Hidden Persuasion: Big Alcohol's Tactics on Social Media

Abstract

Alcohol marketing is harmful as it increases the consumption of alcohol, age of initiation of alcohol and hazardous drinking patterns. Dark nudges and sludge are behavioural economics techniques used to exploit cognitive biases to manipulate consumers to make decisions that are not in their best interest. These have previously been described in alcohol industry corporate responsibility materials and in digital tools and apps funded by the alcohol industry and are potentially being used in alcohol advertising including on social media. Dark nudges and sludge are potentially very influential within digital environments due to the potential for targeted advertising, the ubiquity of smartphones, the pervasive use of social media and the nature of the marketing, which is often difficult to identify. This commentary provides background information about the use of dark nudges and sludge on social media platforms, outlines key concerns in this space for critical health researchers, and outlines some future research directions for examining the alcohol industry's use of dark nudges and sludge in digital environments, including social media.