Date of Graduation

8-2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Journalism (MA)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Journalism

Advisor/Mentor

Chung, Jee Young

Committee Member

Brown, Lucy M.

Second Committee Member

Rapert, Molly

Keywords

Advertising; Alcohol; Marketing; Social Media

Abstract

Alcohol advertisements are known to be appealing and memorable, and several researchers have investigated what makes these advertisements so attractive. Several trends have emerged regarding the content within alcohol advertisements: themes of parties, celebration, and social success within television, magazines, and social media since the 1970s. Recently, several studies found that new themes in alcohol ads have been found to be popular, especially in social media advertisements (Campbell & Chung, 2022). The elaboration likelihood model (ELM) provides insight into why a person’s attitude could be more susceptible or why their behavior could be more easily influenced by certain types of alcohol marketing messages (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986). This thesis tested three different alcohol advertising message strategies (i.e., taste, humor, and influencer appeals) to see how each strategy affects consumer attitude and behavior, including the consumers’ inclination to drink or purchase alcohol and perceptions of drinking alcohol. Two of the most popular ad appeals- taste and joke/humor- along with “influencer marketing” were tested. Results showed that alcohol advertisements positively changed peoples’ perceptions and attitudes about drinking; without really changing their drinking intention. Influencer marketing and humor were not nearly as effective as the taste appeal at impacting behavior, indicating that the central route of appeals works best for alcohol advertisements from the ELM. Being a heavy social media user or a member of Greek Life increased the impact of these advertisements on behavior.Keywords: Alcohol, social media, advertisements, drinking, strategies,

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