Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, Vol 40(4), Jun 2026, 406-416; doi:10.1037/adb0001120
Objective: Alcohol advertising can induce craving and increase the consumption of alcohol, though individuals vary in their susceptibility. Recent findings suggest that attentional allocation toward alcohol adverts predicts subsequent alcohol craving and consumption. However, methodological limitations leave key issues unresolved, including whether attention to alcohol adverts causally impacts craving and consumption. This study tested the hypothesis that attentional allocation to alcohol adverts increases their impact on alcohol consumption via craving using an attentional manipulation approach. Method: Seventy-one undergraduate students, who reported enjoying drinking beer, were exposed to beer and soft drink adverts in a dual advert viewing task designed to manipulate attentional allocation toward or away from beer adverts. Following advert viewing, relative craving for beer versus soft drinks and preferential beer consumption were assessed. A mediation model examined whether this attentional manipulation influenced consumption via craving. Results: The attentional manipulation was successful, with participants in the “attend beer adverts” condition displaying a disproportionate attentional allocation toward beer adverts and those in the “avoid beer adverts” condition showing a disproportionate attentional allocation away from beer adverts. Mediation analysis, employing bootstrapped confidence intervals, confirmed that the attentional manipulation influenced beer consumption following advert viewing via its effect on beer craving. Conclusions: These findings provide evidence that attentional allocation toward alcohol adverts causally influences alcohol consumption following advert exposure, mediated by its impact on alcohol craving. We discuss the implications of these findings for targeted interventions to mitigate the potentially harmful effects of alcohol advertising. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved)