Dark patterns, dark nudges, sludge and misinformation: alcohol industry apps and digital tools
Journal article
Key findings overview
We hope that our work will help shine a light on the use of ‘dark apps’ by the alcohol industry and that our framework can now be used to screen future tools released for public use.”
Mark Petticrew, Professor of Public Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Comparing the content in alcohol-industry-funded digital tools with a non-industry-funded independent sample, the study shows:
- Significantly fewer alcohol-industry-funded digital tools provided accurate feedback (33% vs 100%),
- Significantly more alcohol-industry-funded digital tools omitted information on cancer (67% vs 10%) and cardiovascular disease (80% vs 30%), and
- Significantly more alcohol-industry-funded digital tools promoted industry-friendly narratives (47% vs 0%).
It means that the alcohol industry uses digital tools to spread misinformation and to influence users against their interest (‘dark patterns’).
Alcohol-industry-funded tools encouraged consumption through priming nudges (53%) and social norming (40%).
Alcohol-industry-funded tools utilized fewer behaviour change techniques, provided users with more limited pre-set options (54%), and fewer alcoholic drink choices (mean 24 vs 275). Their input structure often impeded their ability to provide guideline advice.
Summary and meaning
Alcohol industry-funded apps use covert ‘misinformation strategies’, omit important public health information and ‘nudge’ users towards consuming more alcohol, new research has found, according to news via London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
The study, led by researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), is the first to analyse digital tools funded by the alcohol industry, which claim to provide advice to reduce alcohol use.
The findings are published in Health Promotion International.
It compared 15 web-based or mobile apps promoted by alcohol industry-funded organisations, including Drinkaware, Drinkwise, Cheers! and Educ’Alcool, with 10 digital tools promoted by national governments or healthcare services, such as Drink Free Days from the UK’s National Health Service (NHS). The researchers included tools across the UK, Ireland, USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia in their analysis.
The study did not identify misleading information tactics in any nationally-approved tools, whereas all but one alcohol industry-funded tool was found to omit, distract or dilute some risk information.
The researchers have labelled these ‘dark apps’ – apps which intentionally distorts a user’s perceived risk of alcohol harms without their knowledge, in a direction which is favourable commercially and opposite to the user’s wishes.
The findings suggest that messaging used in alcohol industry-funded tools could potentially distort the health information provided and ‘nudge’ users towards increasing their consumption, which the researchers describe as covert ‘misinformation strategies’ and misleading app designs, referred to as ‘dark patterns’.
Compared with non-alcohol-industry funded tools approved by national governments or healthcare services, these ‘dark apps’ were three times less likely to inform users of the increased cancer risk associated with alcohol (33% vs 90% for nationally-approved apps).
Only 53% informed users of standard alcoholic drink sizes, 60% of weekly limits and 40% of groups who should avoid alcohol, such as those who may be pregnant. Around half (53%) did not clearly tell users if they were consuming alcohol above guideline limits.
Examples of potentially problematic messaging identified by the researchers
In Ireland, binge drinking is widely considered to be the norm – 74% of Irish adults believe that excessive drinking is ‘just a part of Irish culture.”
Drinkaware Ireland
Stay safe and social by drinking no more than one standard drink an hour to keep your blood alcohol levels a bit lower.”
Cheers!
Moderate, regular drinking is sometimes associated with the reduced risk of certain diseases”
Éduc’alcool
Researchers’ call to action
The researchers call for public and health practitioners to be warned about the tactics employed by some alcohol industry-funded tools, similarly to current regulations which advise against tobacco industry-funded apps, and for only independent health sources such as the NHS to be promoted.
The findings are consistent with previous research, which has shown that alcohol industry-funded health education materials from the same organisations include significant misinformation, particularly on cancer risk.
For example, in their 2022 commentary Petticrew and colleagues responded to Educ’ Alcool’s response to a previous research study by Peake and colleagues. The authors expose Educ’alcool’s misinformaton regarding the original study by Peake and colleagues. They conclude that independent bodies (such as government health departments) should not use or signpost to material from alcohol industry front groups, given that it has the characteristics of other unhealthy commodity industry-funded misinformation, and significantly misrepresents the evidence.
