Facebook and Alcohol Marketing Presentation

8/3/2019 Facebook and Alcohol Marketing Presentation

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and Student Drinking

Implications for public health

Ross Hebden, Antonia Lyons,

Ian Goodwin, Tim McCreanor


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Most colleges and universities have a strong

sense of history and tradition, and the drinking

culture at these schools is no different. Students

at many, if not most, universities are easily able

to identify specific rituals or events on campusthat are traditionally drinking events.(Dietz,

2008)

Tertiary drinking culture


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Tertiary Drinking Culture and Facebook

Tertiary student drinking culture theorised as encouragingheavy drinking/hazardous behaviour in students. (i.e Kypri,2005)

Part of the expression and propagation of culture iscommunicating particular behaviours and normalisingthem. (Bennet et al, 2005; Hebdige, 2006)

Students considered Facebook to have normal/acceptable

behaviour and material associated with it. Alcohol-centric.

How and why students are incorporating Facebook intotheir drinking culture is important.


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Current Study

Friendship group discussions designed to talkabout drinking practices and attitudes, onlineactivity, and alcohol advertising.

Discussions augmented by laptop fordiscussants to go online and illustrate

examples of discussed material.

Foucauldian discourse analysis.


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3

2

1

Students (aged 19-23) who

socialised together, drank

together and used Facebook.

20 21

21

22

21

23

2323

20

20

19

19 19

Bubbles

Mojojojo

Mary

Magdalene

Extra

Strudel

TableShaniqua

Geoffrey

Tanner

Cherry

Aquamarine

Fonza

Daisy

The Groups

Ranga


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Key Discourses

Four discourses identified:

Routine everyday socialising

Savvy agency

Pleasurable consumption

The story imperative


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Pleasurable Consumption

Consumption of both alcohol and Facebook wasconstructed as fun, desirable, rewarding.

This pleasure was, in part, derived from the associationof both with a fun based drinking culture. Drinking games.

Engaging in shenanigans

Facebook a nexus of pleasurable consumption. FB use is fun. Keeping in touch, stalking, procrastination.

But FB also pleasurable in its use for expression of drinkingdone offline.


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Routine Everyday Socialising

Consumption of alcohol and Facebook use seen as apart of, and often synonymous with, everydaysocialisation.

Levels of inebriation normalised, rationalised andtrivialised through routine socialisation. Friendship through bumping into people on the chop

just hit town, after town go home. Thats my life

Not unusual to coma at the end of the night.

Interaction with discourse of pleasurable consumptionwhen considering both alcohol and Facebook.


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when you add

alcohol it gets that

much better

That sounds so boring

when you say it, But itsreally not, its so much fun

Its the same night every

night, (cause thats it)

1

But it never gets boring,

its always fun so..its always some

drama

Pretty much its, itsjusteveryone sitting round and

just listening to music do

drinking games, and..

Crazy antics.

just talk about, just,general whatever.

Chilling

Geoffrey

Shaniqua

Ranga

Table


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The Story Imperative

Importance/worth placed on drinking stories.

Heavy drinking necessary for worthy stories to eventuate.

Creating worthwhile stories for the groups greater goodcould override individual shame.

Facebook a visual history and record of groups stories. Also

where reconstruction and authentication of storiesoccurred.

Photos particularly important. Formalised camera people.


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Extra Strudel

... Sometimes I

will post about

like a hangover

Yep, feeling crap in the

morning and saying oh

that was so worth it

Yea, or had a great party

Mary Magdalene

Bubbles

Mojojojo

Oh yea discussions, discussions on photos the next

day. There can be, like a chain, there can be a pretty

substantive chain, after a photo, a particularly good

photo from the night. Like the next day well all

jump on and be like ah ha ha Vimes in a dress

mostly posting to

go with photos, yes

Oh, so and so was trashed

last night, ha ha sort of stuff

Or ah, particularly remember this

hilarious moment, ha ha ha, and the

other person would be like what?, Ididnt do that

2


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Individual as a Savvy Agent

Participant perceived themselves as savvy internet users.Knowledge of online dangers often voiced as enough to negatethem. And this applied to drinking too.

Controlled intoxication (Measham, 2006; Guise and Gill, 2007;Szmigin et al, 2008). $ per std drink and total required to get drunk.

Knowledge of the nightly ritual and its rules important.

Used to rationalise detrimental effects of drinking and prioritisedrinking over other concerns. Theyre in control/Its short term (only while students).

Gains worth the risk.

Study creates a need to be irresponsible and cut loose. Work hard...


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And that person isnt

us, so.

One of the guys has been

banned from attending the

parties because he drinks too

much, throws up a lot,

everywhere.

On the roof.

No shit.

Like hell go into the bathroom, but then he willjust like, just projectile, and so were like you

cant, you cant control your drinking in terms of

not drinking so much that you projectile vomit in

the bathroom. We, we arent so cool with that.

Were in peoples houses.

Really?

Yea, it was on the

roof Thats

impressive

In a bar someone else

cleans it up

In a bar that would be

hilarious. But in someones

house thats a lot of

cleaning up to do.

not funtimes?

Ross

Bubbles

Mary

Magdalene

Mojojojo

Extra Strudel

2


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Conclusions

Study highlighted the high degree to which Facebook isincorporated into drinking culture. All aspects: Prior, post and even during events.

Facebook may also change drinking culture: Planned events, a culture of posting interesting stories and

photocentricity shape the emergent properties of drinkingculture.

Increase in Facebook presence/prestige encouragesparticipation in drinking culture.

Level of mundane, routine exposure on FB overestimatesand normalises drinking culture.


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Implications for Public Health

Discourses such as savvy agency and routinesocialisation negated public healthwarnings/perspective.

Results in messages being perceived to have lackof relevance to participants drinking.

Highlights the need for public health approachesthat come from a within the drinking culture. I.e. Those that might resonate discursively with target

audience rather than scold or alienate.


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Public health discourse has little to no presence

on mediums such as Facebook.

The discussions and exchanges that are part ofcreating/maintaining drinking cultures have

moved into these spaces.

Contrast to the large alcohol marketing presenceon sites such as Facebook which encouragesdirect commercial voice in these exchanges.

A lot of $ invested in online strategies.


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Facebook and other social network sites areunregulated entities.

They also seem to be key to contemporary

student drinking cultures.

Public health campaigns need to consider moredigital strategies especially those that includesocial networking sites.

E.g. Feb Fast and HSM campaigns: Both digital, bothwith elements of social networking.


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Thanks!

Documents

Facebook and Alcohol Marketing Presentation