliott, Villaba, Hinrichs, Marteua, and Noite (2012) reported
a study commissioned by the European Commission, which examined young people’s exposure
to alcohol marketing in audio-visual and online media in the UK, the Netherlands and Germany.
The study observed that young people between ages 10 and 15 years were over-exposed to
alcohol advertising, with an exposure of 10% of more television advertising than their parents.
The results of the study also showed that alcohol marketing on the social media is so prevalent,
making it ubiquitous that it is almost impossible to assess the precise level of exposure of young
people to alcohol advertising on online media because they are among the highest users of such
media.
Jones and Gordon (2013) report in their review that they were unable to identify
empirical studies that examined the rate of alcohol advertising exposure to young people in
Canada. However, they identified some econometric studies that established the relationship
between alcohol advertising and consumption; the authors site Krank, Rempel and Heung’s
(2012) study which examined the placement of television alcohol advertisements in Canada
during summer and autum of 2010 and spring of 2011. Advertising placement was compared
with television viewing patterns reported by youth of between ages 15 to 16 years and those
within the drinking age (19 years and above). Apart from the advertisements of television, both
lxxv
groups were shown additional eight advertisements and were asked how many times they had
seen each advertisement and how much they liked it. The study found out that the pattern of
alcohol advertisement placement was heavily associated with sports programmes and comedy
shows. Also, more than half of the study sample in the underage category reported to have seen
seven of the eight additional advertisements shown to them on at least 10 occasions. There was
also observed a higher level of likeability of alcohol television advertisements among the
underage.
In their conclusion, Jones and Gordon (2013) observed that there is a wealth of evidence
that point to the association of alcohol advertising exposure with drinking behavior among young
people, especially the underage. They allude this relationship to the apparent failure of the
regulatory systems in Australia, New Zealand., the United Kingdom and Canada. Of concern to
stakeholders, such as policy makers, public health professionals, the players in the advertising
industry, the alcohol industry and the public should be the danger that link between alcohol
advertising exposure and underage drinking portends to the Society. A comprehensive system of
statutory regulation of alcohol marketing and advertising is recommended by the authors as a
measure to mitigate the effects of exposure of young people drinking habits. In view of the
evidences linking alcohol advertising exposure to underage drinking, this study examines the
attitude of young people in Nigeria to exposure to the 18+ warning sign in alcohol advertising.
Focus is hereby placed on their attitude to the 18+ sign, as a way to examine the effectiveness of
the sign in discouraging underage drinking.

2.5 Summary of Literature

Advertising plays a very important role in our everyday life because it determines the
image and way of life and also has an impact on our thinking as well as on the attitude towards
us and also the world around us (Frolova, 2014). Everyone is being influenced by advertising,
even without realizing it and the general goal of advertising is to transmit information to a
specific group of people receiving the message in order to achieve the desired effect, which is to
influence an action. The ultimate goal of advertising is to promote a product of which alcohol is
one. Alcohol is one of the most significant fast moving consumer goods (FMCGS) that is being
lxxvi
marketed today (Institute of Alcohol studies, 2013), and these are goods that are sold quickly and
at relatively low cost. Examples of such goods include toiletries, soft drinks, drugs sold over the
counter and other consumables, of which alcohol is one.
Alcohol is a universal toxin because it is found everywhere and it is a poisonous
substance found all over the world, especially among the young adults. Alcohol comes in
different forms, flavours, even level of potency. The different types of alcohol are wine, beer and
liquor (Andromeda, n.d). Alcohol has some attributes associated with it which includes craving,
loss of control, and dependence. Most of these attributes is what lead to alcoholism. Alcoholism
is when one has signs of physical addiction to alcohol and still continues to drink despite
problems with physical and mental health and social, family or job responsibilities. It is the
continued use of alcohol despite negative consequences. Alcoholism could be divided into two
and they are alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence. Alcohol abuse is when one’s drinking leads
to problems but not physical addiction, though if individuals with alcohol abuse continue to
drink; it may result in alcohol dependence (Sher, 2004). Alcohol dependence however, is when
individual craves alcohol, develops tolerance for alcohol and finds it difficult to refrain from
drinking despite negative consequences (Tang et al, 2013).
Different categories of people drinking alcohol, of concern are the rate at which youths
consume alcohol. The young adults seem to be the target of alcohol advertising due to the
vulnerability of the youths and their ability to influence the purchasing power of the family.
There are different ways advertisers target the young ones and these are through television
advertising, the internet, print media, online videos and videos placed on the internet for
advertisements. Youth marketing is any selling effort directed towards young people because the
young ones set trends that other demographic group adopt because young consumers are more
inclined to purchase products that are in vogue. The exposure of the young ones to alcohol
advertising has been observed to initiate drinking and also increase consumption among
underage drinkers (Anderson et al, 2009; Collins et al, 2007). Though the alcohol industry claim
that the underage are not the target of its advertisements, but the youths are more exposed to
alcohol advertisements through various media channels and communication outlets.
The proliferation of alcoholic beverages advertisements continues to generate concerns
about the effects of such messages on alcohol consumption habits among the youths. The
popularity of social media platforms for instance and the increasing appeals associated with these
platforms in terms of their relevance and usage offer additional avenues through which alcoholic
lxxvii
beverages can be promoted among youths. Examples of appeals alcoholic beverage
advertisements adopt are emotional appeals, lifestyle, humour, sexuality, sports, to mention a
few. The consumption, of alcohol by the young ones has negative consequences such as poor
academic performance, automobile accidents, liver problems, impaired vision, to mention a few.
Concerns about the harmful effect of alcohol on young people are high among social crusaders
on health, public health institutions and non-government organisations dealing with health,
culture and the development of adolescents and youths.
Advertising of alcoholic beverages has been attracting regulatory attention, perhaps due
to the increasing controversies surrounding their production and marketing on one hand, and the
health and social risks associated with their consumption on the other hand. In countries where
advertising of alcoholic beverages has not been totally banned, various measures of control have
been instituted. Apart from state regulation of alcoholic beverage advertising, there are non-
statutory controls aimed at reducing or eliminating harmful effects on the audience. Anderson
(2007) explains the advantages of self-regulation over governmental regulation to include
efficiency, increased flexibility, increased incentives for compliance, reduced cost, better
knowledge of the subject and practice. Forms of regulating alcoholic beverages advertising at the
industry level vary from country to country but the basic form remains advertising ethics. Other
forms of industry self-regulation that complement codes of ethics according to Anderson (2007)
include public service announcements (PSAs), counter- advertising, media advocacy, School
based education, public education campaigns, drinking guidelines, industry responsible
advertising and warning labels such as the 18+ sign which puts the limit of 18years to encourage
responsible drinking.
2.6 Gap in Literature

This section discussed the area this research was set to tackle that other researchers have
ignored. Going by the literature review and empirical studies, most of the studies reviewed in
this research are western oriented. Majority of the studies reviewed are on alcohol advertising,
alcohol marketing and alcohol consumption in countries such as United Kingdom, China,
Australia, South Africa; Tang et al (2013) discussed alcohol in China, Chen et al, 2005; Komro,
et al. (2002); Saffer (2002) also discussed alcohol advertising and youths in the United States of
America; Calvert (2008) discussed Advertising and Marketing to children in the Netherlands.
These showed that most of these studies were western oriented. This research, however studied

lxxviii
the impact of locally produced advertisements on local audience. This study was carried out in
Nigeria among Nigerian university undergraduates.
Most of the studies reviewed in the research were focused on encouragement of drinking
among the young ones and the underage through advertising messages. Anderson (2007), for
example discussed the impact of Alcohol advertising and the risk of alcohol related harm; the
vulnerability of the youths to alcohol advertising on youth consumption and other discussions
relating to encouragement of alcohol consumption through advertising messages. Calvert (2008)
also reviewed advertising and marketing and children as consumers. Grube (2004) discussed
alcohol portrayals in advertising on alcohol consumption among the youths. Alcohol
Healthwatch (2003) and Saffer (2002) reviewed the targeting of young people through alcohol
advertising content. These scholars discussed the link between alcohol advertising content with
young people’s awareness and familiarity with brands as well as their interests in drinking now
and in the future, based on the appeals used in the advertising messages. This research is
therefore, focused on the influence of the 18+ as a warning sign to discourage drinking of
alcohol among young, especially the underage people rather than increase in alcohol
consumption as a result of alcohol advertising messages.
Also, most studies reviewed on regulation were focused on state or statutory regulations
which were developed by statutory regulatory bodies such as Advertising Practitioners Council
of Nigeria (APCON). This statutory regulatory body has code of conducts that are against
advertisements of products that are dangerous to the health of children and the young ones. This
study however, focuses on industry self-regulation, precisely the 18+ sign as an industry self-
regulation to discourage alcohol consumption among the young people. The 18+ sign is a
warning label printed on alcoholic beverage containers which emphasizes age limits and
unsuitability of products to certain groups of people. Anderson (2007), observe that warning
labels are required in Canada and the United States to emphasize health risk associated with the
consumption of alcohol. The use of such warning labels is also part of industry self-regulation in
Nigeria, inscribing the 18+ sign which puts the limit of 18 years to encourage responsible
drinking. Studies reviewed in this research showed that there is a dearth of studies on industry
self-regulation, which was what this research investigated.

lxxix
 CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY
3.0 Introduction
This chapter of the study detailed the systematic procedure for carrying out this study in
line with the requirements of scientific methods of inquiry guiding advertising research. The
chapter explained the research design adopted for the study, the population of focus, the sample
selected from the population and the sampling procedure. It also specified the instruments used
in data collection as well as the procedure of ensuring validity and reliability of the research
instruments. The procedure for gathering data and the method adopted in analyzing data for the
purpose of this study are also parts of this chapter. The details are required to serve as a plan for

lxxx
the study, which guided sourcing, collection and analyses of data in this study in order to achieve
the set objectives.

3.1 Research Design

The research design appropriate for this study was survey. This method involves the
systematic collection of data from a sample selected from a population of a researcher’s interest
with a view to determining how the population feels about, behaves towards and reacts to a
phenomenon under study. The relevance of survey to this study lies mainly in the opportunity it
offers to select a proportion of the entire population for study in a case such as the one involved
in this study in which the population comprised large number of people, which was difficult for
the researcher to study. Tejumaye (2003) outlined other advantages of survey, which made it
applicable to this study, to include relative cost efficiency when compared with large amount of
information gathered, currency of information, applicability to investigation of realistic problems
and provision of data that can be quantified and analyzed statistically.

