Our BHRU Annual Lecture, held 21st April 2016 at The Gillespie Centre – Clare College, saw Professor Linda Bauld (University of Stirling) present current research on e-cigarettes as well as outlining the regulatory framework for these devices, and the changes that would come into effect following the introduction of the EU Tobacco Products Directive on the 20th May, 2016.
Restricting alcohol marketing is suggested to be a cost-effective policy option to reduce alcohol consumption. There is debate as to whether alcohol marketing exposure leads to increased drinking. In a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized, experimental studies, we found…
Selling wine in larger-sized wine glasses may encourage people to drink more, even when the amount of wine served remains the same. In this set of bar studies, we found that increasing the size of wine glasses led to an…
In a systematic review, published 9th June, 2016 in BMC Public Health, we combined data from randomized, experimental studies that investigated the immediate effects of viewing alcohol marketing on alcohol consumption and alcohol-related cognitions.
Combining results from 7 studies with 758 participants, we found that individuals who viewed alcohol advertising consumed more alcohol than those who viewed non-alcohol advertising. We conclude that these findings lend qualified support to the public health case for restrictions, bans, or other policies that would reduce exposure to alcohol advertising on visual broadcast media to reduce alcohol consumption at the population level.
Immediate effects of alcohol marketing communications and media portrayals on consumption and cognition: a systematic review and meta-analysis of experimental studies. Stautz K*, Brown KG*, King SE, Shemilt I, Marteau TM. (* = joint first authors)
How acceptable do people find nudges such as reducing bottle sizes of sugary drinks to prevent obesity? Does highlighting the non-conscious nature of nudging affect their acceptability? The results of our recent study published 8th June, 2016, conducted with over 2000 UK and USA participants, show that most people find such “nudges” to be acceptable interventions to prevent obesity.
Although, highlighting the non-conscious nature of nudges does not alter their acceptability, the study found that taxing sugary drinks, was only acceptable to a minority. But for both nudging and taxing, the acceptability of the intervention increased the more effective participants judged them to be. This suggests people are prepared to trade off dislike of an intervention for achieving a valued goal, such as tackling obesity.
Public acceptability in the UK and USA of nudging to reduce obesity: the example of reducing sugar-sweetened beverages consumption. Petrescu DC, Hollands GJ, Couturier DL, Ng YL, Marteau TM.