April 4-6, 2024 • Hyatt Regency • Lexington, KY
Innovations in Health Communication
Innovations in Health Communication
Abstract: Drinking for Work and “Health Benefits”: A Cultural Perspective
Drinking alcohol can increase the risks of health problems, such as liver and heart diseases, but the drinking rate remains high around the globe. Health communication researchers need to understand the various reasons why people consume alcohol and design persuasive campaigns tailored to people’s drinking motives.
In our previous work (Authors, 2023), we identified 13 major reasons for drinking by collecting data from participants in the United States (N = 100) and China (N = 142) through a thought-listing procedure. Notably, two of the drinking reasons were almost exclusively mentioned by the Chinese participants: drinking for health benefits (e.g., to prevent blood clots; mentioned by n = 15 in the Chinese sample vs. n = 1 in the U.S. sample) and for work-related reasons (e.g., to establish relationships with clients; n = 46 vs. 0). The absence of these two drinking reasons in the U.S. sample suggests that there may be cultural factors that predict why people consume alcohol. Given that the existing research on alcohol primarily takes a Western-centered approach, our study provides an international perspective by examining the relationships between cultural values, reasons for drinking, and attitudes toward drinking in a Chinese sample.
RQ1: How are cultural values associated with (a) health-related and (b) work-related reasons for drinking?
RQ2: How are (a) health-related and (b) work-related reasons for drinking associated with attitudes toward drinking?
Method. Chinese adults who had experience of drinking alcohol completed the cross-sectional survey (N = 489). Participants answered questions regarding five cultural value dimensions (Hofstede, 2011), including collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity (Yoo et al., 2011), and long-term orientation (respect for tradition and planning subscales; Bearden et al., 2006). They also rated statements regarding drinking reasons and cognitive (e.g., harmful/beneficial) and affective attitudes (e.g., unpleasant/pleasant) toward drinking. All measures were unidimensional and reliable (Cronbach’s αs greater than .80).
Results. We conducted multiple linear regressions, controlling for age, gender, and education. For RQ1, participants were more likely to drink for “health benefits” when they held stronger collectivistic values, power distance, and long-term orientation (respect for tradition subscale). They were more likely to drink for work-related reasons when they held stronger masculinity values, were men, or had higher education levels.
For RQ2, health-related drinking reasons positively predicted both cognitive and affective attitudes toward drinking. However, work-related drinking reasons were negatively associated with cognitive and affective attitudes toward drinking.
Discussion. This study explored two reasons for drinking within a non-Western context, showing how they were associated with cultural values and attitudes toward drinking. The findings provide a novel understanding of alcohol use and point to the need for culture-specific analyses to design persuasive campaigns tailored to the values of alcohol users (i.e., deep tailoring; Huang & Shen, 2016). Furthermore, people may consume alcohol despite having negative attitudes toward drinking, driven by practical work-related benefits. Campaigns should address these motives along with efforts to reduce overall attitudes toward drinking.
In our previous work (Authors, 2023), we identified 13 major reasons for drinking by collecting data from participants in the United States (N = 100) and China (N = 142) through a thought-listing procedure. Notably, two of the drinking reasons were almost exclusively mentioned by the Chinese participants: drinking for health benefits (e.g., to prevent blood clots; mentioned by n = 15 in the Chinese sample vs. n = 1 in the U.S. sample) and for work-related reasons (e.g., to establish relationships with clients; n = 46 vs. 0). The absence of these two drinking reasons in the U.S. sample suggests that there may be cultural factors that predict why people consume alcohol. Given that the existing research on alcohol primarily takes a Western-centered approach, our study provides an international perspective by examining the relationships between cultural values, reasons for drinking, and attitudes toward drinking in a Chinese sample.
RQ1: How are cultural values associated with (a) health-related and (b) work-related reasons for drinking?
RQ2: How are (a) health-related and (b) work-related reasons for drinking associated with attitudes toward drinking?
Method. Chinese adults who had experience of drinking alcohol completed the cross-sectional survey (N = 489). Participants answered questions regarding five cultural value dimensions (Hofstede, 2011), including collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity (Yoo et al., 2011), and long-term orientation (respect for tradition and planning subscales; Bearden et al., 2006). They also rated statements regarding drinking reasons and cognitive (e.g., harmful/beneficial) and affective attitudes (e.g., unpleasant/pleasant) toward drinking. All measures were unidimensional and reliable (Cronbach’s αs greater than .80).
Results. We conducted multiple linear regressions, controlling for age, gender, and education. For RQ1, participants were more likely to drink for “health benefits” when they held stronger collectivistic values, power distance, and long-term orientation (respect for tradition subscale). They were more likely to drink for work-related reasons when they held stronger masculinity values, were men, or had higher education levels.
For RQ2, health-related drinking reasons positively predicted both cognitive and affective attitudes toward drinking. However, work-related drinking reasons were negatively associated with cognitive and affective attitudes toward drinking.
Discussion. This study explored two reasons for drinking within a non-Western context, showing how they were associated with cultural values and attitudes toward drinking. The findings provide a novel understanding of alcohol use and point to the need for culture-specific analyses to design persuasive campaigns tailored to the values of alcohol users (i.e., deep tailoring; Huang & Shen, 2016). Furthermore, people may consume alcohol despite having negative attitudes toward drinking, driven by practical work-related benefits. Campaigns should address these motives along with efforts to reduce overall attitudes toward drinking.