Consultation on Restricting Alcohol Advertising and Promotion: Analysis of responses

16 The views of children and young people

16.1 This chapter provides an overview of children's awareness of and attitudes towards alcohol and alcohol marketing, and a summary of views expressed in relation to individual topics included in the consultation. It draws on (i) work commissioned by the Scottish Government and undertaken by Children in Scotland to gather the views of children and young people on the proposals included in the current consultation, and (ii) responses from five other organisations that provided the views of children and young people as part of their consultation response.

16.2 The Children in Scotland engagement work and report was based on a series of focus groups with 8 children and young people, plus engagement activities undertaken by third-party organisations (e.g. schools, youth groups and youth projects) involving 105 children and young people.

16.3 The additional consultation responses drawn on in this summary were submitted by Barnardo's Scotland, the Children's Parliament, North Lanarkshire Youth Work, Together (Scottish Alliance for Children's Rights), and Y Sort It. Participants in these activities included young children of primary school age as well as pre-teens and older teenagers. There was considerable variation in the methods used, the issues covered, and the extent to which the consultation questions were addressed.

16.4 The summary presented here is intended to provide an insight into children's views and experiences. However, as with all the other consultation responses received, these views cannot be taken as representative of the views of children and young people more generally. Full details of the responses drawn on here are available – either as published reports in their own right (on the organisations' websites) and / or on the Scottish Government website as published consultation responses.

16.5 The perspectives of children and young people are presented by topic below.

Awareness of and attitudes towards alcohol marketing

16.6 Children and young people who took part in the various engagement activities indicated awareness of the role alcohol plays in the cultural life of Scotland and the harms caused by alcohol. Some participants voiced negative feelings about alcohol – for example, younger children said it made them feel worried or scared, while older children and young people linked it with addiction or being drunk or hungover.

16.7 Participants also reported a high level of awareness of alcohol marketing in their daily lives. They reported seeing this in a wide range of settings: in outdoor spaces, at bus stops and train stations, in shops, at sports events, on television and online; cinema and radio, and hospitality venues were mentioned less frequently. They were able to recall adverts and features of the branding of different alcohol drinks.

16.8 Children and young people thought that alcohol marketing could make drinking seem attractive or 'cool' and could encourage young people to drink. However, there was also a view that peer pressure was a greater influence on drinking behaviour.

16.9 There was support for restrictions of various types on alcohol marketing, with calls for less marketing in a range of settings, and less marketing that appealed to children and young people. However, there were mixed views on the extent to which such restrictions would reduce alcohol consumption or alcohol harm. Participants said that drinking behaviour was also influenced by other people in children's lives including peers and friends. There was also a view that alcohol marketing aims to influence brand choice rather than increase consumption.

16.10 There was low awareness of (i) marketing restrictions currently in place, which are based on the proportion of under-18s participating or attending a specific event (for example a sporting event or cinema show), and (ii) how to complain about an advert.

Sports and events sponsorship

16.11 Children and young people were very aware of the links between alcohol and sports events, and the exposure of children and young people to alcohol-related marketing, either in-person or on TV. They reported seeing posters, pitch-side advertising, branded kit, etc., as well as alcohol marketing on sports-related social media. Some said that 'sport should be 'about being healthy' or that alcohol sponsorship of sport was 'not a good message' and could encourage young people to drink.

16.12 The most common view among participants was that alcohol sponsorship in sport should be restricted. While some supported a complete ban, others mentioned more specific measures such as prohibiting alcohol-branded team kit, or children's kit; pitch-side marketing; marketing by sportspeople; and marketing at events involving children. One other suggestion was to provide separate family areas where marketing was not shown. However, not all children and young people expressed support for restrictions. Some highlighted the money alcohol sponsorship brought into sport and other activities; others said that marketing should be allowed at events with adult spectators.

16.13 Participants supported sponsorship restrictions as they thought this would reduce the amount of alcohol advertising seen at sports events. They also thought this might change the culture and behaviour at sporting events for the better. There was support for sponsorship restrictions to be phased in gradually to allow clubs and teams to adjust to the new rules.

16.14 Participants were generally less aware of sponsorship of other types of events, although some mentioned the sponsorship of big music festivals.

Outdoor marketing

16.15 Children and young people were very aware of outdoor alcohol marketing encountered in their everyday lives (on their way to school, on public transport, at the shops, etc.). There was support for restrictions but mixed views on whether this should be a full ban. Participants who favoured a partial approach generally wanted to see restrictions on advertising in places frequented by children – e.g. near schools and parks – and on public transport, and on the style of advertising to ensure it did not appeal to children. However, some participants were uncertain how much impact a ban on outdoor marketing would have on drinking behaviour.

The retail environment

16.16 Children and young people were very aware of seeing alcohol in shops of all types, with some saying it was hard to miss. They thought that reducing the visibility of alcohol in these settings would be an effective way to reduce overall exposure to alcohol and alcohol marketing, and to reduce temptation and impulse purchases. They also suggested under-age drinking might decrease if alcohol was harder to purchase.

16.17 When shown pictures of the structural separation measures in place in Ireland, most children and young people thought this option would reduce exposure to alcohol among children and those in recovery from harmful drinking. However, some said options such as aisle-end barriers would not hide alcohol from view completely. There was also a concern that hiding alcohol from view could make children more curious about it.

