• WSJ (paid subscription required), Tuesday, January 3, 2006 12:07 PM

A new study reveals that advertising definitely works, at least when it comes to promoting alcohol consumption among young people. Previous studies have suggested a link between advertising and drinking but were unable to determine whether the ads influenced consumption, or whether people who tend to drink more notice the ads. The study looked at alcohol advertising in 24 media markets across the U.S. and the amount of alcohol consumed by people aged 15 to 26 years old. On average, young people reported consuming about 38.5 drinks per month and seeing an average of 23 ads per month. People who reported seeing more ads and who lived in areas with higher-per-capita alcohol advertising consumed more alcohol than those exposed to fewer ads. In real terms, the study revealed that a 20-year-old male living in a media market with the highest per capita advertising would have had about 26 drinks per month, compared to 15 if he reported seeing few alcohol advertisements. David Jernigan, executive director of Georgetown University's Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth, wrote an editorial about the study in which he said marketers could make a "substantial contribution to reducing underage drinking" by limiting advertising to places where 85 percent of the audience is likely to be 21 and older.

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