Challenging the Collegiate Rite of Passage: A Campus-Wide Social Marketing Media Campaign To Reduce Binge Drinking

• NCJ Number: 189940
• Journal: Journal of Drug Education Volume: 31 Issue: 2 Dated: 2001 Pages: 207-220
• Author(s): Peggy Glider Ph.D.; Stephen J. Midyett M.S.; Beverly Mills-Novoa Ph.D.; Koreen Johannessen MSW; Carolyn Collins M.S.
• Date Published: 2001
• Length: 14 pages
• Grant Number(s): 1 HD1 SP06343
• Sponsoring Agency: SAMHSA Ctr for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP)
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

A social marketing media campaign on a large southwestern university campus, based on a normative social influence model and focused on normative messages regarding binge drinking, has yielded positive preliminary results that include an overall 29.2-percent decrease in binge drinking rates over a 3 year period.

Abstract

In 1994 the University of Arizona received funding for a 4 year project to implement and test strategies for preventing binge drinking on campus. A campus media campaign was developed with three major components: advertisement of majority norms regarding alcohol use on campus; provision of a supporting educational component on lesser known or understood facts related to alcohol; and offer of the opportunity to change the "public conversation" regarding alcohol use among students, staff, and administration. The evaluation design involved using several populations. A random sample of 1,500 undergraduates was selected in February 1995, 1997, and 1998 through the Office of the Registrar. Data were collected by mailing to subjects the Core Alcohol and Drug Survey, with the return rate fluctuating between 20 percent and 28 percent. Further, at the end of each school year (beginning in year 2 of the project, 1995), every student living in a residence hall or fraternity/sorority house was asked to complete a survey to assess knowledge, attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors regarding alcohol and other drug use and consequences. This sampling was designed to target high-risk student populations at the university. In addition, the sampling was designed to target both recipients and non-recipients of the prevention programming. The surveys provided information on student knowledge, perceptions, and behaviors regarding alcohol and binge drinking. Preliminary results indicated an overall decrease of 29.2 percent in binge drinking rates at the university during a 3 year period. This decrease was further substantiated by decreases in alcohol use in general and alcohol-related consequences. The campus is experiencing an increasingly positive perception of alcohol-free activities among students. 2 tables and 16 references