Social Media Campaigns to Influence Alcohol Consumption and Related Harms, Attitudes, and Awareness: A Systematic Review.
Academic Article
Overview
abstract
OBJECTIVE: Given social media's reach and potential, a systematic review is needed to assess their effectiveness in influencing alcohol consumption and related harms, attitudes, and awareness. METHOD: We searched twelve databases from inception to December 2022, along with reference lists of eligible studies. We included studies of any design conducted in any country, reported in English, evaluating campaigns using social media alone or in combination with other media. We assessed study quality, extracted data, and completed a narrative synthesis. RESULTS: Eleven of 6,442 unique studies met inclusion criteria, spanning 17 countries, targeting diverse populations, and predominantly employing repeated cross-sectional study designs. Most were of weak quality. Only three studies evaluated campaigns relying solely or primarily on social media. Two drink-driving campaigns had no behavioral impact while two others found behavior change. Two of three studies targeting college student drinking found significant reductions in drinking post campaign, but a third detected no differences in quality or duration of drinking. Only one study measured changes in attitudes, finding the campaign significantly increased policy support for key alcohol policies. All studies noted awareness, but only six quantified short-term measures, showing increased campaign awareness. CONCLUSIONS: It is unclear from the peer reviewed literature whether public health-oriented social media campaigns can influence alcohol consumption and related harms, attitudes, and/or awareness. Our review nevertheless indicates that social media campaigns offer potential in some populations to influence these outcomes. There is an urgent need for the public health field to test and rigorously evaluate social media's utility as a vehicle for influencing population-level alcohol consumption and related problems, attitudes and awareness.
