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Making Sense of ‘‘Drink Responsibly’’ Messages: Explorations of the Understanding and
Interpretations of Young Nigerians who Use Alcohol
Dumbili, E. W., Uwa-Robinson, K. & Odeigah, O.W.
Abstract
Background: Nigeria ranks first for per capita consumption and heavy episodic drinking
prevalence in Africa. Yet, there are no alcohol policies, standard drink measurements, or low-
risk drinking guidelines (LRDG) in the country.
Methods: This study explored the awareness and understanding/interpretations of the alcohol
industry-sponsored ‘responsible drinking message’ (RDM) among Nigerian youths. Data were
elicited through 53 semi-structured interviews and 3 focus groups (N=26), and we also
observed product labels and industry websites.
Findings: Undergraduate participants were aware of ‘‘drink responsibly’’ (one of the RDMs),
but some out-of-school participants with low-level education did not know it existed. This is
likely because drink responsibly message is promoted in English language without any
indigenous language alternatives. It is embedded in conventional advertisements that
glamorize drinking without stand-alone public health messages encouraging low-risk drinking
behaviours. Participants shared divergent but subjective interpretations of drink responsibly,
but none associated it with abstinence. Some associated drink responsibly with the ability
to hold one’s drink, stating that it means: ‘drinks very well, but don’t get drunk’, and ‘drink to
your satisfaction, but don’t misbehave’. Other interpretations included: ‘know your limit’ and
‘drink in moderation'. Drink responsibly was also understood to mean ‘drink in excess but
respect yourself’. Alcohol companies in Nigeria redirect consumers to Drinkaware’s and
DrinkIQ’s websites in the UK but use inconspicuous fonts to inscribe ‘drink responsibly’ on
product labels.
Conclusion: By design, alcohol companies frame RDMs to promote drinking and individual
responsibility. Thus, it engenders subjective interpretations, including high-risk drinking
behaviours. Policymakers should jettison self-regulation, implement alcohol policies, and
introduce LRDG to encourage low-risk drinking. Stand-alone public health interventions that
promote abstinence or low-risk drinking behaviours should be developed, while Drinkaware’s
and DrinkIQ’s websites should be avoided. To be effective, all RDMs should include the
indigenous language versions.
Keywords: Responsible drinking messages, drink responsibly, low-risk drinking guidelines,
alcohol policies, Nigeria
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Introduction
Worldwide, alcohol consumption contributes to the increasing burden of non-communicable
diseases such as cancer, liver cirrhosis, and hypertension (Knai et al., 2021). According to the
World Health Organization (WHO 2018), 283 million people have suffered alcohol use
disorders in the past 12 months, while 3 million deaths and 132.6 million disability-adjusted
life years were attributable to harmful alcohol use in 2016. In Africa, although the number of
abstainers is relatively high (Morojele et al., 2021), many people who use alcohol engage in
heavy episodic drinking (HED). For example, the per capita consumption among people who
use alcohol (15 years +) in 2016 was ranked the second-highest globally (18.4 litres of pure
alcohol), and the continent also recorded the highest HED prevalence (50.2%) worldwide
(WHO, 2018).
In the Nigerian context, WHO (2018) indicated that the country ranked the highest on
the continent for per capita consumption (13.4 litres of pure alcohol) and HED prevalence
(28.9%), respectively. While harmful alcohol use and the related burden of disease are growing
in the country (Adeloye et al., 2019; Dumbili, 2020), there are no coordinated regulatory
responses to alcohol marketing and availability because written alcohol policies do not exist
(Dumbili, 2014a; Morojele et al., 2021; WHO, 2018). Relatedly, there are no specified drinking
guidelines (e.g., standard drinks) or other measures to protect public health in Nigeria (Dumbili,
2014a). What is currently available is voluntary industry self-regulation (Odeigah et al., 2021),
which leads to responsible drinking campaigns that the alcohol industry sponsors under the
guise of corporate social responsibilities (CSR) (Dumbili, 2014b).
Most of the empirical studies on responsible drinking messages (RDMs) have focused
on Western countries (where written alcohol policies mostly exist (e.g., Barry & Goodson,
2011; de Graaf et al., 2015)). To our knowledge, none has been conducted in Africa (where
alcohol policies either do not exist in most countries or lax regulations predominate (Morojele
et al., 2021)). Drawing on semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs) with
adolescents and emerging adults and observation of product labels and industry websites, this
exploratory study begins to fill this gap. Conducting an exploratory study is essential to
generate data that will provide early insights on the nature of RDMs in Nigeria, which will
guide the design and conduct of more precise/robust theory-driven studies. The study is also
crucial because extant studies examining RDMs interventions in countries with drinking
guidelines have produced mixed results (i.e., as explored below, a few guidelines were reported
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to be effective while others were not). Again, given the absence of alcohol control policies in
Nigeria, the interpretation of RDMs might be different from some Western countries where
policies and drinking guidelines exist. Importantly, evidence shows that industry-sponsored
RDMs are strategically ambiguous, self-serving, and ineffective in curtailing alcohol misuse
and related harms (Smith et al., 2006).
