Using a hybrid communication/human information processing model to evaluate beverage alcohol warning effectiveness

Abstract

This article reviews the literature on beverage alcohol warnings using a hybrid communication/human-information processing model. The communications model has three components: source, channel and receiver. Within the receiver, an information processing model describes the various serial stages of processing: attention, comprehension/memory, beliefs/attitudes, behavioral intentions, and lastly, behavior. Each stage in the sequence is a potential bottleneck that could cause processing to stall, preventing any further flow of information downstream. Factors for each stage in the hybrid model are discussed. The model is useful in explaining why the currently mandated U.S. alcohol warning is less likely to be effective than it could be. It can also be used as a basis for recommending changes in the current warning's content and design and in making use of other warning methods.