3.1 Population
Population of a study refers to the aggregate or totality of all the items or objects under a
researcher’s focus and about which a conclusion is drawn on a phenomenon. The population of
interest in this study comprised male and female undergraduates between ages 16 years and 25
years enrolled in the selected universities in South-West, Nigeria. They were male and female
students of the selected age range, who had satisfied the requirements for admission into full-
time university first degree programmes as stipulated by the Joint Admission and Matriculation
Board (JAMB) as well as those of their respective universities who have been matriculated to
undertake the programmes. Of particular focus in this study were three categories of universities
(Federal, State and Private) located in Lagos, Ogun and Oyo states in South-West, Nigeria and
these states were purposively selected based on concentration of universities in the states. The
universities under focus in Lagos state were Caleb University, Lagos (CUL) (private), University
of Lagos, Akoka (UNILAG) (Federal government-owned) and Lagos State University, Ojo
(LASU) (State-government-owned). In Ogun state, the three universities under the focus of this
study were Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo (BU) (private), Federal University of Agriculture,
Abeokuta (FUNAAB) (Federal government-owned) and Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago
lxxxi
Iwoye (OOU) (State government-owned). The universities selected for study in Oyo state were
Ajayi Crowther University,Oyo (ACU) (private), University of Ibadan, Ibadan (UI) (Federal
government-owned) and Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomosho (LAUTECH)
(State government-owned). The approximate undergraduate students’ target population of the
selected universities as obtained from their respective websites was 195,000 and the distribution
is presented in Table 3.1.

Table 3.1: Distribution of Study Population across the three Selected States and
Universities in South-West, Nigeria
Private Federal State Total
Lagos CUL – 3,000 UNILAG – 36,000 LASU – 55,000 94,000
Ogun BU – 9,000 FUNAAB – 13,500 OOU – 24,000 46,500
Oyo ACU – 3,500 UI – 28,000 LAUTECH – 23,000 54,500
Total 15,500 75,500 102,000 195,000
Source: Researcher’s Compilation, 2016

3.2 Sample size and sampling Technique

The sample is a fraction of a population of interest to a researcher selected for
observation from which conclusion and generalization are made about the entire population.
Sampling technique refers to the scientific procedure of selecting a sample from a population of
a researcher’s interest (Tejumaiye, 2003). The sampling technique appropriate for this study was
the multi-stage sampling technique. This technique involves dividing the population into groups
or clusters. In this case, one or more clusters are chosen at random and everyone within the
chosen cluster is sampled. (Tejumaye, 2003). The total sample size for this study was 1,950
respondents and this was derived using the rule of one percent (1%) of the total population
according to Gay, Geoffrey and Peter (2006), who opined that a sample of one percent (1%) will
be adequate if there is a large population. This was proportionally distributed among the states
under focus as follows: Lagos, 940; Ogun, 465; and Oyo, 545. In the last stage of the procedure,
purposive sampling technique was applied to select respondents who meet the inclusion criteria
of age range of between 16 years and 25 years and those who are registered to study full time
undergraduate programmes in the selected universities.
lxxxii
 The proportional distribution of the sample among the selected universities is presented
in Table 3.2. The distribution based on each state is given below:

Lagos= 94,000 x 1,950= 940

195,000

Ogun= 46,500 x 1,950= 465

195,000

Oyo= 54,500 x 1,950= 545

195,000 1,950

The respondents were also proportionally distributed to the nine universities as given below:

Lagos State:
CUL= 3,000 x 940= 30 UNILAG= 36,000 x 940= 360 LASU=55,000 x 940= 550
94,000 94,000 94,000

Ogun State:
BU = 9,000 x 465= 90 FUNAAB= 13,500 x 465= 135 OOU= 24,000 x 465= 240
46,500 46,500 46,500

Oyo State:
ACU= 3,500 x 545= 35 UI = 28,000 x 545 = 280 LAUTECH=23,000 x 545= 230
54,000 54,000 54,000

Table 3.2: Distribution of Sample Sizes among the Selected Universities

Private Federal State Total

Lagos CUL – 30 UNILAG – 360 LASU - 550 940
Ogun BU – 90 FUNAAB – 135 OOU – 240 465
Oyo ACU – 35 UI – 280 LAUTECH - 230 545
Total 155 775 1020 1,950
Source: Researcher, 2016

3.4 Instrumentation
In line with the objectives and design of this study, the instrument applicable for data
collection was a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was a self-designed instrument
lxxxiii
made up of 38 items structured into two main sections: section A sought to elicit respondents’
demographic information while section B contained items that were designed to generate
information about the variables observed in respect of the subject matter of the study – attitude of
undergraduates to the 18+ sign in alcoholic beverages advertisements. Section A comprised six
items designed in multiple choice formats while section B contained 32 items designed in five-
point Likert scale formats.

3.5 Validity of Research Instrument

Validity refers to the extent to which the instrument measures what it is supposed to
measure correctly in order to achieve the objectives of a study. The researcher ensured face
validity of the questionnaire by giving the draft instruments to a team of five experts in mass
communication and English language disciplines for scrutiny and their comments and
observations were made to improve on the instrument in terms of semantics and syntax. To
ensure content validity, the researcher developed the instrument by identifying the basic
constructs in the study (advertising; advertising and youth; advertising regulation; advertising,
youth and alcohol consumption, among others). A literature search was conducted on the
constructs related to the subject matter of this study to generate statements from the salient points
and related variables in the scholarly materials. The salient points identified under each construct
were used to develop and produce the draft of the instrument. Also, copies of the instrument
were made available to supervisors and other faculty members for scrutiny. To ensure
convergence validity of the research instruments, 30 copies of the instrument were produced and
administered on a sample of respondents in the selected survey population drawn from
respondents which were not included in the sample for the study. This served as the pilot test of
the study in which a factor analysis was carried out to ascertain the good and bad items in the
instruments when compared with the standardised one with which it was administered.

3.6 Reliability of Research Instrument

Reliability of a research instrument refers to the consistency of the instrument in
measuring what it is supposed to measure when it is used repeatedly. It is the level at which the
instrument is dependable based on its consistency of measurement when re-administered. To
ensure that the research instrument was reliable, the 30 copies of the self-designed questionnaire
were administered on a sample of respondents not included in the study sample. The responses
lxxxiv
generated from this exercise were subjected to the Cronbach’s Alpha reliability test and the
results for the constructs are: 0.945 for students’ awareness of the 18+ sign, 0.897 for students’
comprehension of the 18+ sign, 0.735 for students’ attitude towards the 18+ sign, 0.777 for
effects of the 18+ sign on students’ alcohol consumption, 0.825 for students’ attitude towards
alcohol consumption, 0.785 for students’ perception of the credibility of the 18+ sign, while the
average reliability coefficient was 0.827.

3.7 Data Collection Procedure

Primary data were collected directly from the field of study. Copies of the questionnaire
were administered on the respondents by the researcher and research assistants in the students’
lecture rooms located within the campuses of the selected universities. Data gathering was
conducted within the hours of academic activities to give the researcher and her assistants easy
access to the students. The researcher employed two research assistants from each of the selected
schools and trained them to prepare them for the research exercise. Copies of the questionnaire
were distributed and retrieved immediately after completion to ensure high rate of return. In
order to eliminate Hawthorne effect in the study - the tendency for the respondents to modify
behaviour or responses and alter their opinions, because of their awareness of being observed or
investigated – research assistants were trained and copies of the questionnaire were administered
and retrieved immediately after completion.

3.8 Method of Data Analysis

The retrieved questionnaire was assembled and responses obtained from the survey were
coded into Excel software. The data generated were analyzed with the aid of computer data
processing software - the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), version 21.
Frequency tables, pie charts, bar charts and histogram were used to present and analyze
respondents’ demographic data, Pearson’s correlation analysis was carried out to test hypotheses
one to three while regression analysis was applied to test hypotheses four and five.

3.9 Ethical Consideration

The information gathered in this study was used strictly for the purpose of academic
research and was treated with utmost confidentiality. Participants were free to exit or participate
lxxxv
in the study. Participation is voluntary and subject to participants’ willingness to accept or reject
the questionnaire administered on them. However, participants had the opportunity to contribute
to the body of knowledge in the field of advertising and public health. Their participations helped
them to appreciate the dangers in underage drinking. Through their participation in the study
therefore, participants gained an insight into the roles of advertising in the society at large
particularly as regards public health.

3.1 Post-Research Benefits

1. The study is of benefit to the field of advertising because it will go a long way in assisting
alcoholic beverage industries and advertisers whose advertisements appeal to, and attract
young adults and the underage, thereby discouraging or rather reducing underage
drinking to the barest minimum.
2. This subject of study is useful to public health. It is relevant to all countries all over the
world and not to Nigeria alone, because underage drinking have been a persistent
problem among youths and university undergraduates all over the world.
3. The study is of help to young adults and the underage to realise the consequences of
underage drinking so they could abstain from it.
4. This study is beneficial to regulators as it will help them monitor advertisements so as to
know advertisers who violate the APCON code of Advertising and Promotion guidelines.
5. This subject of study is also of immense benefits to parents so that they could monitor or
caution their children who might not even notice or recognize or even know the meaning
of the 18+ sign in alcoholic beverage advertisements. It could also help parents to make
their children understand the consequences of underage drinking which involves a lot of
harm to their body systems.

lxxxvi
 CHAPTER FOUR
DATA ANALYSIS, RESULTS AND DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS

4.0 Introduction

The focus of this study was to examine the attitude of undergraduates to the 18+ warning
sign in alcoholic beverage advertisements. The field research for this study was approached from
the survey dimension and 1,950 questionnaires were used as instruments for data collection.
Respondents for the study were university undergraduates in selected universities in South-West,
Nigeria, precisely Ogun, Oyo and Lagos States, who were of between the ages of 16 years and
25 years. Questionnaire was the instrument for data collection among the respondents. A total of
18 research assistants - graduates of mass communication drawn across the nine selected
universities - were employed and also trained on the purpose of the study and the procedure for
data collection. Two research assistants each were placed in each of the selected schools in
South-West,, Nigeria and copies of the questionnaire were administered on the respondents in
their various schools. This chapter hereby presents the analysis and interpretation of data as well

lxxxvii
as discussion of the findings of this research work. This chapter is structured into four main
sections, namely the demographic variables of the respondents, the analyses and findings of the
research, statistical test of research hypotheses and discussion of findings.

