B&TB&TB&T
  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Technology
  • Regulars
    • Agency Scorecards
    • Best of the Best
    • Campaigns of the Month
    • CMO Power List
    • CMOs to Watch
    • Culture Bites
    • Fast 10
    • New Business Winners
    • Spotlight on Sponsors
  • Jobs
  • Awards
    • 30 Under 30
    • B&T Awards
    • Cairns Crocodiles
    • Women In Media
    • Women Leading Tech
Search
Trending topics:
  • Cairns Crocodiles
  • Nine
  • Seven
  • Cannes Lions
  • NRL
  • State of Origin
  • WPP
  • B&T Women in Media
  • Thinkerbell
  • Pinterest
  • imaa
  • AFL
  • Anthony Albanese
  • AI
  • Spotlight on Sponsors
  • Foxtel
  • Meta
  • TV Ratings
  • Radio Ratings
  • Sports Marketing

  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.
Reading: Study: Booze Ads At Sporting Events Directly Sway Drinking Attitudes
Share
B&TB&T
Subscribe
Search
  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Technology
  • Regulars
    • Agency Scorecards
    • Best of the Best
    • Campaigns of the Month
    • CMO Power List
    • CMOs to Watch
    • Culture Bites
    • Fast 10
    • New Business Winners
    • Spotlight on Sponsors
  • Jobs
  • Awards
    • 30 Under 30
    • B&T Awards
    • Cairns Crocodiles
    • Women In Media
    • Women Leading Tech
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.
B&T > Advertising > Study: Booze Ads At Sporting Events Directly Sway Drinking Attitudes
AdvertisingCampaignsMedia

Study: Booze Ads At Sporting Events Directly Sway Drinking Attitudes

Staff Writers
Published on: 30th April 2019 at 9:58 AM
Staff Writers
Share
3 Min Read
SHARE

Repeated exposure to alcohol advertising in sport – either at venues or during TV coverage of matches – can have long-term effects on drinking attitudes, according to a new international study.

Researchers from the Parisien Laboratory of Social Psychology, the University Grenoble of Alpes (France) and Australia’s Monash University found a positive and casual link between alcohol sponsorship and alcohol-related attitudes, as well as the specific brand being advertised.

The study, titled “How alcohol advertising and sponsorship works – effects through indirect measures”, was published today in Drug and Alcohol Review.

The alcohol industry accounts for roughly 20 per cent of all sport sponsorships internationally. This is despite evidence showing that direct alcohol sponsorship of sport is associated with more hazardous drinking, and that large numbers of children are exposed to alcohol messages while watching sport.

“What we showed is that alcohol advertising and sponsorship not only send a message directly encouraging people to drink, but tends to implicitly and/or unconsciously associate a product, like beer, within a specific context of going to the football or watching a sports match on television,” said the study’s co-author, Professor Kerry O’Brien, from Monash University’s school of social sciences.

Study lead Dr Oulmann Zerhouni reported that: “We also found that exposing people to an alcohol brand, and more strongly to a mainstream alcohol brand, leads to more positive attitudes towards alcohol more generally.

“Our results suggest that alcohol advertising and sponsorship exposure may change attitudes in an automatic fashion, because it doesn’t require an individual to cognitively process the advertising stimuli.”

As part of the study, 109 students from France were exposed to 10 minutes of a rugby match featuring one of three sponsorship conditions: a globally renowned beer; a domestic beer; or motor oil.

Researchers tested whether incidental exposure to alcohol marketing messages influenced their evaluation of brands and alcohol in general, and whether these decision-making processes occurred naturally. Alcohol consumption immediately following the experiment wasn’t analysed.

“We found evidence to suggest that the more popular the brand of alcohol, the greater the influence in changes to participants’ drinking attitudes. This wasn’t the case when the alcohol brand was relatively unknown, or if the sponsorship was unrelated to alcohol, in this case motor oil,” Dr Zerhouni said.

Because sports fans are repeatedly exposed to alcohol advertising and sponsorship when watching sport, Professor O’Brien said this was likely to have a long-term effect on their drinking that needed to be understood and addressed.

“This is especially important for countries that allow alcohol marketing in sport programming during the day, when we know hundreds of thousands of children are watching,” he said.

Join more than 30,000 advertising industry experts
Get all the latest advertising and media news direct to your inbox from B&T.

No related posts.

TAGGED: Alcohol Advertising
Share
Staff Writers
By Staff Writers
Follow:
Staff Writers represent B&T's team of award-winning reporters. Here, you'll find articles crafted with industry experience spanning over 50 years. Our team of specialists brings together a wealth of knowledge and a commitment to delivering insightful, topical, and breaking news. With a deep understanding of advertising and media, our Staff Writers are dedicated to providing industry-leading analysis and reporting, both shaping the conversation and setting the benchmark for excellence.

Latest News

Patrick Rowe, Mandie Van Der Merwe, Avish Gordhan.
Agency Scorecard: Saatchi & Saatchi
15/07/2025
SCA Chief Content Officer Dave Cameron To Depart After 30 Years
15/07/2025
Harley-Davidson Rallies Riders For Inaugural ‘United We Ride’ Fundraiser Via The Salvation Army
15/07/2025
Agency Scorecard: Nunn Media
15/07/2025
//

B&T is Australia’s leading news publication magazine for the advertising, marketing, media and PR industries.

 

B&T is owned by parent company The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd.

About B&T

  • About
  • Contact
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Advertise

Top Categories

  • Advertising
  • Campaigns
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Opinion
  • Technology
  • TV Ratings

Sign Up for Our Newsletter



B&TB&T
Follow US
© 2025 B&T. The Misfits Media Company Pty Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Register Lost your password?