New angle on social drinking

The most ludicrous story seen last month must have been the news from Wiltshire that the county council is banning roadside signs directing motorists to pubs.

The trade press reported the case of a country pub ordered to remove its sign, which had been on the nearby main road for over two years, because it was 'potentially providing the temptation to drink and drive'. Others have received similar instructions.

It is difficult to imagine a more patronising piece of officialdom. Are car drivers so stupid that they incapable of making a rational decision about whether they ought to have a pint with their lunch or to opt for a Coke? The councillors of Wiltshire obviously think they are.

And this is no 'loony left' edict, it comes from a Tory-controlled authority. What is it with Conservative councils beginning with 'W'?

The fact that the pubs in question focus on food and families for much of their business also cuts no ice. But, I suspect there will be no tearing down of signs pointing to hotels or Michelin-starred restaurants, where we know it is just as easy to go over the limit with a few glasses of wine as it is in any public house, if people really want to. The directive is just plan daft.

What it shows is the inherent discrimination that exists against pubs. Not only is there widespread paranoia across the nation about alcohol, especially in all tiers of Government, but pubs are still being singled out as core culprits when it comes to the fuelling of booze Britain - even pretty rural inns.

It also suggests that all the efforts to rehabilitate the pub ' the industry's emphasis on responsibility retailing, the central role pubs are playing in the growth of eating out and the evidence that binge drinking is a broader problem of society ' have yet to succeed in challenging the prejudices of large numbers of people, and specifically petty apparatchiks in public posts.

So it was surprisingly encouraging to see a new initiative from the Department of Health that is taking a less sensational and focussed approach to problem drinking. The Department has identified nine types of heavy drinker at which it will now target a new alcohol campaign.

Research by the DoH found heavy drinkers often fall into one of a number of categories. These ranged from depressed drinkers to hedonistic, macho and community drinkers to people who drink to de-stress or conform or because of boredom.

The real significance of the initiative is that, for once, it is not just about the availability or price of alcohol, but the habits and responsibilities of individuals. It places heavy drinking in its social context, something many in the drinks business have been arguing should be done for some time.

It also reflects a similar study for the advertising industry that identifies personal friendship networks as the key to tackling the spread of binge drinking.

The DoH research will underpin a new drive to crackdown on heavy drinkers, with a pilot being run in the North West of England over the coming months to specifically focus on adults aged over 35 who fall into those nine drinking categories.

Over 900,000 households will receive leaflets highlighting the link between alcohol and health risks, such as cancer and liver disease, and providing information on where people can go to get help. The government says it hopes this tailored approach will help 4,000 people in the region to reduce their drinking within a year.

A research project for Advertising Association, which represents 30 trade bodies and organisations in the advertising and promotional marketing sector, also puts alcohol misuse into its social context.

The online panel study of 504 18-24 year olds across the UK was carried out by researchers FDS International and economics consultancy Volterra, and concludes that friendship networks hold the key.

The advertising industry obviously has an interest in playing down the role of promotion in increased drinking. Nevertheless, the results of the survey suggest that social influence operating through personal friendship networks alone explains a large rise in binge drinking among young people.

The authors believe that policies focusing on social influences can, 'with rigorous Government enforcement', bring success in this area in the same way that success has already been achieved in reducing the social acceptability of drink driving.

These are powerful conclusions, particularly for anyone engaged in alcohol retailing. FDS says more research is needed, and this is an area that the pub and bar market might want to add its support?

Specifically, the FDS study examined whether the rise in binge drinking is a 'fashion' phenomenon, which has spread by observing and copying what other people do. Many previous studies have related movements in alcohol consumption to factors such as disposable income, price and advertising, says FDS, but none of these have taken into account the possible effect of copying the behaviour of others as an important causal factor.

The research shows that there are decisive differences in the drinking behaviour of friends of binge drinkers compared to the drinking behaviour of friends of non-binge drinkers.

Charlotte Cornish, managing director of FDS International, co-author and co-ordinator of the research programme, said: "Key to the success of this new research was defining binge drinkers in a way that isolates those most likely to behave in anti-social ways. This was done through a combination of direct questioning on consumption patterns and also subjective perceptions of "drinking enough to be very drunk". The results showed that 16% of young adults are binge drinkers and that they alone account for over 200,000 binge drinking occasions every day in the UK."

Advertising Association chief executive Baroness Buscombe said: "This research shows conclusively that the people around us are the key influences in terms of our relationship with alcohol, not alcohol advertising.

'Not only do the findings confirm this but they also demonstrate that a new approach to tackle binge drinking is required. Alcohol misuse is clearly a hugely important and multi-faceted social issue that must be taken seriously.

'Tackling alcohol misuse is about encouraging behavioural change so people develop a healthy relationship with alcohol. Using the advertising industry as a force for good to tackle serious societal problems would be a constructive way forward."

The same could also be said of the drinks business. It chimes with much of the sensible drinking initiatives already undertaken. Working with the advertising industry in this area would seem to make a lot of sense.

The simple conclusions that should go back to government from this piece of research are that actions to address the alcohol issue need to be carefully focussed and, perhaps most importantly, the audiences that should be targeted can actually be identified. Scatter-gun approaches, such as the SNP's plans in Scotland to demonise all under 21s, are not the answer.

What is encouraging is that the Department of Health, through its latest initiative, might just be starting to think the same way.

What we would give for a sensible, reasoned and intellectually sound approach to tackling alcohol problems aimed at real people and that every one concerned can get behind rather than the constant bickering and high-handedness we have now?

That would do far more to tackling alcohol misuse than any petty bureaucrat in rural Wiltshire pulling up road signs.

First published in M&C Report, October 2008