4.1 Questionnaire Return Rate

The data that were gathered for this study were generated from the field as initially
planned. The result of the return rate for the questionnaire is as presented in Table 4.1.

Table 4.1: Questionnaire Return Rate

Schools Copies Produced Copies Returned Return Rate (%)

CUL 30 21 70%
UNILAG 360 351 97.6%
LASU 550 520 94.5%
BU 90 85 94%
FUNAAB 135 134 99.6%
OOU 240 226 94.4%
ACU 35 35 100%
UI 280 278 99.3%
LAUTECH 230 217 94.4%
Total 1950 1867 95.7%
Source: Field Study, 2017 (Key: CUL = Caleb University, Lagos; UNILAG= University of Lagos, Akoka; LASU= Lagos
State University, Ojo; BU= Babcock University, Ilishan Remo; FUNAAB= Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta;
OOU= Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye; ACU= Ajayi Crowther University; UI= University of Ibadan, Ibadan;
LAUTECH= Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomosho

A total number of one thousand nine hundred and fifty (1,950) copies of the questionnaire
were produced and administered in the survey. Copies of the questionnaire were administered on
the respondents who were between the ages of 16years and 25 years. The study areas were three
different categories of universities (federal, state and private) selected from three different states

lxxxviii
in South-West, Nigeria and the states were Lagos, Oyo and Ogun States. The total numbers of
the schools selected were nine universities in all. When each school was considered, CUL
recorded the lowest of 70%, while ACU recorded 100 percent return rate. On the cumulative, the
return rate of the instrument was 95.7 percent and this high rate of return was achieved because
the instruments were issued and retrieved immediately after the respondents filled their copies.

4.1.1 Demographic Characteristics of Respondents

The first section of the instrument elicited respondents’ demographic information. Tables 4.2 to
4.10 present data relating to respondents’ demographic characteristics as well as other data
related to their awareness of, and attitude towards the 18+ sign in alcoholic beverages
advertisements.

Table 4.2: Distribution of Respondents by gender

Frequency Percent % Cumulative (%)
Male 868 46.5 46.5
Female 999 53.4 100
Total 1867 100

Source: Field Study, 2017

Table 4.2 shows that the number of male undergraduate student respondents was
approximately 47% (n=868), while that of their female counterparts was approximately 53%
(n=999). This indicates that the respondents in this study were almost evenly distributed by
gender. The graph below gives
a pictorial view of this fact.

Figure 4.1:Graph showing

distribution of Respondents
by gender

lxxxix
Table 4.3: Distribution of Respondents by age group.
Frequency Percent% Cumulative (%)
16-18yrs 440 23.6 23.6
19-22yrs 1124 60.2 83.8
23-25yrs 303 16.2 100
Total 1867 100
Source:Author’s Field Survey, 2017
Table 4.3 contains data regarding the age distribution of the respondents. The age bracket
considered in this research was age 16 years to 25 years and this was divided into three age
groups as seen in Table 4.3. The first age group, 16-18 years was made up of 440 students as
respondents and this represented 24 percent; 19-22 years represented the highest number
respondents, 1124 students representing approximately 60%; while those between 23 years and
25years represented the lowest segment (n=303), approximately 16% of the total number of
respondents. Figure 2.2 is a pie chart showing the distribution of these groups. This analysis
indicates that majority of the respondents in this study (76.4% cumulative) were above the
approved alcohol consumption age of 18 years.
Age

Figure 4.2:Pie chart showing distribution of Respondents by age group

Table 4.4: Distribution of Respondents by Religion.

xc
Frequency Percent Cumulative (%)

Christianity 1392 74.6 74.6 Source: Author’s

Islam 417 22.3 96.9 Field Survey, 2017

Traditional 23 1.2 98.1 The data in

Other 35 1.9 100 Table 4.4 show that

approximately 75%
Total 1867 100
(n=1392) of the
sampled
undergraduate students were affiliated to Christianity, while the minority (22%; n=417) of the
total respondents were affiliated to Islam. Very few of the undergraduate students (1.2%; n=23)
were affiliated to traditional religions, while the rest (1.3%) undergraduate respondents were not
affiliated to any of the first three religions. Below is the bar chart representing this information.

Figure 4.3:Bar chart showing distribution of Respondents by Religion.

Table 4.5: Distribution of Respondents by Institution

Frequenc Cumulative
Schools y Percent % (%)
CUL 21 1.1 1.1
UNILAG 351 18.8 19.9
LASU 520 27.9 47.8

xci
 BU 85 4.6 52.4
FUNAAB 134 7.2 59.6
OOU 226 12.1 71.7
ACU 35 1.9 73.6
UI 278 14.9 88.5
LAUTEC
H 217 11.5 100.0

  1867 100.0
Source: Author’s Field Survey, 2017

Table 4.5 reveals the participation of undergraduates from different schools.

Caleb University (CUL) had 21 respondents representing 1.1 percent of the total respondents-the
lowest of all the participating schools. University of Lagos (UNILAG) recorded 351 respondents
representing 18.8% of the total respondents. Lagos State University (LASU) had the highest
number of respondents of 520, representing 27.9% of the total respondents. A total of 85 students
were drawn from Babcock University (BU) in the survey and this represented 4.6% of the total
respondents. Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) recorded 134 respondents
representing 7.2%, Olabisi Onabanjo University had 226 respondents representing 12.1%.
Ladoke Akintola University of Technology also participated in the study with 217 students
representing 11.5% of the total study sample. University of Ibadan had 278 respondents
representing 14.9% of the total population. Ajayi Crowther University had 35 respondents
representing 1.9% of the total respondents.

Institution

CUL
UNILAG
LASU
BU
FUNAAB
OOU
ACU
UI
LAUTECH

Figure 4.4: Pie chart showing distribution of Respondents by Institution

xcii
Table 4.6a: Distribution of Respondents based on Alcohol Consumption
Frequency Percent % Cumulative (%)

No
consumption 982 52.6 52.6
Consumption 885 47.4 100

Total 1867 100

Source: Author’s Field Survey, 2017

Table 4.6a summarizes the total sample of respondents in this survey based on alcohol

intake in to two groups. The result of this survey revealed that 982 students who took part in the

survey did not take alcohol and this represents 52.6% of the total, while the remaining 885

respondents representing 47.4% of the total population had consumed alcohol as at the time of

this study. This implies there is large difference in the number of those who had consumed

alcohol and those who had not. Figure 4.4 illustrates this distribution.

Table 4.6b: Distribution of Respondents of between 16 years and 18 years based on Alcohol
intake
Frequency Percent % Cumulative (%)

No
consumption 238 54.3 54.3
Consumption 201 45.7 100

Total 440 100

Source:Author’s Field Survey, 2017

Table 4.6b summarizes the number of respondents between the ages of 16 years and 18
years that have taken alcohol. The survey revealed that out of 440 respondents between this age
group, 201 respondents which accounted for 45.7% of the age group have taken alcohol, while
the remaining 238 respondents (54.3%) claimed not to have taken alcohol at all. This shows that
though the distribution in this regard was not of wide difference, more people claimed not to
have consumed alcohol at all as at the time of this study.

xciii
Figure 4.4: Histogram showing distribution of Respondents based on alcohol intake
Table 4.7: Distribution of Respondents based on how long they have been taking alcohol.
Frequency Percent % Cumulative (%)

0 yrs 982 52.6 52.6

1-5yrs 612 32.8 85.4
6-10yrs 242 13.0 98.3
11-15yrs 23 1.2 99.6
16-20yrs 8 0.4 100.0
Total 1867 100

Source: Author’s Field Survey, 2017

Table 4.7 shows the age distribution of the respondents based on the length of the period
they have been drinking alcohol. The 0 year represented those who have not drunk alcohol as
stated in Table 4.5, which are 52.6% of the total respondents. A total of 612 respondents (32.8%)
had taken alcohol for 1 year to 5 years and this forms the largest proportion of those who were
alcohol drinkers according to this research. This group was followed by 242 (13%) respondents
who had drunk alcohol for 6 years and 10 years. Of the total number of the respondents, only 23
respondents had drunk alcohol for about 11 to 15 years and these represents approximately 1.3%
of the total sample. Lastly, only 8 students had taken alcohol for 16 to 20 years. This also
represents 0.4% of the total respondents. This result showed that a higher number of the
respondents were not alcohol consumers as at the time of this study. This result is illustrated in
Figure 4.6.

xciv
 If yes, for how long?

Figure 4.6:Pie chart showing years of Alcohol in-take

Table 4.8: Respondents’ Distribution by Awareness of the 18+ Sign

Strongly Disagree Disagre Undecided Agree Strongly Agree Total
F P F P F P F P F P F P
Awareness of
The 18+ Sign 43 2.3 92 4.9 104 5.6 533 28.5 1095 58.7 1867 100
Familiarity with
the 18+ Sign 47 2.5 104 5.6 166 8.9 663 35.5 887 47.5 1867 100
Cognisance of
The 18+ Sign 104 5.6 133 7.1 362 19.4 601 32.2 667 35.7 1867 100
Notice of
the 18+ Sign 776 41.6 455 24.4 208 11.1 233 12.5 195 10.5 1867 100
Prominence of
the 18+ Sign 426 22.8 413 22.1 351 18.8 383 20.5 294 15.7 1867 100

Source:Author’s Field Survey, 2017(Key: F=Frequency; P=Percent)

xcv
 The awareness level about the 18+ sign was tested. Table 4.8 presents the frequency
distribution of respondents’ level of awareness of the 18+ sign in alcoholic beverages
advertisements. Majority of the respondents were aware of the 18+ warning sign as the group
amounted to a cumulative of 87.2 percent (n=1,628). A cumulative of 7.2 percent (n=135)
claimed not to be aware of the 18+ sign in alcoholic beverages advertisements, while the
respondents who were undecided about the level of awareness were in the minority (n=104;
5.6%). This implies that the level of awareness of the 18+ warning sign in alcoholic beverages
advertisements was very high among undergraduates in the selected universities in South-West,
Nigeria. Also, the cumulative of the respondents who were familiar with the 18+ warning sign
amounted to 83percent (n=1550) and a cumulative of 8.1 percent (n=151) of the respondents
claimed not to be familiar with the sign, while the respondents who were undecided about the
level of familiarity were also few (n=166; 8.9%). This therefore implies that majority of the
respondents were aware and also familiar with the 18+ warning sign in alcoholic beverage
advertisements.