Responsible Drinking Messages (RDMs)
Researchers, practitioners, alcohol corporations, and their affiliate bodies have employed
diverse concepts (e.g., sensible, moderation, responsible, and smart drinking) to conceptualize
RDMs but no shared definition exists to date. In the words of Towers et al. (1994, p.57),
‘‘sensible’’ drinking is taking alcohol ‘‘in a responsible manner that will not lead to problems
for oneself and others, within specified safe drinking limits per occasion, while recognizing
situations where one should not drink’’. de Graaf et al. (2015, p.991), who studied young
women, defined responsible drinking based on Dutch’s national drinking guidelines, as taking
‘‘not more than one standard glass of alcohol per day’’. Relatedly, the International Alliance
for Responsible Drinking (IARD) noted that ‘‘when we say responsible drinking, we refer to
the enjoyment of alcoholic drinks by adults who choose to drink in a manner that does not harm
others and minimizes risk of harm to the consumer’’ (Maani Hessari & Petticrew, 2018, p.92).
While diverse definitions exist, there is no consensus in the extant literature (Gray et
al., 2021). The lack of shared meaning of RDMs makes the concept more confusing and
difficult for intervention purposes. A study that examined the strategies to prepare adolescents
to make responsible decisions regarding alcohol use found that parents did not understand how
best to prepare them due to the confusion around the concept (Milgram, 1996). As Gray et al.
(2021, p.237) stated, alcohol industry-sponsored ‘‘drink responsibly campaigns likely
contributed to confusion about the meaning of the concept’’ because alcohol producers
strategically design RDMs with ambiguity to elicit diverse interpretations that will, in turn,
favour them (Atkin et al., 2008; Smith et al., 2006).
Furthermore, industry-sponsored responsible consumption advertisements are often
pro-drinking in nature, given that they are embedded in persuasive themes that portray humour
(Hill et al., 2005). Pettigrew et al.'s (2016) qualitative study, which examined young people’s
thoughts, feelings and responses to Drinkwise-sponsored RDMs in Australia, found that they
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were entertaining and supportive of the HED norms that are common among youths. Dumbili’s
(2014a) commentary on the promotion of RDMs by alcohol producers in Nigeria concluded
that the message is not useful due to the lack of drinking guidelines. A few experimental studies
also produced mixed results regarding the effectiveness of RDMs. For example, Pilling and
Brannon (2007) found that college students who received personalised RDMs reported- ‘‘more
favourable attitudes toward the RDMs’’ (p.265). Glock et al. (2015) conducted two
experiments in Germany regarding mass media RDMs posters. While one of the experiments
produced positive effects, the other had no positive effect. Contrary to experimental research
that reported positive effects, Moss et al. (2015) reported that participants who were exposed
to responsible drinking advice and/or posters increased their alcohol use more than those who
were not. Indeed, the degree to which RDMs are effective continues to be the subject of debate.
One review, for instance, could not reach a conclusion on their effectiveness due to the
‘‘inconsistent approach to both the development and evaluation of RDMs’’ (Moss & Albery,
2018, p.26).
While the usefulness of RDMs remains controversial, vague statements such as ‘‘drink
responsibly’’ are particularly problematic in many ways (Gray et al., 2021). For example,
evidence-based research shows that alcohol industry-sponsored organizations use what
Petticrew et al. (2020, p.1290) called ‘‘dark nudges’’ (i.e., messages that ‘‘aim to change
consumer behaviour against their best interests’’) in disseminating RDMs. An American study
concluded that such a relativistic concept should not be used because some adolescents assume
that it denotes that ‘‘some underage drinking is acceptable’’ (Thomsen & Fulton, 2007, p.33).
Among Italian adolescents, Farace et al. (2020) found that drink responsibly advertisement
campaigns sponsored by beer manufacturers were ineffective in reducing harmful
consumption. A US study comparing the effectiveness of abstinence norms and RDMs in
reducing alcohol consumption found that the former was more effective (Glassman et al.,
2016). The nature and placement of RDMs also affect their noticeability. For instance, a US
study of adolescents found that the participants overlooked RDMs in magazine alcohol
commercials, given their inconspicuous positioning in the margins (Thomsen & Fulton, 2007).
Recent evidence shows that alcohol industry-sponsored organizations use cognitive
biases (‘‘systematic errors in human thought processes’’) in manipulating specific fonts and
colours ‘‘to make health-related information about the harms of alcohol difficult to access, and
enhances exposure to misinformation’’ (Petticrew et al., 2020, p.1291). In this light, Krugman
et al. (1994, p.49) advised that ‘‘a warning message must not only attract attention: it must hold
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attention so that the viewer reads and comprehends the message”. Research has demonstrated
that alcohol producers frame and sponsor RDMs (as part of CSR) not because they are
genuinely concerned about drinking in moderation or alcohol-related harms. Instead, one of
their aims is to avoid being blamed for the harms caused by their products (Smith et al., 2006).
By focusing on individual-level factors, RDMs shift the responsibility to consumers rather than
the unhealthy commodity industry.
The alcohol companies often use valence and semantic framing to construct RDMs (an
aspect of the CSR) because framing defines the meaning of a message by determining how
people draw inferences regarding the message (Hallahan, 1999). Evidence from Global North,
where framing theory predominates, shows that health-harming industries often purposefully
frame their corporate social or political activities to elicit multiple positive meanings with the
aim to position themselves as ‘‘part of the solution’’ (Hawkins et al., 2021, p.1). Empirical
research and systematic reviews have demonstrated that fast food (Ban, 2016), alcohol
(Hawkins et al., 2021; McCambridge et al., 2018), and tobacco (Smith & Wakefield, 2005)
industries construct ‘frames’ that they employ in communicating both with their customers and
policymakers to create and maintain positive images.
