Drinkers much less likely to notice responsible drinking messages in pub environment, says new study

Drinkers are much less likely to notice responsible drinking messages on posters displayed in a busy, cluttered pub environment than in a plain and simple room, show results of a study published today by psychologists at London South Bank University (LSBU) and Alcohol Research UK. [Read the full report here] Results of the research trial show that responsible drinking messages displayed on posters positioned inside LSBU’s dedicated ‘Pub-Lab’ research facility received only 16 per cent of the number of glances directed at the same poster when placed in a comparatively sparsely furnished, plain environment. On average, volunteer participants aimed nearly eight times as many glances at their drinks than at responsible drinking posters. The research project, led by a team of psychologists at LSBU and funded by Alcohol Research UK, was conducted over an 18-month period from January 2015 to July 2016. Over 100 volunteers participated in the trial which involved the use of state of the art eye-tracking technology (micro cameras mounted on spectacles) to measure how participants directed their visual attention when presented with either a responsible drinking message or a control poster. The experiment was conducted inside LSBU’s ‘Pub-Lab’ – a dedicated alcohol research facility designed to test the impact of physical context on human behaviour. Dr Daniel Frings, Associate Professor of Psychology at London South Bank University, who led the study, said, “On average, ...
Source: Alcohol Research UK - Category: Addiction Authors: Tags: News responsible drinking Source Type: news