@article{ref1,
title="Designing effective alcohol warnings: consumer reactions to icons and health topics",
journal="American journal of preventive medicine",
year="2023",
author="Grummon, Anna H. and Ruggles, Phoebe R. and Greenfield, Thomas K. and Hall, Marissa G.",
volume="64",
number="2",
pages="157-166",
abstract="INTRODUCTION: New warning labels for alcohol could reduce alcohol-related health harms. This study examined consumer responses to alcohol warnings with different designs. <br><br>METHODS: A national sample of 3,051 U.S. adults completed an online survey in August 2021. Participants were randomized to 1 of 4 warning topics (addiction, liver damage, early death, or colon cancer). Participants viewed 3 labels, presented in random order: 2 types of warning labels (text-only and icon) showing a newly developed warning message about their assigned topic and a text-only control label showing a neutral message. Participants rated each label on effectiveness at discouraging alcohol consumption (primary outcome) and attention (secondary outcome) using 1 to 5 Likert-type scales. Participants also rated warnings with different causal language variants (e.g., &quot;increases risk of,&quot; &quot;contributes to&quot;) and marker words (e.g., &quot;WARNING,&quot; &quot;SURGEON GENERAL WARNING&quot;). <br><br>RESULTS: Both the text-only and icon warnings were perceived as more effective (Average Differential Effects [ADEs]=0.79 and 0.86, respectively) and more attention-grabbing (ADEs=0.43 and 0.69, respectively) than control labels (all ps<0.001). The icon warnings were rated as more effective and attention-grabbing than the text-only warnings (ADEs=0.07 and 0.27, respectively, both ps<0.001). Although all warning topics outperformed the control messages, warnings about addiction were rated as less effective and attention-grabbing than the other topics. A majority (60%) of participants selected &quot;increases risk of&quot; as the most discouraging causal variant and a plurality (47%) selected &quot;SURGEON GENERAL WARNING&quot; as the most discouraging marker word. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: New alcohol warnings could discourage alcohol consumption, especially if warnings include icons.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0749-3797",
doi="10.1016/j.amepre.2022.09.006",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2022.09.006"
}