One central fact about these health-harming industries and their funded allies is that
they focus their framing on individual responsibility rather than focusing on the producers. In
a recent framing analysis of stakeholders’ submission to the WHO Global Strategy to Reduce
Alcohol, Rinaldi et al. (2021) reported that the alcohol industry, as expected, framed their
submission to exonerate itself while shifting responsibility to people who use alcohol .
Brownell and Warner (2009) also reported that tobacco and food producers use a similar
personal responsibility framing. This article aims to explore young people’s awareness and
understanding/interpretations of the ‘‘Drink Responsibly’’ statement- one of the responsible
drinking messages (RDMs) sponsored by the alcohol industry. The study asked the following
questions:
(I) To what extent are young people aware of RDMs in Nigeria?
(II) How do young people interpret ‘Drink Responsibly’ statement?
Materials and Methods
Study Site and Procedures
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This exploratory study was conducted in Benin City, Southern Nigeria. Situated on the major
highway connecting Western and Eastern Nigeria, the city is metropolitan and consists mainly
of government-owned organizations and industries, civil service, businesses, and higher
institutions. Multinational and local alcohol corporations such as ‘Guinness Nigeria’ and
Heineken-owned Nigerian Breweries have manufacturing plants in Benin. Therefore, we
searched their websites, and examined product labels to observe the nature of RDMs and their
positioning. According to the Population Stat (2021), the estimated population of Benin City
in 2020 was 1,727,000.
The participants were recruited through three processes. Direct recruitment started with
EWD (a male researcher) going to two university campuses and their surrounding students’
hostels to survey the environments and make initial contact with potential participants. Having
established a rapport with some students, he introduced the study to them and asked if they
could participate. Those who indicated an interest were subsequently given the full details of
the study, and the methods of participation (Flick, 2014). KU (a female co-researcher) also
discussed the study with the student and non-student populations, giving them the full details
of it, and those who indicated an interest were recruited for interviews. We have utilised this
recruitment method in previous studies involving young people who use alcohol (Dumbili,
2015).
Furthermore, Google Form was shared via WhatsApp platforms and Facebook pages
to invite potential participants. The form contained brief information about the study and
contact details of the researchers. It also indicated that those interested in finding out more
about the study could supply their contact number (or email) to be contacted. Those who
completed the form and provided their phone numbers were called to explain the study’s full
details and the eligibility conditions for participation. To be included in the study, a potential
participant had to be between 18 and 24 years old and must have consumed alcohol at least
once in the last month. Those who met the inclusion criteria were recruited for the study.
Third, the snowball method (Ghaljaie et al., 2017) facilitated the recruitment of
additional participants. After each interview, we asked the participants to introduce us to other
known people who use alcohol who may participate in the study. The multiplicity of these
recruitment methods aimed to attract a diverse and heterogeneous population and yielded
positive results. Each participant received N1500 ($3.94) as incentive. Their names and other
identifiers have been replaced with pseudonyms to protect their identities. Brunel University
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Ethics Committee granted ethical approval (Reference:16189-LR-Apr/2019-18748-2), and
informed consent was obtained from the participants.
Participants, Interviews, and Focus Groups
The study focused on recruiting young people (students and nonstudents) who reside in the city
where we elicited the data. The participants comprised 48 undergraduate students and 24 out-
of-school youths. The out-of-school youths were primarily apprentices and hairstylists,
including an auxiliary nurse and a plumber. None of the participants had completed higher
education. Fifty-three semi-structured interviews and 3 focus group discussions (FGDs n=26)
lasting between 30 and 99 minutes were conducted with 42 females and 37 males (aged 18-24
years) between February and June 2019. Five females and two males participated in both the
interviews and FGDs. The interviews and FGDs were conducted in English language, although
five of the out-of-school participants spoke in Pidgin English. Each session started with an
effort to establish a rapport and obtain demographic data. Following this, questions that sought
to elicit participants’ awareness of RDMs, in particular ‘drink responsibly’ and the meaning it
holds for them were asked. Some of the specific questions and probes were: ‘‘have you
seen/heard of this phrase- drink responsibly?’’ ‘‘Are you aware of RDMs in Benin/Nigeria?’’
‘‘Where did you see/hear it?’’ ‘‘So, tell me, what does drink responsibly mean to you?’’ ‘‘I
mean, based on your understanding, how can you explain ‘drink responsibly’?’’ ‘‘What is your
interpretation of responsible drinking?’’ ‘‘Would you please describe what you understand by
drink responsibly?’’ What quantity (bottle/can or glass) of alcoholic drink will someone take
to be considered to have consumed responsibly? ‘‘How do you drink responsibly?’’ The
sessions were recorded with a digital device with the permission of the participants.
Data Analysis
Guided by Braun and Clarke's (2019) reflexive thematic analysis, we employed deductive and
inductive approaches to identify detailed and rich patterns of meaning in the data. First, the
audio-recorded interviews were transcribed verbatim, read several times, and cross-checked
for accuracy. Having immersed ourselves in the data, we engaged in a collaborative approach
to data analysis (Richards & Hemphill, 2018). Here, the initial coding of five transcripts was
undertaken independently by two researchers, using participants' own words and phrases
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(Linneberg & Korsgaard, 2019). The two researchers then reviewed and discussed the tentative
codes developed manually before generating the coding framework, which guided the
remainder of the coding and analysis. This process aimed to increase transparency, consistency,
analytical rigour, and trustworthiness (Richards & Hemphill, 2018).