Table 4.9: Respondents’ Distribution by Comprehension of the 18+ Sign

Strongly Disagree Disagre Undecided Agree Strongly Agree Total
F P F P F P F P F P F P
Confused of
the meaning of
the18+ Sign 572 30.6 570 30 208 11.1 305 16.3 222 11.9 1867 100
No Meaning of
the 18+ Sign 634 34 502 26.9 254 13.6 299 16 178 9. 5 1867 100
The 18+ Sign
is a Caution
Sign 299 16 221 11.8 377 20.2 489 26.2 480 55.7 1867 100
The 18+ Sign
Looks like
a Logo 510 27.3 399 21.4 336 18 332 17.8 289 15.5 1867 100
The 18+ Sign
Looks like
a Trade
Mark 538 28.8 432 23.1 356 19.1 336 18 205 11 1867 100
The 18+ Sign
Discourages
Alcohol
drinking 557 29.8 457 24.5 293 15.7 315 16.9 243 13 1867 100
The 18+ Sign
Discourages
Underage
drinking 182 9.7 137 7.3 194 10.4 554 29.7 800 42.8 1867 100
Source:Author’s Field Survey, 2017(Key: F=Frequency; P=Percent)

The comprehension level of the 18+ warning sign was assessed. Table 4.9 presents
respondents’ frequency distribution according to their level of comprehension of the 18+ sign in
alcoholic beverages advertisements. Majority of the respondents disagreed that the meaning of
xcvi
the 18+ warning sign is confusing to them, meaning that the sign was well understood by them.
Majority of the respondents claimed that they were not confused about the meaning of the 18+
sign and these group of people amounted to a cumulative of 60.73 percent (n=1142). A
cumulative of 28.3 percent (n=527) claimed that they were confused about the meaning of the
18+ warning sign in alcoholic beverage advertisements. This implies that the level of
comprehension of the 18+ warning sign in alcoholic beverages advertisements was very high
among undergraduates in selected universities in South-West, Nigeria. In other words, it can be
inferred that university undergraduates in South-West, Nigeria understood the meaning of the
18+ warning sign in alcoholic beverage advertisements. A number of the respondents claimed
that the 18+ warning sign served as a caution to them and this group of people amounted to a
cumulative of 51.9 percent (n=969) and a cumulative of 27.8 percent (n=450) claimed that the
sign did not serve as a caution to them, while the remaining respondents whose group amounted
to a cumulative of 20.2% (n=377) were undecided. Also, a cumulative of 72.5 percent (=1354)
agreed that the 18+ sign discouraged underage drinking, a cumulative of 17percent (n=319)
disagreed with the assertion that the 18+ sign discouraged underage drinking, while a cumulative
of 10.4 percent (n=194) who were in the minority were undecided. This therefore, implies that
the 18+ warning sign serves as a caution and therefore discouraged underage consumption of
alcohol because the respondents who agreed that 18+ sign discouraged underage drinking was
very high.

Table 4.10: Respondents’ Distribution by Attitude towards the 18+ Sign

Strongly Disagree Disagre Undecided Agree Strongly Agree Total
F P F P F P F P F P F P
Likeness of
Alcohol advert
Despite the
18+ Sign 445 23.8 343 18.4 321 17.2 433 23.2 325 17.4 1867 100
No reason for
the 18+ Sign
in adverts 412 22.1 453 24.3 403 21.6 391 20.9 208 11.1 1867 100
Dislike of
The 18+ Sign
In Alcohol
adverts 401 21.5 361 19.3 361 19.3 398 21.3 346 18.5 1867 100
Indifference to
the 18+ Sign
in Alcohol
Adverts 309 16.6 323 17.3 476 25.5 437 23.4 322 17.3 1867 100
Source: Author’s Field Survey, 2017(Key: F=Frequency; P=Percent)

The attitude of university undergraduates to the 18+ warning sign was also tested. Table
4.10 presents respondents’ frequency distribution according to their attitude towards the 18+ sign
xcvii
in alcoholic beverages advertisements. Respondents that agreed that they liked alcohol
advertisements despite the 18+ warning sign amounted to a cumulative of 40.6 percent (n=758).
A cumulative of 42.2 percent (n=788) however claimed they did not like alcohol advertisements
despite the 18+ warning sign while the remaining respondents who were in the minority- (n=476;
25.5%) were undecided. This implies that majority of the respondents did not like alcohol
beverage advertisements even with the 18+ warning sign. Also, a number of the respondents
which amounted to a cumulative of 32 percent (n=599) believed that there is no reason for the
18+ warning sign in alcoholic beverage advertisements, but majority of the respondents
amounting to a cumulative of 46.4 percent (n=865) disagreed with this statement. A cumulative
of 25.5 percent (476) was undecided. Furthermore, a cumulative of 40.7 percent (n=759) of the
respondents agreed that they were indifferent towards the 18+ warning sign and 25.5 percent
(476) were undecided. This therefore implies that majority of the respondents were indifferent
towards the 18+ warning sign in alcoholic beverage advertisements.

Table 4.11: Respondents’ Distribution by Effect of the 18+ Sign on Alcohol Consumption
Strongly Disagree Disagre Undecided Agree Strongly Agree Total
F P F P F P F P F P F P
Effective in
Discouraging
Alcohol
Consumption 445 23.8 343 18.4 321 17.2 433 23.2 325 17.4 1867 100
Stopped me from
Alcohol
drinking 412 22.1 453 24.3 403 21.6 391 20.9 208 11.1 1867 100
Effective in
Discouraging
Underage
drinking 545 29.2 456 24.4 254 13.6 356 19.1 256 13.8 1867 100
Will be more
Effective if
Restriction
Is raised above
18 years 401 21.5 361 19.3 361 19.3 398 21.3 346 18.5 1867 100
Source: Author’s Field Survey, 2017(Key: F=Frequency; P=Percent)

The effect of the 18+ warning sign was tested. Table 4.11 presents respondents’
frequency distribution according to how the 18+ sign in alcoholic beverages advertisements
affected alcohol consumption. Majority of the respondents agreed that the 18+ warning sign was
effective in discouraging alcohol consumption as this group amounted to a cumulative of 40.6
percent (n=758); and a cumulative of 42.2 percent (n=798) disagreed with the assertion that the
18+ sign was effective in discouraging alcohol consumption. However, (17.2%; n=321) were

xcviii
undecided about the effectiveness of the sign in discouraging alcohol consumption. Also, a group
of the respondents which amounted to a cumulative of 32 percent (n=499) were those that agreed
that the 18+ sign stopped them from drinking alcohol and a cumulative of 46.4 percent (n=865)
claimed that the 18+ sign has not stopped them from drinking alcohol; while a cumulative of
(21.6%; n=403) were undecided about this statement. Moreover, a cumulative of 32.9 percent
(n=612) agreed that the 18+ warning sign was effective in discouraging underage drinking; and a
cumulative of 53.6 percent (n=762) claimed that the sign was not effective in discouraging
underage drinking while a cumulative of (19.3%; n=361) were undecided. A cumulative of 39.8
percent (n=744) of the respondents agreed that the 18+ sign would be more effective if the
restriction was raised above 18 years; and a cumulative of 40.8 percent (n=762) did not believe
the 18+ sign would be more effective if the restriction is raised above 18 years, while a
cumulative of (19.3%; n=361) were undecided.

Table 4.12: Respondents’ Distribution by Attitude to Alcohol Consumption

Strongly Disagree Disagre Undecided Agree Strongly Agree Total
F P F P F P F P F P F P
Regular
Consumption 455 24.4 341 18.3 316 16.9 340 18.2 414 22.2 1867 100
Consumption
Before age 18 676 36.2 418 22.4 366 19.6 255 12.1 182 9.7 1867 100
Desire
Consumption
With Friends 375 20.1 291 15.6 352 18.9 442 23.7 407 21.8 1867 100
Desire
Consumption
With Parents 343 18.4 421 22.5 390 20.9 358 19.2 355 19 1867 100
Sense of
Belonging in
Consumption 803 43 316 16.9 303 16.2 212 11.4 233 12.5 1867 100
Source: Author’s Field Survey, 2017(Key: F=Frequency; P=Percent)

Respondents’ attitude to alcohol consumption was tested and Table 4.12 presents
respondents’ frequency distribution according to their to alcohol consumption. A cumulative of
40.4 percent (n=754) of the study respondents agreed that they drank alcohol on a regular basis
and a cumulative of 42.7 percent (n=796), which was higher, stated that they did not consume
alcohol regularly, while a cumulative of 16.2 percent (n=303) were undecided. Also, a
cumulative of 21.8 percent (n=437), which was in the minority were the only ones that agreed
that they have been consuming alcohol before the age 18 years and a cumulative of 58.6 percent
(n=1094) disagreed with the statement that they have been consuming alcohol before the age of

xcix
18 years, while a cumulative of (16.2%; n=303) were undecided. This implies that majority of
the respondents were not consuming alcohol before the age of 18 years. Also, a cumulative of
45.5 percent (n=849) of the respondents who were in the majority agreed that they desired taking
alcohol with friends and a cumulative of 35.7 percent (n=666) disagreed with this, while a
cumulative of (18.9%; n=352) were undecided. This implies that majority of the respondents
enjoyed taking alcohol with friends and this could be attributed to peer influence. A cumulative
of 38.2 percent (n=713) of the study respondents agreed that they usually took alcohol with their
parents while a cumulative of 40.9 percent (n=764) who were majority of the respondents
disagreed with this. This implication of the foregoing is that that majority of the respondents took
alcohol in company their parents but they rather preferred taking it in the company of friends to
that of their parents. Furthermore, a cumulative of 23.9 percent (n=445) of the respondents
agreed that drinking gives them a sense of belonging but the majority of the respondents which
amounted to a cumulative of 59.9 percent (n=1119) disagreed with this, while a cumulative of
16.2 percent (n=303) were undecided. This therefore implies that a very high number of the
undergraduates in the selected universities did not agree that drinking gave them a sense of
belonging.

