Whether alcohol advertisement influences consumption has been a matter of discussion for some time. The alcohol industry has claimed that it does not, but onlu influences which brand the cnosumer are choosing. Now the Scence Group of Alcohol and Health forum has come to a different conclusion.

The science group are established for among another thing to provide scientific guidance for the European Alcohol and Health Forum. It has looked into the relationship between marketing communicatino and the volunme and pattern of consumtion, especially among young people.

The European Alcohol and Health Forum was set up by the Health Directorate of European Commission in 2007; this multistakeholder platform bring together some fifty NGOs and economic operators, including alcohol producers, retailers, advertisers, and publishers, pledging to take actions to reduce alcohol related harm.

The science group concludes that they have found consistent evidence tod emonstrate an impact of alcohol advertising on the uptake of drinking among non-drinking young people, and increased consumption among those allready drinking. This, the group says, is all the more striking, since only a small part of a total marketing strategy has been studied, and the industry uses also other tools than advertisements to sell their products.

Read the whole report in this pdf-file.