Exploring an association between online alcohol advertisements and alcohol drinking among college students in Kenya

Abstract

Alcohol drinking among young people is a major global public health concern. The situation has been aggravated further by the advent of the internet and subsequent development of social media as a tool for online alcohol marketing. This exploratory study sought to find out the prevalence of alcohol advertisements on social media and its possible influence on alcohol drinking among college students in Kenya. Based on a field survey conducted in Nairobi, (N=70), this study has established that that there was heavy presence of alcohol advertisements on social media scene in Kenya. Although statistically, there was huge gender disparity, the final results showed that there was significant  association between alcohol ads on social media and college student’s possible alcohol drinking habits This study concludes that there is need for the stakeholders in public health promotions to formulate policies aimed at mitigating against the challenges posed by unrestricted access to online alcohol ads by the youth in order to prevent them from being lured into early alcohol drinking by the alcoholic beverage makers.

Keywords: alcohol abuse; influence; online ads; youth; Kenya