Table 4.13: Respondents’ Distribution by Perception of Credibility of the 18+ Sign

Strongly Disagree Disagre Undecided Agree Strongly Agree Total
F P F P F P F P F P F P
The 18+ Sign is
Potent to
Discourage
drinking 1056 56.6 334 17.9 207 11.1 148 7.9 122 6.5 1867 100
The 18+ Sign
can Guide
against
underage
drinking 1045 56 297 15.9 140 7.5 179 9.6 203 10.9 1867 100
The 18+ Sign
Will always
Achieve its
purpose 1134 60.7 309 16.6 221 11.8 91 4.9 112 6 1867 100
Source: Author’s Field Survey, 2017(Key: F=Frequency; P=Percent)

Respondents’ perception of the credibility of the 18+ sign was tested and Table 4.12
presents respondents’ frequency distribution according to the perception of the credibility of the
18+ sign. Respondents who perceived the sign as capable of guiding against underage drinking
were in the minority (20.5%) while those that disagreed with this statement were in the majority
(72%). Also, those who believed the warning sign would always achieve its purpose of

c
discouraging underage drinking were in the minority (13.9%) while those that believed the sign
would not achieve its purpose were in the majority (77%). By implication, the general perception
of undergraduates in South-West, Nigeria was that the sign would not achieve its purpose of
discouraging underage drinking.

4.3 Test of Hypotheses

Decision Rule
The pre-set level of significance for the study is 0.05. The null hypotheses assume that
there is no significant relationship between or among the variables under consideration. If the P-
value which is the significant or probability value, exceeds the pre-set level (that is p>0.05), the
null hypothesis will be accepted but if the P-value is less than or equal to (≤) 0.05, the null
hypothesis will be rejected.

Research Hypothesis 1

H01: There is no significant relationship between university undergraduates’ awareness

of the 18+ warning sign and their attitude towards alcoholic beverages consumption.

Table 4.14: Correlations between awareness and attitude towards the 18+ sign

Variables Mean Std.Dev 1 2 Sig.P

Students’ attitude towards

alcoholic beverages consumption 14.24 4.54 1.00

Awareness of the 18+ warning sign 17.51 3.03 .242** 1.00 0.000

Source: Author’s Field Survey, 2017

Table 4.14 shows Mean, Standard Deviation and zero order correlation between the
variables under consideration. It was observed that there was a significant relationship between
the independents variable (students’ awareness of the 18+ warning sign) and the dependent
variable (students’ attitude towards alcoholic beverages consumption) in the order of (r = 0.242;

ci
P=0.000<0.05). On this premise that the null hypothesis is hereby rejected in favour of the
alternate hypothesis, the researcher hereby concludes that there is significant relationship
between university undergraduates’ awareness of the 18+ warning sign and their attitude towards
alcoholic beverages consumption. The result of this analysis shows that awareness of the 18+
warning sign by university undergraduates would go a long way in determining their attitude
towards alcoholic beverage consumption.

Research Hypothesis 2

H02 There is no significant relationship between university undergraduates’ recognition

of the 18+ warning sign and their attitude towards alcoholic beverages consumption.

Table 4.15: Correlation between respondents’ recognition of the 18+ sing and attitude
towards alcoholic beverages consumption
Variables Mean Std.Dev 1 2 Sig. P

Students’ attitude towards

alcoholic beverages consumption 14.34 4.54 1.00

Recognition of the 18+ warning sign 13.54 4.53 .485** 1.00 0.000

Source: Author’s Field Survey, 2017

Table 4.15 shows Mean, Standard Deviation and zero order correlation between the
variables under consideration. It was observed that there was significant relationship between the
independents variable (recognition of the 18+ warning sign) and the dependent variable
(atudents’ attitude towards alcoholic beverages consumption) in the order of (r = 0.485;
P=0.000<.05). On this premise the null hypothesis is hereby rejected in favour of alternate
hypothesis, the researcher hereby infers that there is significant positive relationship between
university undergraduates’ recognition of the 18+ warning sign and their attitude towards
alcoholic beverages consumption. This implies that recognition of the 18+ sign as a warning sign
will discourage consumption among university undergraduates, especially the underage.

Research Hypothesis 3

cii
There is no significant relationship between university undergraduates’ perception of the
credibility of the 18+ warning sign and their attitude towards alcoholic beverages
consumption.

Table 4.16: Correlations respondents’ perception and attitude towards alcoholic

beverages consumption
Variables Mean Std.Dev 1 2 Sig. P

Students’ attitude towards

alcoholic beverages consumption 14.34 4.54 1.00
Perception of the 18+ warning sign 12.51 3.26 .664** 1.00 0.000

Source: Author’s Field Survey, 2017

Table 4.16 shows Mean, Standard Deviation and zero order correlation between the
variables. It was observed that there was significant positive relationship between the
independents variable (undergraduates’ perception of the credibility of the 18+ warning sign) and
the dependent variable (students’ attitude towards alcoholic beverages consumption) in the order
of (r = 0.664; P=0.000<.05). On this premise the null hypothesis is hereby rejected in favour of
alternate hypothesis and the researcher concludes that there is significant positive relationship
between university undergraduates’ perception of the credibility of the 18+ warning sign and
their attitude towards alcoholic beverages consumption. This is because if the 18+ warning sign
is perceived as been credible, consumption will be discouraged among undergraduates,
especially among the underage.

Research Hypothesis 4

H04 The use of the 18+ warning sign does not significantly influence alcohol beverages
consumption among underage university undergraduates.

ciii
Table 4.17a:ANOVA of influence of the 18+ sign on respondents’ alcohol beverages consumption

R = .703
R2= .494
Adj R2= .493
Std. Error = 3.2608

ANOVA
Source of Variation SS Df MS F-ratio Sig.P
Regression 19016.04 3 6338.679 605.29 .000b
Residual 19488.76 1861 10.472
Total 38504.79 1864

Source: Author’s Field Survey, 2017

Table 4.17a showed that there was significant effect of the independent variables (students’
awareness of the 18+ warning sign,students’ recognition of the 18+ warning sign and students’
perception of the credibility of the 18+ warning sign) on the dependent variable (students’ attitude
towards alcoholic beverages consumption); R = 0.703, P< .05. Table 4.17 further revealed {49.3%
(Adj. R2 = 0.493)} that about 50% of the variance in students’ attitude towards alcoholic beverages
consumptionwere accounted for by the linear combination of the independent variables. The
ANOVA results from the regression analysis shows that there was significant contribution of the
independent variables on the dependent variables (F= 605.29; P=0.000<.05). This indicates that the
null hypothesis was rejected in favour of the alternate hypothesis, showing that the 18+ sign
significantly influenced attitude of underage undergraduates towards alcoholic beverages
consumption. By implication, the 18+ warning sign played significant role in discouraging underage
drinking as earlier observed in the data presented in Table 4.6b, which showed that majority of the
underage respondents have not taken alcoholic beverages before as at the time of this study.

Table 4.17b: Beta coefficient and t-ratio for relative contribution of the independent
variables to the dependent variable
civ
Variable B Std.Error Beta t-ratio P

Constant -.542 .488 -1.110 .267

Awareness of the 18+ sign .129 .026 .086 5.029 .000
Comprehension of the 18+ sign .224 .019 .223 11.964 .000
Perception of the 18+ sign .767 .026 .550 29.804 .000
b. Dependent Variable: Students Attitude
Source: Author’s Field Survey, 2017

Table 4.17b shows that the sign of the coefficient of students’ awareness of the 18+
warning sign,students’ recognition of the 18+ warning sign and students’ perception of the
credibility of the 18+ warning sign were positive which implies that that an increase or
improvement in any of these variables will influence in a positive way the students’ attitude
towards alcoholic beverages consumption. All the three variables examined were found to be
strongly significant in determining students’ attitude towards alcoholic beverages consumption
with their P-value less than 0.05: students’ awareness (B = .129, t = 5.029, P=0.000<.05),
students’ comprehension (β =0.224, t = 11.964, P=0.000<.05) and students’ Perception (β = .194,
t = 4.16, P=0.000<.05).

Research Hypothesis 5

H05 Demographic variables do not significantly influence attitude of undergraduates

towards the 18+ warning sign.

Table 4.18a:Showing combine effects of independent variables on the dependent variable

R = .130
R2= .017
Adj R2= .015
Std. Error = 4.51017
ANOVA
Source of Variation SS Df MS F-ratio P
Regression 647.972 4 161.93 7.96 .000b
Residual 37876.089 1861 20.342
Total 38524.79 1864
Source: Author’s Field Survey, 2017

cv
 Table 4.18a showed that there was significant effect of the demographic variables
(gender, age, religion and institution) on attitude of undergraduates towards the 18+ warning sign
(R = 0.130, P=0.000< .05), hence the null hypothesis five is hereby rejected in favour of the
alternate hypothesis. The Table 4.18a further revealed {1.5% (Adj. R2 = 0.015)} that about 2% of
the variance in students’ attitude towards alcoholic beverages consumptionwere accounted for by
the linear combination of the demographic variables. The ANOVA results from the regression
analysis shows that there was significant contribution of the respondents demographic
characteristics to the influence of the independent variables on the dependent variables (F =
605.29, P=0.000<.05).

Table 4.18b: Beta coefficient and t-ratio for relative contribution of the independent
variables to the dependent variable
Variable B Std.Error Beta t-ratio P

Constant 12.542 .579 221.447 .000

Gender - .352 .212 - .013 -1.661 .097
Age .096 .169 .013 .570 .569
Religion .640 .177 .083 3.615 .000
Institution .767 .026 .550 3.807 .000
a. Dependent Variable: Students Attitude
Source: Author’s Field Survey, 2017
Table 4.18b shows the sign of the coefficient of the demographic variables (gender, age,
religion and institution) on the relationship between the variables under consideration. To this
end, gender and age do not significantly influence the attitude of undergraduates towards the 18+
warning sign, as the null hypothesis is hereby accepted in this regard (P=.097>.05; P=.569>0.05
respectively). Only religion (P=0.000<.05) and institution (P=0.000<.05) significantly influenced
the attitude of undergraduates towards the 18+ warning sign as the null hypothesis is hereby
rejected in this regard. By implication, students’ gender and age were the demographic variables
that did not determine the attitude of the undergraduates to alcohol consumption when the 18+
warning sign in alcoholic beverages advertisements were considered.

