Television and Magazine Alcohol Advertising: Exposure, Targeting, and Trends

Dean R. Lillard, Ohio State University
Eamon Molloy, Cornell University
Hua Zan, University of Missouri

Although much research investigates alcohol advertising, surprisingly little research documents long-run trends in exposure to advertisements aired on television or printed in magazines. Using unique marketing data that link the media individuals consume and advertising that appeared in or on those media, we document how many advertisements the average consumer saw for beer, liquor, and wine. We present average exposure across groups of men and women who drank different amounts of each type of alcohol. That evidence suggests that firms target drinkers. We show that, regardless of the type of alcohol, men see more advertisements than women. Here again we find evidence that firms successfully get advertising before young men. We show that a large proportion of male/female difference in exposure to television and magazine beer advertising is explained by differences in the propensity of men and women to read sports and pornography magazines and watch sports and gambling programs.