Poll shows widespread awareness of alcohol abuse warnings
The public has virtually universal awareness of the statements in proposed warnings in alcohol beverage advertising, according to a recent national Roper Organization opinion survey of adults and young people.
Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. commissioned the poll to test public knowledge of the proposed warnings and public opinion as to their effectiveness.
Of five warnings proposed in legislation pending before the U.S. Senate, 99% of Americans of all age groups said they already knew of the risks described in two of the warnings. The statements in two other warnings were known to 98% of the public, while the fifth warning was common knowledge to 97%, according to the poll. These levels of knowledge were very similar among adults and youths aged 14-20.
"The poll shows extremely high awareness of the information in the proposed warnings, among adults and young people alike," says Harry O'Neill, vice chairman of The Roper Organization. "Such high levels of awareness are very rarely found."
The survey also found that seven in ten of the total sample (73%) and of 14 to 20 year-olds (69%) believe that the warnings would not be effective in preventing alcohol abuse. In addition, of those Americans who drink, some 95% said that advertising did not influence their own decision to start drinking and does not affect how often or how much they drink.
"We are against alcohol abuse and illegal underage drinking - period," says Stephen K. Lambright, vice president and group executive of Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. "However, we are concerned about the application of measures supposed to combat abuse that are of no benefit. As this Roper survey shows, the proposed warnings would not tell people anything they don't already know - and the vast majority believe that ad warnings would not prevent abuse. The ad warnings approach should be rejected in favor of education, awareness, and law enforcement, which are already reducing abuse."
In its survey, Roper interviewed 1,202 people 14 years of age and older by telephone in late November 1991. Additional interviews were also conducted among 602 respondents aged 14-20, using the same questionnaire to allow for a larger sampling. A total of 738 interviews were conducted among the 14 to 20 year-old age group.
Following are the five statements included in the proposed ad warnings and the percent of all Americans, the percent of those 14-20 years of age, and the percent of those 21 and older who said they already knew of these risks associated with the abuse of alcohol:
"Alcohol impairs your ability to drive or operate machinery" - known by 99% of all three groups.
"Drinking during pregnancy may cause birth defects. Women should avoid alcohol during pregnancy" - known by 98% of all those polled, by 99% of 14-20 year-olds, and by 99% of 14-20 year olds, and by 98% of those 21 and older.
"Alcohol may be hazardous if you are using certain kinds of over-the-counter prescriptions, or illegal drugs" - known by 97% of all persons sampled, 94% of those 14-20 years of age, and 98% of all adults. "Drinking alcohol may become addictive" - known by 98% of those polled in each group.
"It is against the law to purchase alcohol for persons under age 21" - known by 99% of all those sampled, 98% of the adults and 100% of those under 21.
The survey also asked members of the public about the effectiveness of the proposed warnings in alcohol advertising. Again, the results were consistent across age categories, with seven in ten finding them ineffective in reducing abuse. Breaking the categories down, 73% of the total sample, 69% of 14 to 20 year-olds, and 73% of those 21 and older said the warnings would not reduce abuse.
One of the key reasons that people don't believe warning labels will work to reduce alcohol abuse may be that more than three-fourths (77% of all those sampled and 79% of those aged 14 to 20) feel that if someone is already aware of the possible dangers of using a product, then those people "aren't likely to pay attention" to warnings.
Also released were statistics regarding the effect of advertising on Americans' alcohol consumption practices. Only 4% of all those who drink said that advertising influenced their original decision to start drinking, while just 3% said that advertising influences how often they drink or how much they drink.
Aging population will affect insurance industry
Changing demographic trends in the United States will dramatically affect the insurance industry in coming years, according to a new study by Conning & Company, a Hartford, CT-based investment and research company specializing in the insurance industry.
"Insurance products will be affected in different ways and to varying extents, however," says Carl Copp, Conning vice president. "For example, annuities and health insurance products should benefit greatly because our aging population means more people will be accumulating assets for retirement and incurring higher medical expenses.
"On the other hand, the significant downward trend in household formations (517,000 in 1990 vs. a rate of 1.3 million in the 1980s) will have a negative effect on the homeowners' insurance market," Copp says.
An area with enormous potential, according to the study, is long-term care. Copp says two out of five people over 65 will at some time require nursing home care, and so far, only one percent of the $50-billion spent annually on long-term care is being financed by insurance. He says older people spend twice as much on health care as those under 30 and the number of Americans over 65 will increase almost twice as fast as the general population in the 1990s. The number of very aged (over 85) will jump 42 percent.
Copp notes that demographic changes will affect primarily personal insurance markets because commercial lines are considerably more influenced by competition, rate levels, tort system changes and regulation.
Copp says the major demographic trends that will affect the insurance industry in the next ten years are:
- An aging population
- Slowing population and economic growth
- Increasing health care costs.
The Conning study, "Demographics: Changing Demands for Insurance Products," explores changes in the U.S. population growth curve; changes in the social fabric and economic outlook for the country; shifts in income, wealth and spending; and the insurance products most likely to be affected by these demographic trends.
Study finds less clutter on Spanish TV
The results of a month-long study of advertising clutter on Spanish- and English-language network television has revealed there is substantially less advertising clutter on Spanish-language television, thus meaning a better value for the Spanish-language advertiser. The study was conducted by Market Development, Inc. (MDI), a San Diego-based firm specializing in research among U.S. Hispanics.
From March 17 through April 15, 1992, MDI recorded and logged every commercial/spot that aired during prime time on a randomly selected television network, including English-language ABC, CBS, and NEC, and Spanish-language Univision and Telemundo. In this case, prime time was defined as 7-10 p.m. to include the greatest amount of time commonly considered prime time by English- as well as Spanish-language media. Over the course of the study, the prime-time commercials aired on each of the five networks were recorded six times for a total of 18 hours of commercial screenings.
Having recorded a grand total (national and local) of 3011 commercials/spots during the 30-day period, the MDI study showed that 1951 were English-language commercials, while 1060 aired in Spanish. On an hourly basis, an average of 33 percent fewer commercials/ spots aired in Spanish (21) than English (32) on national network television. Looking solely at the number of commercials aired for nationally or regionally branded products or services, the three English-language networks showed an average of 18 commercials per hour, as opposed to the nine commercials per hour aired by the two Spanish-language networks. For nationally orregionally branded products/services, therefore, twice as much ad clutter exists on English-language television.
"This relatively uncluttered message environment suggests that a message would have a far better chance of impacting on its potential target audience in Spanish media," says Dr. Henry Adams, executive vice president of MDI. "On average, a branded product should get at least double the 'bang for its buck' in Spanish than it does in English since there are half as many commercial messages with which to compete for the viewer's attention."
The study also revealed a clear difference in the composition of ad clutter across two media. In English, five major categories represent over half of the ad clutter, with clear dominance by automobiles (22%). Cosmetics and toiletries, quick-service restaurants, and over-the-counter drugs each accounted for nine percent of English-language ad clutter, while retail stores and chains had eight percent.
Conversely, Spanish-language ad clutter is more evenly distributed, and across different categories. Prepared foods had the greatest share of Spanish-language ad clutter (16%). Autos and telecommunications tied at 12 percent, followed by retail stores and chains, and cosmetics and toiletries, each with 11 percent.