Alcohol is a pervasive theme in young people’s social media interactions, and one of the products most likely to elicit ‘user engagement’ online. The recent expansion of social media use amongst under-25s has created unprecedented opportunities for marketing alcohol products, especially with the emergence of more interactive platforms alongside digital and mobile technologies).

Most forms of social media alcohol marketing (SMAM) involve marketing messages created by alcohol brands alongside content created by consumers (‘user-generated content’ or UGC). Regulation of SMAM tends to focus on the former, but UGC can draw consumers into close interactive relationships with brands, products and drinking venues.

This project is the first to conduct a systematic analysis of online marketing aimed at young people in the UK by selected venues as well as alcohol brands, investigating young people’s engagement and the implications for the current UK advertising Codes of Practice.

Key findings
• Drinking venues posted on social media more frequently than alcohol brands during the research period.
• 18-25 year olds were more likely to follow venues on social media than brands.
• Venue-level social media was used to both plan and document drinking occasions.
• Venue-level content included cheap offers, promotional events, and images of customers as marketing.
• Less than 2% of posts by brands, and no posts by venues, included messages to ‘drink responsibly’.
• Alcohol brands were more popular on social media among younger (including underage) participants, and less popular among older participants.