4.4 Discussion of Findings

The focus of this study was to examine the attitude of undergraduates to the 18+ warning
sign in alcoholic beverage advertisements in selected universities in South-West, Nigeria.
Preliminary analyses were undertaken to examine the level of awareness, comprehension, and
cvi
attitude of the respondents to the 18+ warning sign on one hand and effect of the sign on the
respondents’ consumption of alcoholic beverages, on the other hand. Findings revealed that the
level of awareness of the 18+ warning sign in alcoholic beverages advertisements was very high
among undergraduates in the selected universities in South-West, Nigeria. Also, a vast majority
of the respondents were familiar with the 18+ warning sign in alcoholic beverages
advertisements. On comprehension, findings revealed that the level of comprehension of the 18+
warning sign in alcoholic beverages advertisements was very high among undergraduates in
selected universities in South-West, Nigeria. In other words, university undergraduates in South-
West, Nigeria understood the meaning of the 18+ warning sign in alcoholic beverages
advertisements. More than half of the respondents claimed that the 18+ warning sign served as a
caution to them while majority agreed that the 18+ warning sign discouraged underage drinking.
This implied that the 18+ warning sign served as a caution and therefore discouraged underage
consumption of alcohol.

On the respondents’ attitude to the inclusion of the 18+ sign in alcoholic beverages
advertisements, findings revealed that respondents were almost evenly distributed between
favourable and unfavourable disposition to the sign. This showed that with or without the
warning sign, the attitude of undergraduates in South-West, Nigeria remained the same about the
warning sign. Findings of the study also indicated that the 18+ warning sign was effective in
discouraging alcohol consumption among undergraduates in South-West, Nigeria, particularly
the underage, while a considerable number (39.8%) of the respondents agreed that the 18+ sign
would be more effective if the restriction was raised above 18 years. Furthermore, findings of
this study showed that majority of the respondents were not consuming alcohol before the age of
18 years. This emphasises the relevance of the Elaboration Likelihood Model to this research, in
the sense that the use of the 18+ warning sign in alcoholic beverage advertisements bring about
elaboration in the mind of the university undergraduates which brings about negative disposition
to consumption. Majority of those who consumed alcohol did so in the presence of their parents
but they rather preferred taking it in the company of friends. The general perception of
undergraduates in South-West, Nigeria was that the sign would not achieve its purpose of
discouraging underage drinking. This is in tandem with their disposition to the inclusion of the
sign in alcoholic beverages advertisements, which was neither largely favourable nor
unfavourable.

cvii
 This study stated five specific objectives and set five hypotheses in line with the
objectives. The objective of this study has been achieved through data generated from the field of
study. The first objective was to determine the relationship between the awareness of the 18+
warning signand the attitude of university undergraduates towards alcoholic beverage
consumption. The hypothesis one which states that there is no significant relationship between
the awareness of the 18+ warning sign and the attitude of university undergraduates towards
alcoholic beverage consumption was tested. Findings in this regard revealed that there is a
significant relationship between the awareness of the 18+ warning sign and the attitude of
university undergraduates towards alcoholic beverage consumption. The findings are concurrent
with the report of Alcohol Justice Report (2013) that alcohol advertising is one of a range of
factors which increases the likelihood of starting to drink because alcohol advertising commonly
draws on themes such as humor, sociability, success, physical attractiveness, fun activities,
celebrity and music. Anderson (2007) also corroborates this assertion by stating that the content
of advertisements is related to expectancies about the use of alcohol among the young adults and
the role alcohol plays in their lives. It has also been established that exposure of the youths to
alcohol advertising is likely to increase consumption, therefore, limits to alcohol advertising can
significantly reduce alcohol related harm (Grube, 2004); increased exposure to alcohol
advertisements led to increased consumption among young people of between 15 years and 26
years (Snyder, Milici, Slater, Sun & Strizhakova, 2006); and exposure to TV shows in which
alcohol advertisements were placed led to alcohol consumption (Weir, 2007). On the contrary,
Gunter, Hansen, Touri (2008) discovered that exposure to alcohol advertisements was not an
important predictor of overall amount of alcohol consumed. The study found that parental and
peer influences were more significant in influencing consumption. The differences in the
findings of Gunter et al (2008) and others, including this study was accounted for by differences
in socio-cultural environments as well as media policies of the locations of the studies. The
results of this study have showed that advertisements which laid emphasis on the havoc caused
by alcohol consumption rather than positive appeal would make undergraduates to learn by
observation and identification and this discourage would consumption. This emphasized the
relevance of the Social Learning Theory to this research.

The second objective was to analyze the relationship between the recognition of the 18+
warning sign and the attitude of university undergraduates towards alcoholic beverage

cviii
consumption. The second hypothesis presumed that there is no significant relationship between
the recognition of the 18+ warning sign and the attitude of university undergraduates towards
alcoholic beverage consumption. Findings in this regard showed that there is a significant
positive relationship between the recognition of the 18+ warning sign and undergraduates’
attitude to alcoholic beverage consumption, especially among the underage. This showed that the
more the undergraduates take cognizance of the 18+ warning sign, the more they are bound to
remember and the more they develop unfavourable attitude to drinking. This result is concurrent
with the observation of Anderson (2007) who reported that warning labels in alcoholic beverage
advertisements were specifically to emphasize the potential for birth defects when alcohol was
consumed during pregnancy, the danger of driving and operating machines under the influence
of alcohol, and the health risks associated with alcohol consumption especially among the
underage. This observation showed that there is significant relationship between the
undergraduates’ recognition of the 18+ warning sign as a check on their attitude towards
alcoholic beverage consumption in order to avoid the risks associated with alcoholic beverage
consumption especially among the underage. The warning sign is significant because findings of
Anderson, Bruijn, Angs, Gordon and Hastings, (2009); Collins, Ellickson, McCaffery and
Hambarsoomians (2007); Snyder, Milia, Slater, Sum and Strichakova, (2006), pointed out that
exposure to alcohol advertising could initiate drinking and also increase consumption among
underage drinkers.
The third objective was to determine the relationship between the perception of university
undergraduates of the credibility of the 18+ warning sign and their attitude towards alcoholic
beverage consumption. Hypothesis three stated that there is no significant positive relationship
between the perception of university undergraduates of the credibility of the 18+ warning sign
and their attitude towards alcoholic beverages consumption. A test of this hypothesis showed that
there was a significant relationship between the perception of university undergraduates of the
credibility of the 18+ warning sign and their attitude of towards alcoholic beverage consumption.
Smith and Foxcroft (2009) observed that young people are exposed to alcohol advertisements on
television, radio, internet and in print media, whether they are targeted by advertisers or not.
Gunter, Hansen and Touri, M. (2008) also observed that the attention of young people to alcohol
advertisements could create favourable dispositions towards drinking and could also play a part
in triggering early onset of alcohol consumption. The perception of the credibility of the 18+
warning sign by undergraduates in South-West, Nigeria showed that they did not believe in the
cix
efficacy of the warning sign to achieve its purpose (see Table 4.13). Also, their attitude to the
inclusion or otherwise of the sign in alcoholic beverages advertisements was neither favourable
nor unfavourable. These findings imply that young people in this category may overlook the
warning indicated in the 18+ warning sign, which would go a long way in determining their
positive attitude towards alcohol consumption. It is noteworthy therefore that exposure of the
underage to alcoholic beverages advertisements requires some control, despite the inclusion of
the 18+ warning sign.
The fourth objective was to examine the influence of the 18+ warning sign on alcohol
beverage consumption among university undergraduates in South-West, Nigeria. Hypothesis
four, which states that the 18+ warning sign does not significantly influence alcohol beverages
consumption among underage university undergraduates, was tested. Findings in this regard
showed that the 18+ warning sign significantly influenced alcohol beverages consumption
among underage university undergraduates. To this end, the level of awareness, recognition and
understanding of the 18+ warning sign among the underage significantly influenced on their
attitude towards alcohol consumption. By implication, the 18+ warning sign played significant
role in discouraging underage drinking as earlier observed in the data presented in table 4.6b,
which showed that majority of the underage respondents have not taken alcoholic beverages
before as at the time of this study. Focus on the influence of warning labels in alcohol
advertisements on drinking attitude has been limited. One of such few studies that considered
this perspective was Anderson (2007) who reported that warning labels in alcoholic beverage
advertisements were effective to emphasize the potential risks of birth defects when alcohol was
consumed during pregnancy, the danger of driving and operating machines under the influence
of alcohol, and the health risks associated with alcohol consumption especially among the
underage. In a similar vein, Alcohol Action Ireland (2016) established that exposure to alcohol
advertising was influential in encouraging the start of drinking among the underage. This result
is in tandem with the findings of this study that the 18+ warning sign played significant role in
discouraging underage drinking among undergraduates in South-West, Nigeria.

The fifth objective of this study was to determine the influence of the respondents’
demographic variables on the attitude of undergraduates towards the 18+ warning sign. To
achieve this objective, hypothesis five was set and tested in this study. Results in this regard
showed that there was significant contribution of the respondents’ demographic characteristics to

cx
the influence of the independent variables on the dependent variables. To this end, gender and
age significantly contributed to the relations between the warning sign and attitude to alcohol
consumption as the hypothesis is hereby accepted in this regard. As regards gender, the male
gender were more favourably disposed to drinking while as regards age, respondents between the
ages of 19 years and 22 years were more favourably disposed to drinking. This result is in
tandem with the findings of Smith and Foxcroft (2009) in which there was observed a negative
relationship among female respondents’ recall of advertisements and their frequency of
consumption. Also the study reported that demographic variables of gender, occupation, living
standard and socio-economic status proved to be confounders of drinking habits among young
people.

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 CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.0 Introduction

The study discussed the attitude of undergraduates in selected universities in South-West,

Nigeria to the 18+ warning sign in alcoholic beverage advertisements. This study was motivated
by the need to regulate or control exposure of young ones, especially the underage, to alcohol
beverages advertisements. Alcohol is perhaps the most commonly used drug among adolescents
and the excess consumption of it could harm any organ or system of the body as opined by
Anderson (2007). Alcohol industries therefore developed an industry based self-regulation as a
result of APCON code of conduct which is against advertisements of alcohol to children and
young adults. One of these self-regulations is the 18+ warning sign in alcoholic beverage
advertisements, which is also being inscribed on alcoholic beverage containers. This study was
therefore to find out the attitude of undergraduates in South-West, Nigeria to this 18+ warning
sign. This chapter presents a summary of the research carried out in this study; conclusions were
made based on the findings and useful and important recommendations were proffered.