Following this, the transcripts were imported into the NVivo 12 software, which was
used to manage the remainder of the analysis (Jackson & Bazeley, 2019). Here, we created
parent nodes and coded all the transcripts by collating and categorizing extracts into relevant
nodes (Maher et al., 2018). The process also involved creating child nodes under the parent
nodes, where relevant extracts were collated. Following a thorough reading of the nodes,
incompatible excerpts were moved to more appropriate nodes, or new nodes were created for
them. Next, themes were searched for and identified. Following these refinements, themes and
subthemes that had been developed were named before recording the patterns of meaning in
them (Braun & Clarke, 2019). The results of this iterative process are presented below. Where
necessary, we have also added the data elicited from our observation of product labels and
industry’s websites.
Findings
The findings presented below focused on participants’ awareness and
understanding/interpretation of RDMs in Nigeria. The findings are presented under two main
themes (awareness of drink responsibly and participants’ understanding/interpretations of
drink responsibly) and four subthemes: (i) not showing bodily intoxicating signs, (ii) knowing
your limit, (iii) drink in moderation, not too much, (iv) and Other interpretations).
INSERT FIGURE 1 HERE
Awareness of Drink Responsibly
We started by asking the participants to share their knowledge regarding the existence of RDMs
in Nigeria, and the majority stated that they were aware of the ‘drink responsibly’ statement.
For example, when a female student was asked if she had ever heard of the ‘drink responsibly’
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statement, she answered: ‘‘oh, yes. I’ve heard it’’. Male participants also answered in the
affirmative:
Osakwe: Yes, of course, I’ve heard about it, and I’ve seen it in adverts (Male, Student).
Mike: Yeah, I have heard of that several times (Out-of-School Male).
Charles: I’ve seen drink responsibly before (Male student).
While all the student participants were aware of industry-sponsored drink responsibly
statements, eight of the out-of-school participants were not. These participants could not
remember the existence of any RDMs in Nigeria. Similarly, none of the participants
remembered ever seeing drink responsibly on product labels (see Figure 2), although some of
them had seen age restriction and alcohol by volume information.
The majority who indicated their awareness of the ‘drink responsibly’ statement
referenced billboards and alcohol advertisements in electronic media as the sources, where they
had either seen or heard about it. For example, when the focus group discussants were asked
to indicate where they had seen, heard, or read about RDMs, they unanimously referred to beer
advertisement:
FGD Male Participants: echoing simultaneously: [through] Guinness advert, Star
[beer] advert, Heineken [advert]; all beer adverts.
In a similar manner, the interviewees confirmed that drink responsibly is embedded in alcohol
commercials that are pro-drinking:
Florence It’s a ‘slogan’ that many drink companies use after their advertisement,
advising young ones to drink responsibly (Female, student).
Orie: They promote alcohol [on TV adverts] and say drink responsibly [at the end].
They promote a fine guy relaxing after work [with] a bottle of beer and watching a
game with a friend; [he] gets a bottle of beer, and they just say it [drink responsibly]
(Female, Student).
These accounts, like many others, highlighted how alcohol industry-sponsored RDMs are
framed and infused with alcohol advertisements that promote drinking. Uwa’s account below
sheds more light on the fact that RDMs in Nigeria are not separated from alcohol
advertisements:
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Uwa: [During] alcohol advertisements, they will tell you to drink responsibly, 18+
…just like cigarette, they will tell you: ‘smokers are liable to die young’ (Male Student).
Unlike in some Western countries (e.g., Australia- see Jones et al., 2017)), where health
ministries and/or health-related Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) independently
promote responsible drinking interventions (alongside industry-sponsored RDMs), the only
RDM in Nigeria is the industry-sponsored ‘drink responsibly’ (and/or fairly recently- ‘enjoy
responsibly’ (Figure 1) (Odeigah et al., 2021)) statement, which is part of conventional alcohol
advertisements (Dumbili, 2014b). Our analysis and observations also show that industry-
sponsored RDMs in Nigeria are disseminated in the following ways. First, as referenced in the
above accounts, in electronic media, alcohol advertisements that glamorise drinking are
portrayed. Towards the end, a narrator will simply mention the catchphrase (Hallahan, 1999)-
‘‘drink responsibly’’. There is no demonstration of what responsible drinking is. A similar
semantic framing (Hallahan, 1999) is also used in print media and billboard advertisement, but
‘‘drink responsibly,’’ and 18+ signs are inscribed. Importantly, we observed that information
directing people who use alcohol to Drinkaware’s and DrinkIQ’s websites in the UK are also
inscribed by Guinness Nigeria and International Breweries, which produces Budweiser.
Similar information is also present on the alcohol industry’s websites (see the first excerpt
below in the Drink in Moderation, Not Too Much subtheme).
Participants’ Understanding/Interpretations of Drink Responsibly
This section addresses the second research question: how do young people interpret ‘Drink
Responsibly’ message? Having indicated their awareness of the drink responsibly statement,
we probed to unpack what it meant to them. That is, each participant was asked to share his/her
understanding and interpretations of the phrase ‘‘drink responsibly’’. Below, we have
summarised their nuanced responses under four subthemes.
Not Showing Bodily Intoxicating Signs
Participants extensively referenced bodily signs that depict alcohol intoxication as they shared
their understandings of ‘‘drink responsibly’’. Most of them focused on the aftermath of
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drinking, particularly the consequences. In the account below, a participant associated drink
responsibly with the ability to ‘‘hold one’s drink’’ irrespective of the quantity a drinker takes:
Joy: Well, in my own understanding, drink responsibly means: drink what you know
your body can take. You can take 10 [bottles of beer] as far as you know your body can
take that amount... That’s [being] responsible. As far as you know your body can take
even 100 bottles, go ahead and drink it. That is drinking responsibly for me. I don’t
know about others (Female, Student).
