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Abstract
The study provides initial evidence that alcohol and the way in which alcohol is portrayed in movies contributes to how people evaluate and becometransported in movies. Participants were more transported into movie clips with negative alcohol portrayals compared to clips with positive alcohol portrayals. Stronger effects of negative events over positive events are found in various aspect of life. Glamorised drinking in movies can encourage young adults to consume more alcohol, a new study has warned. The study of the effects of alcohol portrayals in movies has found that positive and negative portrayals of alcohol can contribute to viewers’ emotional involvement or “transportation” attitude towards, and evaluation of the movie.
Exposure to alcohol portrayals in the media – including movies, but also advertisements and digital media such as face book – can encourage drinking in young people.
“Since movie characters can be regarded as role models by young people, the manner in which these characters portray alcohol use in a movie might have an impact on the beliefs and attitudes towards alcohol use by youngsters themselves.
It is essential to test the extent to which alcohol portrayals affect engagement and transportation into a movie because emotional involvement in media content can be a significant requisite for being influenced by persuasive messages.
In addition, participants were more transported into movie clips with negative alcohol portrayals compared to clips with positive alcohol portrayals. However, participants endorsed more positive attitudes towards clips with positive alcohol portrayals compared to clips with negative alcohol portrayals. Children who watch a lot of movies featuring alcohol are twice as likely to start drinking compared to other kids who watch relatively few of such films, according to new research. The study, published in the online journal BMJ Open, also reveals that these children are significantly more likely to progress to binge drinking.