There are concerns about the accuracy of the health information provided by alcohol industry (AI)-funded organisations and about their independence. Industry-funded bodies were significantly less likely to tweet about alcohol marketing, advertising and sponsorship; alcohol pricing; and physical health harms, including cancers, heart disease and pregnancy. They were significantly more likely to tweet about behavioural aspects of drinking and less likely to mention cancer risk. The evidence does not support claims by these alcohol-industry-funded bodies about their independence from industry…

Author

Nason Maani Hessari, May CI van Schalkwyk, Sian Thomas and Mark Petticrew (e-mail: mark.petticrew@lshtm.ac.uk)

Citation

Maani Hessari, N.; van Schalkwyk, M.C.; Thomas, S.; Petticrew, M. Alcohol Industry CSR Organisations: What Can Their Twitter Activity Tell Us about Their Independence and Their Priorities? A Comparative Analysis. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 892.


Source
International Journal of Environment and Public Health
Release date
12/03/2019

Alcohol Industry CSR Organisations: What Can Their Twitter Activity Tell Us about Their Independence and Their Priorities? A Comparative Analysis

Research Article

Abstract

Background

There are concerns about the accuracy of the health information provided by alcohol industry (AI)-funded organisations and about their independence. The study conducted a content analysis of the health information disseminated by AI-funded organisations through Twitter, compared with non-AI-funded charities, to assess whether their messages align with industry and/or public health objectives.

Method

The study compared all tweets from 2016 from Drinkaware (UK); Drinkaware.ie (Ireland); and DrinkWise (Australia), to non-AI-funded charities Alcohol Concern (UK), Alcohol Action Ireland, and FARE (Australia).

Results

Industry-funded bodies were significantly less likely to tweet about alcohol marketing, advertising and sponsorship; alcohol pricing; and physical health harms, including cancers, heart disease and pregnancy.

They were significantly more likely to tweet about behavioural aspects of alcohol use and less likely to mention cancer risk; particularly breast cancer.

These findings are consistent with previous evidence that the purpose of such bodies is the protection of the alcohol market, and of the alcohol industry’s reputation. Their messaging strongly aligns with AI corporate social responsibility goals. The focus away from health harms, particularly cancer, is also consistent with previous evidence.

Conclusion

The evidence does not support claims by these alcohol-industry-funded bodies about their independence from industry.


Source Website: MDPI