Another example is a 2021 study – the first independent assessment of the effectiveness of industry misinformation: The study made direct comparisons across a range of industries illustrating how industry misinformation affects public health. The study showed that the effects of industry misinformation on uncertainty have been proven directly and experimentally, as opposed to inferred (e.g. from industry documents).
A third example is a study from 2021 that found that alcohol industry funded health organizations mis-represent the evidence on cardiovascular effects of low dose (“moderate”) alcohol consumption.
Already in 2017, a study revealed that the alcohol industry is engaged in the extensive misrepresentation of evidence about the alcohol-related risk of cancer. These activities have parallels with those of the tobacco industry.
A 2022 study revealed alcohol industry-favorable framings of harms and solutions dominate within the alcohol and gambling conferences. These conferences are aimed at professionals outside of the industry, including researchers and policymakers, with several offering professional credits for attendance.
In early 2024, an investigation for the BMJ, Madlen Davies and Hristio Boytchev found that the long term harms of alcohol are being minimised in industry funded education.
Movendi International is keeping track of alcohol industry deception activities.
Dr Elliot Roy-Highley, co-author of the paper who worked on the research as an MSc Public Health student at LSHTM and is now a Public Health Registrar at Royal Free London, said, as per LSHTM:
Over the past few years, government bodies, such as the UK’s NICE, have advised healthcare practitioners and services to avoid tobacco industry-funded digital interventions and we believe it’s important that this is now extended to include the alcohol industry.
In our study, we found evidence of cultural targeting and peer pressure messaging, all the way up to obfuscating the proven risks of “excessive” alcohol consumption with blatant misinformation.
The public need to know the risks associated with the use of alcohol industry-funded apps and platforms which host these tools must work to remove apps which have been shown to contain misinformation.”
Dr Elliot Roy-Highley, co-author of the study
Professor Mark Petticrew, co-author of the paper and based at LSHTM, said, as per LSHTM:
Through our study, we found that some alcohol industry-funded apps exploit ‘dark patterns’ to deliberately mislead users who want to drink less [alcohol], into continuing or increasing the amount of alcohol they drink.
We hope that our work will help shine a light on the use of ‘dark apps’ by the alcohol industry and that our framework can now be used to screen future tools released for public use.”
Professor Mark Petticrew, co-author of the paper
Abstract
Background
Many alcohol-industry-funded organizations disseminate eHealth/mHealth tools that claim to assist users in making health decisions by monitoring alcohol consumption, e.g. blood alcohol calculators, AUDIT scores, consumption trackers. Previously, alcohol-industry-funded materials were found to contain health misinformation that could increase consumption (dark nudges) or make healthy behaviour change more difficult (sludge).
The accuracy and functionality of alcohol-industry-funded tools have never been analysed, and given the history of alcohol-industry-funded materials it is possible they contain misinformation and function as covert marketing channels to promote alcohol-industry-friendly narratives on the causes and possible solutions of alcohol-related harms.
Method
The researchers evaluated the information accuracy and framing, behaviour change techniques, and functions of alcohol-industry-funded digital tools (n = 15, from the UK, Ireland, the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia; including Drinkaware, Drinkwise, Educ’alcool and others), compared to a non-industry-funded independent sample (n = 10).
Findings
The researchers identified misinformation and ‘dark patterns’ (interface design strategies for influencing users against their interest) throughout alcohol-industry-funded tools; significantly fewer provided accurate feedback (33% vs 100%), and significantly more omitted information on cancer (67% vs 10%) and cardiovascular disease (80% vs 30%) and promoted industry-friendly narratives (47% vs 0%).
Alcohol-industry-funded tools encouraged consumption through priming nudges (53%) and social norming (40%).
Alcohol-industry-funded tools utilized fewer behaviour change techniques, provided users with more limited pre-set options (54%), and fewer alcoholic drink choices (mean 24 vs 275). Their input structure often impeded their ability to provide guideline advice.
Conclusions
The researchers conclude that alcohol-industry-funded digital tools contain pro-industry misinformation strategies and dark patterns that misinform users about their consumption and could ‘nudge’ them towards continuing to consume alcohol – characteristics of ‘Dark Apps’ designs.
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