Alcohol Advertising in Ghana : Influence on Consumption Patterns

According to the Ghana Statistical Service, the Ghanaian beverage industry has seen a remarkable growth which has resulted in an increase in alcohol advertising as the various alcoholic beverage companies compete among themselves to gain favourable consumer attitudes towards their products. In addition, although our advertising industry is almost a century old, no major analytical work in media sociology has been conducted to assess the influence of alcohol advertising on behaviour, particularly consumption patterns. Thus, the purpose of this work is to determine whether alcohol adverts influence the consumption behaviour of Ghanaians. Moreover, the discussion should help shed some light on the alcohol advertising industry in Ghana and should be especially useful to professionals in Media, Communications and Marketing fields, or anyone else interested in understanding advertising appeals used to persuade consumers.