5.1 Summary

This study originated from the background that alcohol advertising is one of the range of
factors which increases the likelihood of starting to drink because alcohol advertising commonly
draws on themes such as humour, sociability, success, physical attractiveness, fun activities,
celebrity and music (Alcohol Concern, 2013). It was observed according to research that
exposure of youths to advertising was likely to increase consumption and these exposures were
through advertisements of on television, radio, newspapers and magazines, billboards and even
the internet. Advertising of alcoholic beverages attracted special regulatory attention perhaps due
to the increasing controversies surrounding their production and marketing on the one hand, and
the health and special risks associated with their consumption, on the other hand. This assertion
was supported by Deveny (1991) and Limett (2000) who established that the concerns for
regulating alcoholic beverages advertising are often backed with empirical evidences showing
cxii
that this category of advertisements target consumers, especially the youths, resulting in making
dangerous and addictive consumption. The study presumed that exposure to advertising through
various media of communication was one of the factors that initiated drinking and also increase
in consumption among underage drinkers. This presumption was supported by previous studies
on alcohol consumption by Australian Medical Association (2012) and Alcohol Justice Report
(2013), showing relationships between exposure to advertising and alcohol consumption. This
study however, observed a dearth of empirical studies on self-regulations such as warning labels,
precisely, the 18+ warning sign as an industry self-regulation to discourage alcohol consumption
among underage drinkers. This was why the study sought to examine the attitude of
undergraduates in selected universities in South-West, Nigeria to the 18+ sign in alcoholic
beverage advertisements.

This study identified five specific objectives and the objectives which included the
relationship between awareness of the 18+ warning sign and the attitude of university
undergraduates towards alcoholic beverage consumption; relationship between recognition of the
18+ warning sign and the attitude of university undergraduates towards alcoholic beverage
consumption; relationship between undergraduates’ perception of the 18+ warning sign and their
towards alcoholic beverage consumption; influence of the 18+ warning sign on alcohol beverage
consumption among underage university undergraduates; and the effect of demographic
variables on the relationship between the 18+ warning sign and the attitude of undergraduates
towards the consumption. Five hypotheses were also set in line with objectives stated in this
study. This study was justified on the basis of the need to regulate or put under caution the
exposure of young ones, especially the underage, to alcohol beverage advertisements. The study
was also necessitated by the need to understand the havoc alcohol has wrecked on the average
youths in Nigeria, especially the underage. The study is significant to the field of advertising
because it would assist alcoholic beverage industries and advertisers whose advertisements
appeal to young adults and the underage to make corrections in this regard; and this would help
in discouraging or rather reducing underage drinking to the barest minimum. The study is also
significant due to the fact that it would help young adults and the underage to realise the
consequences of underage drinking so they could abstain from it. This study is also relevant to
regulators as it would help them monitor advertisements so as to know advertisers who violate
the APCON code of Advertising and Promotion guideline. The importance of this study

cxiii
originates from the pervasive influence of alcohol advertising among youths and university
undergraduates all over the world.
It was established from the literature point of view in this study that there are contents in
alcohol beverage advertisements which are likely to appeal to young audiences, even the
underage. This was also established in the words of Grube (2004) who agrees that alcohol
advertisement may influence the beliefs as well as the behaviours of young adults and it could
result to these young adults drinking illegally. The study therefore discussed forms of regulating
alcoholic beverages advertising at the industry level. These self-regulations were meant to
complement the codes of ethics of advertising according to Anderson (2007) and these self-
regulations include Public service announcements, counter-advertising, media advocacy, public
education campaigns, drinking guidelines, school based education, industry responsible
advertising and warning labels. An example of these warning labels is the inscription of the 18+
warning sign in alcoholic beverages advertisements and containers to encourage responsible
drinking. It is the use of this 18+ warning sign that came under the purview of this study.

The empirical framework of this study traced the origin of alcoholism to exposure of
young people to promotional messages and the effect of such habits on the health, safety and
well-being of young people. In line with the focus of this study, the empirical framework for this
study was also traced to exposure of alcoholic beverage advertisements to the underage-young
people below the age of 18 years-has the potential of encouraging consumption. Safer (2002)
classified empirical studies of alcohol advertisement and youth into three categories which
include targeting studies, attitudinal studies and econometric studies. Targeting studies are those
who examine how advertising target youths by studying media placement and content;
Attitudinal studies are those that attempt to establish a correlation between alcohol advertising
message and consumption habit, intentions or attitude, and econometric studies is to collect large
scale survey and aggregate statistic for various communities. The research also explored how
alcohol advertisements were perceived by college students, using a meaning based model of
advertising to incorporate a message with student’ life themes, personal conflicts, view of self
and view of others. Parker {1998} cited that 62% of the 77 alcohol sites on the internet
examined, used strategies that appealed to youths in their advertisements. Gorden, Harris,
Mackintosh and Moodie (2011) observed that adolescents of 13year of age had a high level of
exposure to at least one of 15 different forms of alcohol marketing. Therefore, Jones and Gordon

cxiv
(2013) asserted that there is a wealth of evidence that point to the association of alcohol
advertising exposure with drinking behavior among young people, especially the underage.

In this study, certain gap in knowledge were identified from the review of past research
studies on alcohol advertising and young adults. This research was therefore intended to fill such
gap in knowledge as its contribution to research. Majority of the empirical studies on alcohol
focused on alcohol advertising, alcohol marketing and alcohol consumption and most of these
researches are western oriented. Most of these researches were focused on countries such as
China, United Kingdom, Australia, American and South Africa. There were scantly literatures on
the 18+ warning sign as a measure to discourage underage drinking. The dearth of empirical
studies on the 18+ warning sign as a warning label to discourage underage drinking is a gap in
knowledge that this gap is aimed at filling. This study observed that the majority of the study
reviewed focused on exposure of young adults to alcohol advertising which was presumed as
what increased the likelihood to drink. Anderson (2007) discussed the impact of alcohol
advertising and the risk of alcohol related harm; the vulnerability of the youths to alcohol
advertising on youth consumption. The scholar also discussed other issues relating to
encouragement of alcohol consumption through advertising messages. This study however
considered the relationship between the exposure of young adults and the underage to alcohol
advertising and their attitude towards alcohol consumption. It also considered the perception of
these young adults of alcohol advertisements as a result of the strategies that are being used in
order to attract the attention of the young ones.

Another gap in literature discovered in the empirical framework of this study is that most
of the studies reviewed on regulation were focused on state or statutory regulations which were
developed by statutory regulatory bodies such as Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria
(APCON). There was dearth of empirical studies on industry self-regulations such as warning
labels under which the 18+ warning sign is included. The 18 + warning sign is a warning label in
alcoholic beverage containers which emphasizes age limits and unsuitability of products to
certain groups of people. Anderson (2007) observed that warning labels are required in Canada
and the United States to emphasize health risks which are associated with alcohol consumption.
The research was therefore focused on influence of the 18+ warning sign in discouraging
consumption of alcohol among young ones, especially the underage, rather than on the increase
in alcohol consumption as a result of alcohol advertising messages. A sample size 1,950
cxv
respondents were selected across a total of nine universities in three states in south- western
Nigeria- Lagos state, Ogun state and Oyo state. A structured questionnaire for the survey was the
instrument for data collection. The respondents for the study were university undergraduates
between the ages of 16 and 25. A private university, state university and federal universities each
was selected from each selected state in South-West, Nigeria.

In the findings of this study, university undergraduates’ awareness of the 18+ warning
sign was high. The study also found out that there is significant relationship between university
undergraduates’ recognition of the 18+ warning and their attitude towards consumption. Findings
of the study also showed that there is significant relationship between the perception of
undergraduates of the credibility of the 18+ warning sign and their attitude towards consumption.
Furthermore findings of the study also showed that the 18+ warning sign significantly influence
alcohol consumption among the underage. Finally it was discovered in this study that some
demographic variables like gender and age do not significantly determine the relationship
between the 18+ warning sign and altitudes of undergraduates towards alcohol consumption
while the other variables such as religion and institution significantly determine students’ attitude
towards alcoholic beverage consumption.
,

5.2 Conclusion

In the light of the findings of this study, industry self-regulation has been observed to be
effective when used in combination with statutory regulations, because it brings about efficiency,
increased flexibility, increased incentives for compliance, reduced cost, better knowledge of the
subject and practice by industry players and the audience as well. Based on the outcome of this
study, it is therefore safe to conclude that combining industry self-regulations with statutory
regulation would bring about effectiveness in regulating alcohol consumption among university
undergraduates and the young adults generally. This was further affirmed in the report of Jones
and Gordon (2013) who observed that alcohol advertising in Canada is also co-regulated,
combining statutory regulation at the Federal level with industry self-regulation. This system of
co-regulation of broadcast advertising of alcoholic beverages was also adopted in the United
Kingdom handled by Ofcom (the UK Communication regulator) and the Advertising Standards
Authority (ASA).

cxvi
 It was also concluded on the premises of the findings of this study that awareness of the
18+ warning sign among undergraduates in South-West, Nigeria, which was high, played a
significant role in determining their attitude towards alcohol consumption. Also, the high level of
recognition of the sign among undergraduates in South-West, Nigeria was crucial to fostering
knowledge and understanding of the 18+ warning sign, which in turn significantly influenced
their attitude towards alcohol consumption. It was also concluded that the perception of the 18+
sign among undergraduates in South-West, Nigeria played a significant role in their attitude
towards alcohol consumption. On the influence of the warning sign on alcohol consumption
among the underage, it was concluded that the sign was effective in discouraging alcohol
consumption. The intervening effects of demographic variables was such that age and gender did
not play a significant intervening effects, while religion and institutions of study played a
significant intervening effects on the attitude of undergraduates towards the 18+ warning sign.

It was observed in this study that the 18+ warning sign in alcoholic beverage
advertisements as an industry self-regulation was effective in discouraging alcohol beverage
consumption among the underage and also promoting responsible drinking among other young
people. The inclusion of the 18+ warning sign in alcoholic beverages advertisements has been
effective in discouraging underage drinking; the sign was effective in cautioning those that were
not within the drinking age of 18 years and above. This study hereby concluded on the premise
of its findings that the 18+ warning sign in alcoholic beverage advertisements is effective in
discouraging undergraduates’ consumption of alcohol, especially among the underage. The study
therefore concluded that industry self-regulations such as the 18+ warning sign in alcoholic
beverage advertisements would make advertising code of ethics more effective as they
complement the code of ethics.

5.3 Recommendations
Based on the findings of this study, the following recommendations are hereby offered to
relevant stakeholders:

1. Advertising agencies should be sensitive to special regulatory demands as regards the

products they promote on behalf of the clients.
2. Advertisers as sponsors of the promotional messages that promote alcohol consumption
should intensify the use of the 18+ warnings sign and other warning labels for the
cxvii
 purpose of being socially responsible. This is necessary in view of the risks associated
with alcohol consumption among young ones, especially the underage.
3. Parents, guardians, teachers and other care givers owe it a duty to control children’s
exposure to alcohol advertisements. This is because exposure to such messages has
proven to be influential in encouraging drinking, even at tender ages.
4. The regulatory agencies, statutory and sectoral should intensify their efforts at
monitoring the content of advertisements to ensure compliance with set standards.
APCON needs to do more in terms of expressly stating more stringent regulations as
regards promotion of alcoholic beverages. This is to reduce the hazards associated with
drinking.

