Designing Effective Alcohol Warnings: Consumer Reactions to Icons and Health Topics

Citation

Grummon, Anna H.; Ruggles, Phoebe R.; Greenfield, Thomas K.; & Hall, Marissa G. (2023). Designing Effective Alcohol Warnings: Consumer Reactions to Icons and Health Topics. American Journal of Preventative Medicine, 64(2), 157-166. PMCID: PMC10421534

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: New warning labels for alcohol could reduce alcohol-related health harms. This study examined consumer responses to alcohol warnings with different designs.
METHODS: A national sample of 3,051 U.S. adults completed an online survey in August 2021. Participants were randomized to 1 of 4 warning topics (addiction, liver damage, early death, or colon cancer). Participants viewed 3 labels, presented in random order: 2 types of warning labels (text-only and icon) showing a newly developed warning message about their assigned topic and a text-only control label showing a neutral message. Participants rated each label on effectiveness at discouraging alcohol consumption (primary outcome) and attention (secondary outcome) using 1 to 5 Likert-type scales. Participants also rated warnings with different causal language variants (e.g., "increases risk of," "contributes to") and marker words (e.g., "WARNING," "SURGEON GENERAL WARNING").
RESULTS: Both the text-only and icon warnings were perceived as more effective (Average Differential Effects [ADEs]=0.79 and 0.86, respectively) and more attention-grabbing (ADEs=0.43 and 0.69, respectively) than control labels (all ps<0.001). The icon warnings were rated as more effective and attention-grabbing than the text-only warnings (ADEs=0.07 and 0.27, respectively, both ps<0.001). Although all warning topics outperformed the control messages, warnings about addiction were rated as less effective and attention-grabbing than the other topics. A majority (60%) of participants selected "increases risk of" as the most discouraging causal variant and a plurality (47%) selected "SURGEON GENERAL WARNING" as the most discouraging marker word.
CONCLUSIONS: New alcohol warnings could discourage alcohol consumption, especially if warnings include icons.

URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2022.09.006

Reference Type

Journal Article

Year Published

2023

Journal Title

American Journal of Preventative Medicine

Author(s)

Grummon, Anna H.
Ruggles, Phoebe R.
Greenfield, Thomas K.
Hall, Marissa G.

Article Type

Regular

PMCID

PMC10421534

Continent/Country

United States

State

Nonspecific

ORCiD

Hall - 0000-0002-8690-9498
Grummon - 0000-0002-8705-038X