Research on alcohol (Yoon & Lam, 2013) and fast food (Ban 2016, p.296) industries’ activities
have shown that they frame their CSR messages to reflect ‘‘individual responsibility’’. This is
evident in our participants’ understanding/interpretations of drink responsibly. Most
participants shared similar views in line with the account above. Interestingly, some female
participants played with words without mentioning any substantial alcohol quantities while
stating their understanding of drink responsibly. To them, an alcohol user is said to have drunk
responsibly as long as s/he did not ‘‘misbehave’’ (i.e., did not show characteristics of
inebriation):
Agatha: Drink responsibly means to drink… in a particular measure… that will not
make you misbehave (Female Student).
Itohan: Okay, drink responsibly to me actually means: take that quantity of drink you
are able to absorb and… after taking it; you’ll still be ok, not misbehaving. So that’s
when you drink responsibly (Female Student).
While some participants used drinking without misbehaving to describe their understanding of
drink responsibly, others shared more nuanced opinions, showing that it means drinking and
not getting drunk. For example, one of the participants used how her male friends ‘‘drink very
well’’, and yet do not show signs of drunkenness to demonstrate her understanding of drink
responsibly. The accounts below cast more light on this understanding:
Uyi: Drink responsibly means ‘drink but don't be drunk’ (Male Student).
Uvieh: Drink responsibly is not to get drunk (Male Out-of-school).
Oghogho: …if I have to drink responsibly, it means I should drink how my heart
wants… As in, how my body can take for that time, not for me to get drunk. If I get
drunk, I’m no more a responsible person… (Female, Student).
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Interestingly, none of the participants associated drink responsibly statement with abstinence.
This is in line with the alcohol industry’s framing of RDMs in ways that promote drinking
without mentioning abstinence (Pettigrew et al., 2016).
Together, these accounts show that both male and female participants used bodily
effects of alcohol to describe their understanding of drink responsibly. As they asserted, an
alcohol user is considered to have ‘consumed responsibly’ if s/he is not showing signs of
inebriation irrespective of the amount of alcohol they may have consumed. As referenced in
their accounts, most of the participants vaguely used the term ‘‘quantity’’ of alcohol without
specifying an exact amount. This was expected given the lack of specification of standard
drinks in Nigeria.
Knowing Your Limit
Our analysis shows more nuances regarding the meanings that participants attributed to the
drink responsibly statement. Participants used what can be called ‘‘trial and error’’ to determine
the amount they drank, and this is not unrelated to the lack of low-risk drinking guidelines
(LRDG) in Nigeria. As the accounts of the female interviewees below demonstrate, trial and
error also shaped their understanding/interpretations of the drink responsibly statement:
Grace [FGD2]: Drink responsibly means that they should not drink above their
‘gauge’. That’s, they should not drink to the point that they will be ‘staggering’, and to
the point of stupor, as I said earlier. (Female, Student).
Imade [FGD2]: She actually said it [all]… Grace actually said everything. You should
know your limit. When they say drink responsibly, you should know the point where
you get to, when you are tipsy and when you become high. So, drink responsibly means
don’t just try to get high... (Female, Student)
One prominent element of these accounts is participants’ subjective interpretation of the drink
responsibly statement. Each of them drew on personal experience of knowing their gauge or
limit to describe how responsible drinking should be.
Men also employed a similar choice of words and personal experiences to explain their
understanding of drink responsibly. For example:
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Osazuwa: I will say that drinking responsibly is very important. People should know
their limits. Like I know my limit; after two cups [of red wine], I will just stop,
everybody should know their limit so that when you are getting to the point of
intoxication when you start doing irresponsible things, everybody should stop… (Male,
Student)
As referenced above, drinking to the point of doing irresponsible things before you have to
stop does not show taking responsibility. Relatedly, while knowing one’s limit or when to say
no appears ‘responsible’, such a subjective measure presents some unique problems because
people may exceed the safe drinking level before they start feeling the effects of the alcohol.
As these accounts have shown, one may have exceeded the low-risk drinking level when they
have drunk to the level where they have begun ‘staggering’.
INSERT FIGURE 2 HERE
Drink in Moderation, Not Too Much
The alcohol industry in Nigeria (and elsewhere) portrays RDMs in a positive light, and that is
why previous studies found that such messages support drinking rather than discourage it (see
Pettigrew et al., 2016). In the excerpt below, we demonstrate how ‘Guinness Nigeria’ described
why it promotes moderate drinking:
…If misuse persists, campaigns against the promotion and sale of alcohol beverages
may follow, potentially affecting our business. For these compelling reasons, we work
to find a responsible, sustainable place for the moderate enjoyment of our brands in
Nigeria. Our consumer understanding and marketing skills, developed and proven in
promoting our brands, are also employed to champion responsible drinking. You can
find out more at DRINKiQ.com, our online portal that provides people with
information about the ingredients and nutritional and alcohol content of their favourite
Guinness Nigeria and Diageo drinks (Guinness Nigeria, 2021).
Here, ‘Guinness Nigeria’ framed three interrelated firm-serving (Kim & Lee, 2012) CSR
messages. First, the company positioned itself as a ‘partner’ in preventing alcohol-related
harms by promoting ‘moderation’. Still, with a cursory look at the excerpt (e.g., ‘‘potentially
affecting our business’’), one can infer that the company is protecting its business interest
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which may suffer from campaigns against heavy drinking. Second, the company highlighted
individual responsibility by engaging ‘‘our consumer understanding… to champion
responsible drinking’’. Lastly, ‘Guinness Nigeria’ points users to the UK-based website
(DRINKiQ.com), where alcohol images that support drinking are abundantly portrayed
(Odeigah et al., 2021). Similarly, Heineken-owned Nigerian Breweries also promotes
individual responsibility:
…Our experience shows that our communication of responsible consumption works
best when consumers take informed decisions to adopt a responsible attitude towards
alcohol always…. (Nigerian Breweries, 2022).
In line with our observation of industry websites, empirical data show other elements of the
ambiguity in the drink responsibly statement because most of the participants interpreted it as
drinking in ‘moderation’ or not drinking ‘‘too much’’ alcohol:
Esther: Well, it means you should actually take alcohol in moderation, not in
excess…(Female, Student)
Eke [FGD]: Ok, drinking responsibly means taking alcohol in moderate quantities
(Male, Student)
Even though these participants mentioned drinking in moderation and not in excess, none of
them specified the exact quantity they considered moderate or excess.
One unique aspect of our findings shows that while undergraduate participants used
‘moderate’ consumption to demonstrate their understanding, their non-student counterparts
chose ‘‘not taking too much’’ alcohol to depict responsible drinking:
Tega: It means drink with care; don't take too much (Female out-of-school).
Favour I can tell you what I understand about responsible drinking is maybe not taking
too much alcohol; you can take the amount you can handle; that’s what I understand
(Female out-of-school).
One of the non-student participants stood out because she specified the amount of alcohol she
considers not too much. Her account below sheds more light on this:
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Chichi: Like for instance, they will tell you not to drink too much, and you should
drink to your satisfaction. Drink like maybe two to four bottles [of beer]; when it comes
to your eyes [stop]… (Female out-of-school).
Chichi’s nuanced account is unique because she juxtaposed ‘‘not to drink too much’’ with
drinking to your satisfaction. Although she did not mention the quantity that will guarantee
satisfaction, she nonetheless showed that exceeding four bottles on a drinking occasion is
‘irresponsible’ consumption. Despite her unique effort to delineate what she considered
responsible drinking, she nevertheless reflected the ambiguity expressed by others,
demonstrating the lack of standard drinks in Nigeria: she used the ‘‘number of bottles’’ in her
description. Her reference to ‘‘when it comes to your eyes [stop]’’ also betrayed her subjective
interpretation of responsible drinking, and, as we have demonstrated, this was common among
the participants. In summary, these accounts have shown how participants used drinking to
one’s satisfaction, yet, not drinking too much to describe drink responsibly. But, it is clear that
there was no shared definition of ‘‘moderate’’ or ‘‘too much’’ consumption among them- a
factor that supports the strategic ambiguity of RDMs caused by industry framing of such
messages to provoke multiple meanings (Atkin et al., 2008; Smith et al., 2006).
Other Interpretations
Here, we present participants’ accounts that did not fit into the other three categories. As noted
above, RDMs are often strategically framed to provoke multiple interpretations, and this is
abundant in the subthemes explored above. Additional accounts shared by some of the out-of-
school participants, and shown below, demonstrate more ambiguous meanings that they
attributed to drink responsibly. For example, when one of them was asked to describe his
understanding of the drink responsibly statement, he said:
Osaroh: Drink responsibly, that's, you can take alcohol in excess… but at least you
will still respect yourself as a normal person (Male- out-of-school).
Taking alcohol in excess does not show ‘responsibility’, but based on his understanding, as
long as the drinker ‘respects himself/herself’, s/he has drunk responsibly. Another male out-of-
school participant engaged with what can be called the antithesis, using two differing drinking
behaviours to illustrate his understanding of the drink responsibly statement:
16
Bayo: Drink responsibly to me means we should be drinking the appropriate way, not
drinking it in excess or in the lower quantity (Male, Student).
While male participants interpreted drink responsibly in relation to behaviour, a female
participant drew on the drinking context to share her understanding:
Helen: It means don’t drink in public, don’t drink in the open place, it is not good
(Female out-of-school).
As stated earlier, the out-of-school participants were mainly apprentices and secondary school-
leavers. Thus, their low level of education may have contributed to shaping their interpretation
of the drink responsibly statement. Together, the participants provided nuanced views showing
their perspectives concerning RDMs in Nigeria. While participants expressed diverse views,
they highlighted the ambiguity and multiple subjective interpretations of the drink responsibly
statement. These views also summed up the individual responsibility framing which
stigmatized industries employ in RDMs/CSR messages/activities.
Discussion
Our study explored participants’ awareness and understandings/interpretations of RDMs, in
particular- ‘drink responsibly’ that alcohol companies promote in Nigeria. We presented the
findings under two main themes (awareness of RDMs and participants’
understanding/interpretation of the drink responsibly statement). The findings showed that
while most of the participants, especially the undergraduates, were knowledgeable about the
existence of the drink responsibly statement, some of the out-of-school participants were not.
This could be attributed to various factors, including their low level of education, mainly
because, aside from the English language, the ‘drink responsibly’ does not have a ‘Pidgin
English’ version. Second, Nigeria has over 250 languages, but none of the alcohol companies
translates its RDMs into any of the indigenous languages. Although English is the official
Nigerian language, the country has a high illiteracy rate (THISDAY Newspaper, 2019).
Therefore, for any public health information/intervention to be widely noticed, it should have
local language versions.
Relatedly, none of the interviewees had seen the drink responsibly statement on labels
of alcoholic products in Nigeria. Alcohol companies in Nigeria self-regulate alcohol labelling.
17
As such, they use tiny fonts strategically placed inconspicuously at the margins of product
labels to inscribe RDMs, making their noticeability very difficult (Odeigah et al., 2021).
Evidence shows that poor positioning of health information on labels can result in such
information being overlooked (Dossou et al., 2017). Again, the way information on labels is
ordered and positioned significantly affects the judgements of those who are exposed to it
(Petticrew et al., 2020). Given that the provision of lucid and ‘‘unbiased health information
would pose too much of a risk to the alcohol market’’ (Petticrew et al., 2020, p.1313), alcohol
companies in Nigeria strategically place ‘drink responsibly’ and other health information
inconspicuously (see Figure 1) to the detriment of public health.
Additionally, based on our observation and analysis, RDMs in Nigeria are embedded
in conventional alcohol advertisements that glamorize drinking and support alcohol use. This
confirms a US study that reported that industry-sponsored RDMs are immersed in pro-drinking
alcohol advertisements’ humorous themes (Hill et al., 2005). This is why Pettigrew et al. (2016)
noted that industry-sponsored RDMs portray scenes that encourage young people’s drinking
cultures. In Nigeria, where the drinks industry sponsors all manner of social events to increase
sales (Dumbili & Williams, 2016), vague statements such as drink responsibly that are also
embedded in pro-drinking commercials will not be effective in reducing hazardous alcohol
consumption.
We also observed that multinational alcohol companies in Nigeria refer people who use
alcohol to the UK’s websites of their companies (e.g., Diageo's DrinkIQ) or their social aspects
organizations such as Drinkaware to access RDMs (Odeigah et al., 2021), and this is
problematic in many ways. First, it ignores the fact that people’s leisure behaviours are shaped
to a large extent by their socio-cultural environment. Globally, the alcohol industry relies on
the hazardous use of its products to increase sales and profits (Casswell et al., 2016). Given the
lack of alcohol policies in Nigeria (WHO, 2018), multinational alcohol companies engage in
unregulated aggressive marketing activities (Dumbili & Williams, 2016)- a factor that
influences the timing, volume, and social environments of alcohol use (Jernigan et al., 2017).
Therefore, it is unsurprisingly deceptive that the same industry pretends to warn the public
about the harms caused by its products, by directing them to websites in another country. This
supports Hawkins et al.'s (2021) findings that the alcohol industry often frames its CSR to
appear as solving alcohol-related problems.
18
Additionally, there is abundant evidence that ‘‘environmental triggers’’ (Petticrew et
al., 2020, p.1308) can influence drinking. For example, a UK study of leisure sites found that
serving wine in larger glasses led to the consumption of larger quantities compared to when it
is served in standard-sized glasses (Pechey et al., 2016). A recent study that compared alcoholic
beverages simultaneously produced in Nigeria and the UK found that the Nigerian products
were higher than their UK counterparts in volume, alcohol units, and alcohol by volume
(Odeigah et al., 2021a). Therefore, these peculiar factors make it difficult to rely on the alcohol
industry’s UK’s websites to protect public health in Nigeria. Also, these websites mostly
contain images that support drinking (e.g., happy drinkers), rather than discouraging it
(Petticrew et al., 2020). As Hallahan (1999, p.206) noted, ‘‘outbound public relations
communications involve attempts to define reality… for the many publics on whom the
organization depends’’. Given that one of the crucial works such public relations framing
performs is to ‘‘shape perspectives through which people see the world’’ (Hallahan, 1999,
p.206), the alcohol industry directs consumers to sites that are preloaded with pro-drinking
images/messages.
Furthermore, these industry-affiliated organizations vaguely define RDMs without
referencing any specific level of alcohol use, and they hardly refer to government-specified
drinking guidelines (Maani Hessari & Petticrew, 2018). Of course, this is expected because
these industry-affiliated bodies and funded organizations were established to serve self-
interests (McCambridge et al., 2014; Petticrew et al., 2020). Therefore, they often misrepresent
scientific evidence supporting alcohol harms (Lim et al., 2019; McCambridge et al., 2014).
According to Petticrew et al. (2020, p.1290), their RDMs are embedded with ‘‘dark nudges’’
so that consumers can act against their interests. Thus, the information they share on their
websites will neither discourage drinking nor enhance public health. Importantly, at a
population level, information-based interventions have proven to be less effective in preventing
alcohol-related harms (Foxcroft et al., 2003). Interventions that focus on WHO ‘Best Buys’
such as marketing, pricing, and availability are economical and more effective (Chisholm et
al., 2018) than ambiguously framed RDMs. Unfortunately, these measures are aggressively
opposed by the alcohol industry. Indeed, directing consumers in a country without alcohol
policies to websites in another country where standard drinks are defined, and alcohol policies
exist is a subtle way to divert attention from Nigeria's lack of policies.
