Responsible drinking messages in pubs 'largely ignored'
The study, undertaken by psychologists at London's South Bank University, has revealed that in a pub environment, volunteer participants aimed almost eight times as many glances at their drinks than at responsible drinking posters.
Volunteers were asked to wear eye-tracking technology in both a laboratory environment and a bar. On the wall of both locations were posters saying 'Keep calm and exercise regularly' and one saying 'Keep calm and drink responsibly'.
While the number of recorded glances of the 'exercise' poster were higher in the laboratory setting, the same poster in the pub attracted only 16% of views.
Licensees must pull in the same direction
Dr James Nicholls, director of research and policy development at Alcohol Research UK, told The Morning Advertiser the results of the study did not surprise him.
He said: "The study has reminded us what we already knew to an extent, which is that if you put a responsible drinking poster in an environment where every other visual cue is encouraging drinking then the impact of the poster is not likely to be enormous."
However, he called for licensees to do more to encourage customers to think about their health: "The principle of encouraging responsible drinking is about taking a multi-pronged approach; it involves not simply asking the consumer but the retailer taking their role seriously so that everyone is pulling together in the same direction."
