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The Big Drink Debate: perceptions of the impact of price on alcohol consumption from a large scale cross-sectional convenience survey in north west England.
BMC Public Health. 2011 Aug 23; 11:664.BP

Abstract

BACKGROUND

A large-scale survey was conducted in 2008 in north west England, a region with high levels of alcohol-related harm, during a regional 'Big Drink Debate' campaign. The aim of this paper is to explore perceptions of how alcohol consumption would change if alcohol prices were to increase or decrease.

METHODS

A convenience survey of residents (≥ 18 years) of north west England measured demographics, income, alcohol consumption in previous week, and opinions on drinking behaviour under two pricing conditions: low prices and discounts and increased alcohol prices (either 'decrease', 'no change' or 'increase'). Multinomial logistic regression used three outcomes: 'completely elastic' (consider that lower prices increase drinking and higher prices decrease drinking); 'lower price elastic' (lower prices increase drinking, higher prices have no effect); and 'price inelastic' (no change for either).

RESULTS

Of 22,780 drinkers surveyed, 80.3% considered lower alcohol prices and discounts would increase alcohol consumption, while 22.1% thought raising prices would decrease consumption, making lower price elasticity only (i.e. lower prices increase drinking, higher prices have no effect) the most common outcome (62%). Compared to a high income/high drinking category, the lightest drinkers with a low income (adjusted odds ratio AOR = 1.78, 95% confidence intervals CI 1.38-2.30) or medium income (AOR = 1.88, CI 1.47-2.41) were most likely to be lower price elastic. Females were more likely than males to be lower price elastic (65% vs 57%) while the reverse was true for complete elasticity (20% vs 26%, P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Lower pricing increases alcohol consumption, and the alcohol industry's continued focus on discounting sales encourages higher drinking levels. International evidence suggests increasing the price of alcohol reduces consumption, and one in five of the surveyed population agreed; more work is required to increase this agreement to achieve public support for policy change. Such policy should also recognise that alcohol is an addictive drug, and the population may be prepared to pay more to drink the amount they now feel they need.

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Authors+Show Affiliations

Cook PA
Centre for Public Health, Liverpool John Moores University, Henry Cotton Campus, Liverpool, L3 2ET, UK. p.a.cook@ljmu.ac.uk
Phillips-Howard PA
No affiliation info available
Morleo M
No affiliation info available
Harkins C
No affiliation info available
Briant L
No affiliation info available
Bellis MA
No affiliation info available

MeSH

AdolescentAdultAgedAlcohol DrinkingAlcoholic BeveragesCommerceCross-Sectional StudiesEnglandFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPerceptionSex DistributionYoung Adult

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Language

eng

PubMed ID

21861905

Citation

Cook, Penny A., et al. "The Big Drink Debate: Perceptions of the Impact of Price On Alcohol Consumption From a Large Scale Cross-sectional Convenience Survey in North West England." BMC Public Health, vol. 11, 2011, p. 664.
Cook PA, Phillips-Howard PA, Morleo M, et al. The Big Drink Debate: perceptions of the impact of price on alcohol consumption from a large scale cross-sectional convenience survey in north west England. BMC Public Health. 2011;11:664.
Cook, P. A., Phillips-Howard, P. A., Morleo, M., Harkins, C., Briant, L., & Bellis, M. A. (2011). The Big Drink Debate: perceptions of the impact of price on alcohol consumption from a large scale cross-sectional convenience survey in north west England. BMC Public Health, 11, 664. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-11-664
Cook PA, et al. The Big Drink Debate: Perceptions of the Impact of Price On Alcohol Consumption From a Large Scale Cross-sectional Convenience Survey in North West England. BMC Public Health. 2011 Aug 23;11:664. PubMed PMID: 21861905.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - JOUR T1 - The Big Drink Debate: perceptions of the impact of price on alcohol consumption from a large scale cross-sectional convenience survey in north west England. AU - Cook,Penny A, AU - Phillips-Howard,Penelope A, AU - Morleo,Michela, AU - Harkins,Corinne, AU - Briant,Linford, AU - Bellis,Mark A, Y1 - 2011/08/23/ PY - 2011/04/28/received PY - 2011/08/23/accepted PY - 2011/8/25/entrez PY - 2011/8/25/pubmed PY - 2012/1/12/medline SP - 664 EP - 664 JF - BMC public health JO - BMC Public Health VL - 11 N2 - BACKGROUND: A large-scale survey was conducted in 2008 in north west England, a region with high levels of alcohol-related harm, during a regional 'Big Drink Debate' campaign. The aim of this paper is to explore perceptions of how alcohol consumption would change if alcohol prices were to increase or decrease. METHODS: A convenience survey of residents (≥ 18 years) of north west England measured demographics, income, alcohol consumption in previous week, and opinions on drinking behaviour under two pricing conditions: low prices and discounts and increased alcohol prices (either 'decrease', 'no change' or 'increase'). Multinomial logistic regression used three outcomes: 'completely elastic' (consider that lower prices increase drinking and higher prices decrease drinking); 'lower price elastic' (lower prices increase drinking, higher prices have no effect); and 'price inelastic' (no change for either). RESULTS: Of 22,780 drinkers surveyed, 80.3% considered lower alcohol prices and discounts would increase alcohol consumption, while 22.1% thought raising prices would decrease consumption, making lower price elasticity only (i.e. lower prices increase drinking, higher prices have no effect) the most common outcome (62%). Compared to a high income/high drinking category, the lightest drinkers with a low income (adjusted odds ratio AOR = 1.78, 95% confidence intervals CI 1.38-2.30) or medium income (AOR = 1.88, CI 1.47-2.41) were most likely to be lower price elastic. Females were more likely than males to be lower price elastic (65% vs 57%) while the reverse was true for complete elasticity (20% vs 26%, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Lower pricing increases alcohol consumption, and the alcohol industry's continued focus on discounting sales encourages higher drinking levels. International evidence suggests increasing the price of alcohol reduces consumption, and one in five of the surveyed population agreed; more work is required to increase this agreement to achieve public support for policy change. Such policy should also recognise that alcohol is an addictive drug, and the population may be prepared to pay more to drink the amount they now feel they need. SN - 1471-2458 UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/21861905/The_Big_Drink_Debate:_perceptions_of_the_impact_of_price_on_alcohol_consumption_from_a_large_scale_cross_sectional_convenience_survey_in_north_west_England_ L2 - https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2458-11-664 DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -