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Thomas Babila Sama, Ilkka Konttinen and Heikki Hiilamo
University of Helsinki, Finland
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Psychiatry Ment. Health Res
The aim of this study was to investigate the arguments used by the Alcohol Industry and actors aligning with it as a lobbying strategy, to influence the reform of the Finnish alcohol law during the preparation phase between 2014 and 2017, when the original purpose of the reform was changed from reducing alcohol-related harm to liberalizing alcohol policy. Previous literature has established that using Twitter was a major industry strategy to influence policy-making in Finland. Primary data were collected on Twitter between 2014 and 2017 from six Alcohol Industry actors (n=1085 tweets). The Twitter data were analyzed by coding using Microsoft excel and by content and thematic analyses using a modified version of the European Centre for Monitoring Alcohol Marketing’s (2011) seven key messages of Alcohol Industry strategies to influence public opinion. The results identified three main arguments used on Twitter by the alcohol industry and actors aligning with it to influence the reform of the Finnish alcohol policy: (1) “application of liberal alcohol policies generates more revenue” (2) “liberties should be generally prioritized before bureaucracy and control”, and (3) “education about responsibility is the best solution to alcohol-related problems”. The study concluded that social media applications such as Twitter offer the Alcohol Industry unlimited opportunities for promoting its traditional public relations arguments.