16.18 Some children and young people highlighted the need for any restrictions to take account of the very different retail environments in small as well as large stores.

16.19 Some made specific suggestions for:

• Storing stronger spirits behind counters
• Reducing the hours during which alcohol can be sold
• Putting limits on how much alcohol people can buy in a single purchase
• Providing separate alcohol and non-alcohol areas
• Requiring ID to access the area of a shop or store where alcohol is sold
• Introducing stricter age-verification for alcohol purchases, and higher fines for anyone selling to under-18s or purchasing on behalf of under-18s
• Restricting alcohol sales to separate stores.

Merchandising

16.20 There was limited feedback from children and young people on the issue of merchandising. The few comments there were suggested support for restrictions such as limiting branding to items and clothing used / worn by adults and introducing bans on alcohol-branded merchandise at sporting and other events. However, there was concern for how such restrictions might impact on merchandising-related businesses and employment.

Print advertising

16.21 Children and young people were aware of alcohol marketing in print media. However, this did not appear to be a significant source of exposure to alcohol marketing for this group. Newspapers, in particular, were seen as being more relevant to an adult audience. Thus, restrictions in this area were seen as less of a priority.

16.22 Some children and young people thought that the use of 'child-friendly' alcohol adverts could be restricted. However, the importance of advertising revenue for print media was also noted by participants.

Online marketing

16.23 Children and young people described online alcohol marketing as extremely widespread, and hard to avoid. They reported seeing adverts on social media, messaging apps, video streaming platforms, on websites and in online games. They mentioned pop-up adverts and adverts that would appeal to young people. They highlighted approaches such as social media filters, influencer marketing and celebrity endorsements as being particularly appealing to children and young people, and video-site recommendations as being particularly effective in directing children and young people to content containing alcohol marketing. However, there was also a view (expressed occasionally) that online marketing might be 'cool' but did not lead children and young people to drink.

16.24 Restricting online advertising (although not necessarily banning it completely) was identified as a priority by many children and young people. Specific suggestions for change included: reducing the volume of advertising and making it less prominent; restricting the use of filters; targeting adverts to over-18s only, with the use of more effective algorithms; and using influencers and celebrities to promote responsible drinking.

16.25 Some young people acknowledged the difficulty of regulating online content and they were unsure if the Scottish Government had the power to make laws in this area or enforce any restrictions introduced.

Television and radio advertising

16.26 Children and young people reported frequent exposure to alcohol marketing on television, with adverts and sponsorship linked to shows that they watched, both live and on catch-up services. They were able to recall specific adverts and brands. However, children and young people tended to favour restrictions rather than a complete ban on television and radio advertising. There was support for a ban during popular family programmes, and for a more general 'watershed', which would apply to both live and on-demand services. However, some thought that this measure may be of limited value given (i) the increasing use of streaming and catch-up services which meant that programmes are not viewed at set scheduled times, and (ii) the reality that many children and young people stay up late to watch TV.

Cinema advertising

16.27 Children and young people had low levels of knowledge about current rules on cinema advertising. They thought any restrictions on alcohol advertising should be linked to the certificate of the film being shown; however, there were mixed views on whether this should be limited to 15- or 18-certificate films.

The content of advertising

16.28 Children and young people thought that alcohol marketing was often designed to portray alcohol consumption as glamourous or exciting, or to attract people using colour and imagery which appealed to children and young people. There was support for restrictions on the content of advertising, and specific support expressed for:

• Marketing and packaging with less appeal to children and young people
• The inclusion of health warnings and helpline numbers on alcohol products and advertising – although some young people said they did not fully understand what was meant by phrases such as 'drink responsibly', or what constituted 'safe' drinking
• The inclusion in adverts of children talking to adults about the impact that alcohol has on children's lives
• The inclusion of clear ABV / alcohol unit information on alcohol packaging
• An Estonia-style approach (when this option was explained to participants) which limits adverts to factual content based on a prescribed list of allowable features.

16.29 Some children and young people suggested using marketing to promote positive drinking behaviours.

A package of measures

16.30 Children and young people generally favoured restrictions across a range of different marketing channels (online, TV, sports sponsorship, etc), although there were mixed views about which should be priority areas for action.

16.31 There was also a mix of views on how effective restrictions on marketing would be. While the most common view was that this would lead to less exposure to alcohol marketing, and result in a decrease in alcohol consumption and alcohol harm, there was also an alternative view that this would have a limited impact because of other influences on drinking attitudes and behaviour, and because marketing generally aimed to promote brands rather than consumption.

16.32 Children and young people expressed some concern about whether action would be taken and how long it would take to implement change.

Monitoring and enforcement

16.33 Comments on this issue were limited although some children and young people mentioned the need to monitor marketing content, the involvement of the police, and the use of fines for breaches of restrictions. There was support for a separate, independent organisation that was responsible for enforcing any restrictions on alcohol marketing in Scotland.

Impacts on business

16.34 The children and young people who commented on the potential impact on businesses made two main points:

• They thought that businesses like alcohol producers, pubs and shops would be affected if marketing restrictions were introduced, and that this would have an impact on the economy as a whole.
• They noted that marketing was important for businesses, and they thought the potential impacts on businesses should be taken into account in developing restrictions.