As acknowledged earlier, in Nigeria, there are neither LRDG that specify standard
drinks nor standard-sized serving glasses (Dumbili, 2014a). This makes it more difficult to
19
know the amount of alcohol to consume to be considered to have acted ‘responsibly’. The non-
provision of drinking guidelines may have resulted in our participants’ use of intoxication
features to illustrate their understanding of safe drinking. For example, in the US, Barry and
Goodson's (2011, p.306) participants drew on government drinking guidelines (e.g., “only
having the recommended one drink a day for females and two drinks a day for males”) to
describe the features of drinking in moderation. While drinking and not getting drunk
seemingly describes responsible consumption, someone can exceed the recommended safe
threshold without showing any signs of intoxication. Relatedly, using how an alcohol user
absorbs alcohol without displaying physical signs of inebriation to determine whether or not
s/he drinks responsibly is problematic. This is because the same amount of alcohol may affect
individuals differently based on factors such as gender (Zakhari, 2006), body mass index, and
other genetic/biological compositions (Wall et al., 2016).
Similar to the food industry, the alcohol industry designs its RDMs to promote ‘‘the
individual responsibility rhetoric’’ (Ban, 2016, p.307). In so doing, it tries to exonerate itself
from the problems it creates (Yoon & Lam, 2013). This is exactly what industry-sponsored
drink responsibly statement stands for in the Nigerian context. Our participants also understood
and interpreted the drink responsibly statement in a like manner. Our findings show that many
participants used knowing one’s ‘limit’ or not drinking too much to describe responsible
drinking, but what they considered to be ‘‘too much’’ differed from one individual to another.
That is, each person’s limit was ‘‘solely guided by personal experience and interpretations’’
(Barry & Goodson, 2011, p.306) rather than by specified or standardised guidelines. Alcohol
not only impairs judgement, the extent of that impairment can also be gendered (Fillmore &
Weafer, 2004). Thus, it becomes more difficult to determine what constitutes the ‘limit’ for a
male or female drinker without drinking guidelines in Nigeria. Similarly, given the lack of a
definitional consensus around the responsible drinking concept, it was interpreted as
‘moderate’ consumption, but this is also a subjective interpretation. Scholars have criticized
the use of subjective terms such as ‘‘moderate’’ (Dufour, 1999) or ‘‘responsible’’ (Moss &
Albery, 2018) drinking because what constitutes moderate or responsible consumption may
differ from person to person or situation to situation (Gray et al., 2021). These multiple
subjective interpretations highlight the need for standardized guidelines in Nigeria.
Also, some of the non-students gave conflicting and confusing interpretations of their
understanding of the drink responsibly statement. Drink responsibly campaigns are often
framed to provoke multiple interpretations; thus, they are inherently and strategically
20
ambiguous (Smith et al., 2006). If native English-speaking US college students could give
confusing interpretations of RDMs (Barry & Goodson, 2011), the non-native English speakers
in Nigeria could not have been expected to do otherwise, especially because of their level of
education and the lack of native language alternatives.
In Nigeria, multinational alcohol corporations such as Heineken-owned Nigerian
Breweries and Guinness Nigeria have been at the forefront of responsible drinking campaigns
(Dumbili, 2014b). The available evidence shows that the campaigns are strategies to distract
stakeholders from initiating discussions that will facilitate alcohol policy development and
implementation (Dumbili, 2014a). Thus, they substitute the implementation of evidence-based
policy with self-regulation and self-serving RDMs. Suppose alcohol companies in Nigeria were
sincere in protecting public health and well-being; in that case, they should be encouraging
abstinence because it is a socially acceptable choice, especially in Nigeria, where drinking
among young people is traditionally prohibited (Oshodin, 1995).
Limitations and Direction for Future Research
The study has some limitations. First, it was conducted in one region of the country.
Nationwide studies should be conducted in the future to aid policy development. Second,
although we included a heterogeneous population, the uneven number of students and non-
students and male and female participants may have limited the study's findings. Also, the
selection of samples was not representative of the population, especially because we used
convenience sampling technique for recruitment. Also, we conducted an exploratory study
which did not test any theories. Nonetheless, our results support previous research (e.g., Atkin
et al., 2008; Petticrew et al., 2020), which revealed that industry-sponsored RDMs are
ambiguously framed and do not convey messages that can reduce alcohol misuse and enhance
public health. Given the exploratory nature of the current study, future studies could use
framing or other theories to examine how the drinks industry frame these RDMs messages and
public understanding/interpretation of them. There is also a need to examine the awareness and
interpretation of drink responsibly among older people who use alcohol . Such studies will
determine whether or not a uniform intervention is adequate for young people and the older
population who use alcohol.
21
Conclusion
Our study has demonstrated that drink responsibly statements and participants’
understanding/interpretations support alcohol consumption and individual responsibility.
RDMs are one of the non-coercive or appeasement methods (Lacy-Nichols & Marten, 2021)
that the industry uses to avoid stringent government regulations (Jones et al., 2017). Thus, we
recommend implementing effective alcohol control policies that will introduce national
drinking guidelines and specify standard drinks in Nigeria. Awareness-creating/raising public
health channels should be developed in the country. Effective public health information and
intervention that will take care of both the educated and the less-informed should be prioritized.
For each intervention to be effective, policymakers should provide the Pidgin English and
indigenous language versions. This will help the general public, who may not understand the
English language, make the right choices about their alcohol use because imperfect information
through RDMs jeopardizes public health.
Funding:
The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation funded this study through Georg Forster
Postdoctoral Research Fellowship awarded to Emeka W. Dumbili.
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Figure 1
Label of Heineken beer - Produced by Heineken-owned Nigeria Breweries Plc
The red arrow points to ‘Enjoy Responsibly’ with tiny fonts
29
Figure 2
Label of Guinness Gold beer - Produced by Guinness Nigeria
The red arrow points to ‘Drink Responsibly’ with tiny fonts
