| 1. |
- Katainen, Anu, et al.
(author)
-
Regulating Alcohol Marketing on Social Media : Outcomes and Limitations of Marketing Restrictions of Finland's 2015 Alcohol Act
- 2020
-
In: Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. - : Alcohol Research Documentation, Inc.. - 1937-1888 .- 1938-4114. ; 81:1, s. 39-46
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the 2015 law restricting alcohol marketing on social media in Finland.Method: The study compared posts that market alcohol on Finnish and Swedish social media in terms of number, content, and user engagement during the month of January in three separate years: 1 year before, 1 year after, and 2 years after the 2015 Alcohol Act came into effect in Finland. The data consisted of all posts (Finland, N = 1,536; Sweden, N = 1,204) published during the selected months by alcohol brands that had active national social media accounts at the time of data collection. The coding protocol included numbers of posts and measures of consumer engagement, as well as content restricted by the law.Results: Social media posting increased between the 2014 and 2016 samples in both countries. In Finland, the number of posts decreased in 2017. The proportion of posts with content restricted by the 2015 law increased in both countries between the 2014 and 2016 samples. However, in Finland, the amount of restricted content decreased in the 2017 sample, whereas in Sweden it increased, Pearson chi(2)(1) = 29.273, p <.001. The level of user engagement increased in both countries between the 2014 and 2017 samples.Conclusions: The social media regulation in the Finnish 2015 amendment has had an impact on alcohol brands' social media content, but it has not affected marketers' ability to increase consumer engagement.
|
|
| 2. |
- Kauppila, Emmi, et al.
(author)
-
Alcohol marketing on social media sites in Finland and Sweden : A comparative audit study of brands’ presence and content, and the impact of a legislative change
- 2019
-
Reports (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Social media has become a key marketing platform for alcohol brands. Social media makes it possible for advertisers to spread messages via consumers and to involve them in the production of marketing content. It offers new possibilities for interactive communication between alcoholic beverage companies and their potential consumers. This report presents the first audit of alcoholic beverage brands’ activities on social media targeting consumers in Finland and Sweden. Its purpose is to produce new information on how this issue can be viewed as a marketing effort, what kind of content is used, and how well alcohol producers have succeeded in reaching consumers on their social media channels. The report also assesses how the 2015 amendment to the Finnish Alcohol Act has affected alcohol marketing on social media. The study focuses on the Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube accounts of 38 alcoholic beverage producers in Finland, and 52 in Sweden. The material consists of content published by these producers on their social media accounts in January 2014, January 2016 and January 2017. It includes a total of 2 740 social media posts: 1 536 from Finland and 1 204 from Sweden. We analysed the material using quantitative content analysis method. We examined the prevalence of user reactions, the marketing content restricted by the 2015 Alcohol Act and the content restricted by the alcohol industry’s own self-regulatory codes. We also analysed the ways in which producers aim to interact with consumers and appeal especially to young consumers. These contents were compared in terms of countries and time points. In both Finland and Sweden, Facebook was the most important platform for alcohol marketing during the studied period. The number of alcohol marketing messages doubled in both countries from January 2014 to January 2016 but declined in January 2017. The study shows that Swedish and Finnish alcohol producers have been relatively unsuccessful in reaching consumers in terms of generating user reactions such as likes, comments and shares. The posts were rarely shared, and only a few producers had managed to create their own brand-based social media communities. The 2015 law amendment seems to have had some effect on the content of alcohol marketing in Finland. The law restricts the use of consumer-generated content in marketing and prohibits the use of games and lotteries. The use of consumer-generated content increased from January 2014 to January 2016 but declined in January 2017. In Sweden, the use of consumer-generated content increased over the studied period. Posts only made a few violations of the industry’s self-regulatory codes or contained content that would be specifically appealing to minors. However, minors could obtain access to alcohol marketing messages, as only about 60% of the producers studied in Finland and Sweden had introduced age limit controls on Facebook. None of the Swedish producers had introduced age limit controls on Instagram, whereas in Finland 13% had. Alcohol producers used a variety of techniques to engage consumers. They posted content intended to be shared by consumers, such as videos and hashtags, and 2 encouraged consumers to comment on their posts. They also collaborated with known bloggers, restaurants and events. By comparing the samples from 2014 and 2017, this study shows that alcohol producers in Finland and Sweden have invested in alcohol marketing on social media and have become more successful in engaging consumers. Restrictions on social media in Finland have not affected manufacturers' ability to engage consumers in this arena. The regulation of social media marketing through national legislation is difficult, as social media service providers operate globally, and the platforms they provide are constantly developed to optimize user experience and are difficult to monitor. Alcohol producers are also becoming more skillful in utilizing these platforms for marketing purposes. Future research needs to address the long-term impact of the legislation as well as new forms of social media marketing.
|
|
| 3. |
|
|
| 4. |
- Lindeman, Mikaela, et al.
(author)
-
Compliance with regulations and codes of conduct at social media accounts of Swedish alcohol brands
- 2019
-
In: Drug and Alcohol Review. - : Wiley. - 0959-5236 .- 1465-3362. ; 38:4, s. 386-390
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Introduction and aimsThis study has, for the first time, mapped the extent to which alcoholic beverage brands operating on the Swedish market follow national advertising regulations and industry self-regulating codes in their postings on social media.Design and methodsAll social media content posted on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by 52 brands operating in the Swedish market was gathered from three sample months in 2014, 2016 and 2017. A content analysis was performed.ResultsAn audit of the 1204 posts shows that the brands' social media content conforms rather well with the industry's own self-regulation codes. However, the studied beverage brands had alarmingly inadequate age-gates to social media accounts. Advertisements for alcoholic beverages must be clearly distinguishable from advertisements for non-alcoholic beverages, according to the Swedish Alcohol Act criteria. These criteria are fulfilled to a varying degree among the posts in the analysed data. Advertisements for non-alcoholic beverages give companies a greater leeway in terms of shape and content of the post through logotypes, settings and connotations. However, advertisements of non-alcoholic beverages continue to convey the brand connotations and image to consumers.Discussion and conclusionsRegulating alcohol advertising in online milieus can be very difficult because of the complex mixture between quickly evolving techniques and the diverse nature of communication messages targeting consumers. Many countries, including Sweden, are now focusing on how to enforce effective policies. This short report strives to shed some light on the scope and content of commercial messages on Swedish social media platforms.
|
|
| 5. |
- Lindeman, Mikaela, et al.
(author)
-
Gambling operators’ social media image creation in Finland and Sweden 2017–2020
- 2023
-
In: Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. - : SAGE Publications. - 1455-0725 .- 1458-6126. ; 40:1, s. 40-60
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Aim: This is a first audit of how gambling operators in Finland and Sweden address citizens on social media. The study is able to pinpoint some differences between how gambling operators utilise social media in a state monopoly system (Finland) and in a license-based regulatory framework (Sweden). Methods: Curated social media posts from Finland- and Sweden-based accounts in national languages were collected from March 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. The data (N = 13,241) consist of posts published on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. The posts were audited in terms of frequency of posting, content and user engagement. Results/Conclusions: Operators in both countries were, in general, active on their social media accounts, but there was a decline in number of posts between 2017 and 2020. A substantial number of the analysed posts did not visually portray gambling or games. In the Swedish license system, operators seem to present themselves more straightforwardly as gambling companies, whereas in the Finnish monopoly system the image was more tied to a social role of public good doing. Beneficiaries of gambling revenues became less visible in the Finnish data over time.
|
|
