Use (and Misuse) of the Responsible Drinking Message in Public Health and Alcohol Advertising: A Review

Abstract

The objective is to present a comparative analysis examining the alcohol industry’s and scholarly researchers’ use of the concept “responsible drinking.” Electronic databases associated with health, education, sociology, psychology, and medicine were the date sources. Results were limited to English, peer-reviewed articles and commentaries specifically addressing “responsible drinking.” Search descriptors included responsible, responsibility, drinking, alcohol, brewer, and campaign. Eighteen articles constituted the final sample. The matrix method was utilized to organize and abstract pertinent information. Misunderstanding stemming from the inconsistency and counterintuitive nature of brewer-sponsored “responsible drinking” campaigns is further compounded by researchers’ use of the term and concept of “responsible drinking” in their scholarly reports. In articulating the definition of “responsible drinking,” researchers employ subjective notions and personal ideas, thus not differentiating the construct’s meaning from the one acquired in brewer-sponsored campaigns. Researchers are consistently inconsistent when identifying specific health measures that promote and/or contradict responsible alcohol consumption. To evade the subjective notions of researchers and restrictive impressions attached by the alcohol industry, the manner in which individuals interpret, perceive, and practice responsible drinking must be systematically explored and examined using theoretically based constructs.