Effects of strengthening alcohol labels on attention, message processing, and perceived effectiveness: A quasi-experimental study in Yukon, Canada.

Alcohol labels are one strategy for raising consumer awareness about the negative consequences of alcohol, but evidence to inform labels is limited. This quasi-experimental study sought to test the real-world impact of strengthening health messages on alcohol container labels on consumer attention, message processing (reading, thinking, and talking with others about labels), and self-reported drinking. Alcohol labels with a cancer warning, national drinking guidelines, and standard drink information were implemented in the intervention site, and usual labelling practices continued in the comparison site. Changes in key indicators of label effectiveness were assessed among a cohort of adult drinkers in both the intervention and comparison sites using three waves of surveys conducted before and at two time-points after the alcohol label intervention. Generalized Estimating Equations with difference-in-difference terms were used to examine the impact of the label intervention on changes in outcomes. Strengthening health messages on alcohol container labels significantly increased consumer attention to [Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR)=17.2, 95%CI:8.2,36.2] and processing of labels (e.g., reading labels: AOR=2.6, 95%CI:1.8,3.7), and consumer reports of drinking less due to the labels (AOR=3.7, 95%CI: 2.0,7.0). Strengthening health messages on alcohol containers can achieve their goal of attracting attention, deepening engagement, and enhancing motivation to reduce alcohol use. Strengthening alcohol labelling policies should be a priority for alcohol control globally.

Informations de copyright

Crown Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no competing interests with the exception of Tim Stockwell, who received research funds and travel expenses from both the Swedish (Systembolaget) and Finnish (ALKO) government retail alcohol monopolies for the conduct of research into the impacts of their policies on alcohol consumption and related harm, Thomas K. Greenfield whose research has been partially supported by the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association (NABCA), and Catherine Paradis who received funds from Educ'alcool from 2008–2014. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or, in the decision to publish the results.