Effects of alcohol warnings and advertisements: A test of the boomerang hypothesis

Two experiments examined the effects of warnings and advertisements on memory, intentions, and benefit and risk perceptions. The experiments were designed to replicate an important recent study (Snyder & Blood, 1992), where it was suggested that an alcohol warning may have a boomerang effect such that drinkers perceive alcohol as having more benefits when the warning is present. In Experiment 1, a planned comparison did not support the boomerang effect. A larger sample size was used in Experiment 2 to increase the statistical power to detect the boomerang effect, but the effect was not observed. In both experiments there was evidence that advertisements led to greater perceived benefits and lower perceived risks. There was some evidence that warnings increased perceived risk and reduced advertising effects on perceived benefits. Subjects' sex and alcohol use were often strongly related to the dependent measures.