Exposure to Alcohol Advertisements and Adolescent Alcohol Consumption Patterns: Findings from a Nationally Representative Study

This study investigates the association between adolescent exposure to alcohol advertisements across various media and their alcohol consumption patterns in South Korea. This study utilized data from the 2024 Korea Youth Risk Behavior Survey (KYRBS), a nationally representative survey of 54,597 students. Multinomial logistic regression was employed to assess the association between alcohol advertisement exposure across multiple media channels and different alcohol consumption patterns, adjusting for demographic and socioeconomic factors. High exposure rates to alcohol advertisements were observed (88.6%), particularly through online platforms (64.3%) and convenience stores (45.9%). Exposure to multiple advertising channels was significantly associated with increased odds of alcohol consumption. While convenience store advertisements were strongly associated with heavy drinking (aOR = 1.48, 95% CI: 1.34–1.63), television advertisements were negatively associated with it (aOR = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.70–0.85). These findings highlight the need for stricter regulations on point-of-sale and digital alcohol advertising to mitigate adolescent alcohol exposure and consumption. Implementing targeted public health policies could help reduce the influence of alcohol marketing on underage drinking.