This study aims to examine whether zero-alcohol beverages can really replace alcoholic beverages for young people. It does this through exploring whether youth hold similar symbolic meanings for alcohol and zero alcohol. It explores how these meanings may influence future drinking behaviours.
Focus groups with 52 young people (aged 15–16) in New Zealand elicited perceptions of the symbolic meanings of alcohol and zero alcohol and how these meanings shape intended alcohol-related behaviour.
Alcohol was associated with fitting in, coping, fun and social lubrication. However, when contexts were already perceived as fun, the need for alcohol diminished. Zero alcohol symbolised safety, responsibility and protection, enabling young people to avoid peer pressure while still fitting in.
Decoupling alcohol from “fun”; Coupling “fun” without alcohol to more contexts; and increasing social and emotion regulation skills. The authors’ social marketing implications relate to how to increase positive attitudes towards zero alcohol as an alternative to alcohol and promoting alternative narratives for not drinking.
The study offers new insights into how contextual perceptions of fun reduce alcohol’s symbolic value and highlights the positive symbolic associations of zero alcohol. These findings inform whether zero alcohol functions as a gateway or a health promoting alternative.
