Adolescents and alcohol: An explorative audience segmentation analysis

Abstract

Background: So far, audience segmentation of adolescents with respect to alcohol has been carried out mainly on the basis of socio-demographic characteristics. In this study we examined whether it is possible to segment adolescents according to their values and attitudes towards alcohol to use as guidance for prevention programmes. Methods. A random sample of 7,000 adolescents aged 12 to 18 was drawn from the Municipal Basic Administration (MBA) of 29 Local Authorities in the province North-Brabant in the Netherlands. By means of an online questionnaire data were gathered on values and attitudes towards alcohol, alcohol consumption and socio-demographic characteristics. Results: We were able to distinguish a total of five segments on the basis of five attitude factors. Moreover, the five segments also differed in drinking behavior independently of socio-demographic variables. Conclusions: Our investigation was a first step in the search for possibilities of segmenting by factors other than socio-demographic characteristics. Further research is necessary in order to understand these results for alcohol prevention policy in concrete terms. © 2012 Mathijssen et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.