In this study, we examined influencer marketing and consumption of non-alcoholic beer by adolescents to determine how these factors could affect the intentions of adolescents to purchase and drink alcohol. A total of 3121 high-school students recruited from 36 schools in Taiwan completed a self-administered questionnaire during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022. The results indicate that 19% of these adolescents consumed non-alcoholic beer and 28% consumed alcohol in the past year. Multivariate analysis positively associated adolescents' exposure to influencer marketing with their purchase and consumption of non-alcoholic beer. Adolescents' exposure to influencer marketing of non-alcoholic beer combined with lower levels of parental restrictive mediation was associated with increased odds of the purchase and consumption of alcohol. For individuals who did not purchase alcohol in the past year, both the exposure to influencer marketing and the consumption of non-alcoholic beer were associated with intending to purchase alcohol in the future. Similarly, individuals who previously abstained from the consumption of alcohol, both the exposure to influencer marketing and the consumption of non-alcoholic beer were associated with intending to consume alcohol. In conclusion, when adolescents were exposed to influencer marketing of non-alcoholic beer they were more likely to consume it, which resulted in an increased likelihood that they would then purchase and consume alcohol.
Keywords: adolescent; alcohol; influencer marketing; non-alcoholic beer; parental mediation.