5.4 Contribution to Knowledge

This study has contributed to empirical literature on industry self-regulation as regards

alcohol advertising. The self-regulations of focus in this study, which is the 18+ warning sign,
was a measure introduced by alcohol manufacturing industry in Nigeria to discourage underage
drinking and encourage responsible drinking. There has been a dearth of empirical literature
regarding industry-self-regulation in the promotion of alcoholic beverages: only one empirical
literature focused on this perspective as reported in this study. Majority of the studies reviewed
on regulations were focused on state or statutory regulatory bodies such as Advertising
Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON). The dearth of empirical literature on self-regulation
was a gap this study has partially filled. It was also observed that majority of the literature
reviewed in this study were western-oriented. Most of these literature discussed alcohol
advertising among youths in countries such as China, South Africa, Canada, United States of
America and Australia. This study has contributed to empirical literature on impact of locally
produced advertisements on local audience as it was carried out in Nigeria among Nigerians
University under graduates. Therefore, the dearth of empirical literature on impact of locally
produced advertisement of alcohol on local audience is also a gap this study has filled.

Another gap in empirical literature this study has filled was its focus on the 18+ warning
sign as a potent measure to discourage underage drinking and encourage responsible drinking.
Most of the studies reviewed in this research were focused on excessive alcohol consumption as
a result of increased or excessive exposure to alcohol advertisement in different communication

cxviii
media; the youths as the target of alcohol advertisement; and the contents of alcohol advertising
as a way of attracting the young one to alcohol advertising which eventually results in
consumption. The study has also contributed to practice in the sense that the self-regulation
discussed in this study would serve as complementary effort to the state or statutory regulations
which were developed by the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON). Studies
reviewed in this research showed that there was dearth of studies on industry self-regulation
which was one of the gap this research has partially filled. The studies reviewed showed that it
was only Anderson (2007) who discussed industry self-regulations.

This study has contributed to teaching, research and theory building in the advertising
field in general, and regulation of special products such as alcoholic beverages. Teachers in
academics should find the report of this study as additional reference material for their classroom
instruction. Researchers would find this study helpful in gaining direction as regards future
empirical investigation into the subject of advertising regulation. The conceptual model of this
study could be an eye opener towards building a theory of regulation of special products in
particular and advertising regulation in general. This study has contributed to the practice of
advertising in that its findings are useful for planning and execution of advertising campaign
programmes of regulated products such as alcoholic beverages.

5.5Suggestion for Further Studies

This study hereby suggests the following approaches for future studies:

1. More empirical studies on industry self-regulation on alcohol are required in Nigeria as

there has been observed a dearth of empirical literature in this regard.
2. Other harmful products such as hard drugs should be investigated in view of the role of
regulation on their promotion among the underage, pregnant women, sports men and
women.
3. A similar study could be conducted to examine the 18+ warning sign in alcoholic
beverages advertisement in other parts of the country.
4. Future studies should consider other warning messages in alcohol advertising such as
responsible drinking’ among adults.

5.6 Limitation of the Study

cxix
Some of the limitations encountered in the course of the study are as follows:

1. The purposive sampling was proposed to be used in selecting respondents who meet the
inclusion criteria of age range of between 16years and 25years but because some of these
students in some schools have finished examination at the period of the study, the
available sampling was used.
2. The study was limited to young adults between the ages of 16 years and 25 years, which
eliminated the views of other students who did not fall between the age bracket.
3. Another limitation of this study was lack of cooperation observed in the attitude of the
study respondents as many requested for some kinds of gratification before the research
instrument could be completed.

cxx
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 INFORMED CONSENT
Title: Attitude of University Undergraduates in South-West, Nigeria to the 18+ sign in Alcoholic
Beverages Advertisements.
Purpose of the Study: The purpose of the study is examine the roles of the 18+ warning sign in
discouraging alcohol consumption among university undergraduates in South-West, Nigeria,
especially those below the age of 18 years. It is aimed at examining their attitude to the warning
sign as well as to alcohol consumption.
Procedure: Survey would be conducted through the use of questionnaire to determine the
attitude of the respondents to the 18+ sign and to alcohol drinking.
Consequences of Participants’ Decision: Participants are free to exit and or participate in the
survey. It is voluntary and subject to participants’ willingness to accept or reject participation.

Post Research Benefits: Participants in this study would gain knowledge about the roles of
advertising in shaping the attitude of university undergraduates in South-West, Nigeria,
especially those below the age of 18 years towards drinking.
Conflict of Interest: There is no conflict of interest on the part of theresearcher as the exercise is
just an avenue for her to contribute to knowledge

Researcher’s Contact: Akilla, Olusewa M. (08056245421), Department of Creative Arts, Tai

Solarin University of Education, Ijagun, PMB 2118, Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, Nigeria.
Supervisor’s Contact: Dr. Ajilore, Kolade (08055134044), Department of Mass
Communication, Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, Nigeria.

Name and Signature of Researcher and Date:…………………………………………………..

Name and Signature of Participant and Date:…………………………………………………..

Name and Signature of Witness and Date:………………………………………………………

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 APPENDICES
Appendix 1: Sample Questionnaire
BABCOCK UNIVERSITY ILISHAN-REMO, OGUN STATE, NIGERIA
DEPARTMENT OF MASS COMMUNICATION
Dear Respondent,

I am a PhD student of the above named institution and department soliciting your kind
response to the items in this questionnaire. This questionnaire is designed for the purpose of an
academic research titled “Attitude of Undergraduates to the 18+ Warning Sign in Alcoholic
Beverages Advertisements In Selected Universities In South-West, Nigeria”. It is meantto
gather information onthe issuefrom undergraduates of between 16 years and 25 years who have
been enrolled to study full time degree programmes in private, federal and state government
owned universities in selected universities in South-West, Nigeria. Your kind and candid
response to the items in this questionnaire would be highly appreciated. Please be assured of the
confidentiality of all information you provide.

Thank you for your anticipated cooperation.

Instruction: Kindly tick in the box that best suits your response among the alternatives
provided. Where alternatives are not provided, you are to supply your response in your words.

Section A: Demographic Data

1. Gender: Male Female
2. Age Range: 16 years – 18 years 19 years – 22 years 23years – 25 years
3. Religion: Christianity Islam Traditional Others (please state)….…….…
4. Institution: CUL UNILAG LASU BU FUNAAB OOU
ACU UI LAUTECH
5. Do you drink alcohol? Yes No
6. If Yes, for how many years have you been drinking now? (Please state) ……………………

Section B: Awareness, Comprehension of, Effect of the 18+ Warning Sign

Instruction: Please tick in the box that best suits your response.
Key: SA = Strongly Agree; A = Agree; UD = Undecided; D = Disagree; SD = Strongly Disagree

No Students Awareness of 18+ Sign Scale SA A UD D SD

1 I am aware that all alcoholic beverages advertisements end
with 18+ sign.
2 I am familiar with the 18+ sign in alcoholic beverages
advertisements.
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3 I always take cognisance of the 18+ sign in alcoholic
beverages advertisements.
4 I have never noticed the sign (18+ sign) in any alcoholic
beverage advertisement or container
5 18+ sign is bold enough to be ignored in any alcoholic
beverage advertisement
Students’ Comprehension of the 18+ Sign SA A UD D SD
6 I have wondered over time what the 18+ sign means.
7 The 18+ sign means nothing to me.
8 The 18+ sign always serve as a caution when I want to take
alcohol.
9 18+ sign is a Logo of some special brands of alcoholic
beverages.
10 18+ sign is a trade mark of an alcoholic beverage company.
11 18+ sign is to totally discourage the consumption of alcoholic
12 18+ sign is meant to discourage underage consumption of
alcoholic beverages
Students’ Attitude to 18+ Sign Scale
13 I like alcoholic beverages advertisements despite the
restriction on the age of consumption.
14 I wonder why the 18+ sign ends every alcoholic beverage
advertisement.
15 I see the 18+ sign as of no use in advertisement of alcoholic
beverages.
16 I do not like seeing the 18+ sign because it does nothing in
discouraging underage consumption of alcohol.
17 I am indifference seeing the 18+ sign in alcoholic beverage
advertisements.
Effects of 18+ Warning Sign on Students’ Alcoholic Beverages Consumption
Scale
18 The 18+ sign in alcohol advertisements has discouraged me
from taking alcoholic beverage.
19 I stopped drinking alcohol due to the 18+ warning sign
20 The 18+ sign in alcohol advertisements is effective in
discouraging the consumption of alcoholic drinks among the
underage.
21 I believe if the restriction is raised above 18 years of age the
warning will still be more effective.
22 I started drinking alcoholic beverage before the age of 18
years despite my knowledge of the sign (18+ sign).
Perception of the Credibility of the 18+ Warning Sign

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23 18+ warning sign is potent enough to discourage the
consumption of alcohol
24 18+ warning sign can guide the underage against early in-
take of alcohol
25 The awareness of the 18+ warning sign will reduce alcohol
consumption among underage
26 The 18+ warning sign could reduce the in-take of alcohol in
adults
27 The 18+ Warning sign will always achieve its aim

Students’ Attitude to Alcohol Consumption Scale

28 I take alcoholic beverages regularly.
29 I have been drinking alcoholic beverages before the age of
18.
30 I like taking alcoholic drinks with friends.
31 I take alcohol even in the presence of my parents.
32 I feel among drinking alcohol.

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 Appendix 2: Cronbach’s Alpha Reliability Test Result

Cronbach’s Alpha Reliability Test Result

Variable No. of Cronbach Alpha
Items Reliability Statistics
Students’ awareness of
the 18+ sign 5 .945
Students’ comprehension
of the 18+ sign 7 .897
Students’ attitude towards
the 18+ sign 5 .735
Effects of the 18+ sign on students’
Alcohol consumption 5 .777
Students’ attitude to alcohol
Consumption 5 .825
Students’ Perception of the
Credibility of the 18+ sign 5 .785
Average (Reliability
Coefficient) 32 .827
Source: Field study, 2016

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