Alcohol consumption at colleges across the United States frequently results in a host of problems for students related to academics, physical health, mental health, public safety, etc. Universities and other partnering institutions regularly fund and develop programs to aid in mitigating harmful drinking among college students, and the interventions they create will continue to evolve based upon how students choose to consume informational media. While the dissolution of information related to the health effects of harmful alcohol consumption is of utmost importance, it is equally important to know what kinds of information sources college students trust, and if their trust depends on the degree to which a source is customized. This study aimed to investigate the influence of different sources, as well as the presence or absence of customization, on college student alcohol consumption outcomes.
The study’s sample was composed of 445 college students from a large Northwestern university in the United States who were sorted into 1 of 6 different experimental conditions (N=442, 64.2% female). The six experimental conditions were formed using the products of the following 2 x 3 factorial design related alcohol information sources: [Perceived customization, lack of perceived customization] x [Authority source, peer source, technology source]. Participants in each of these conditions were given health information to review which was designed according to the description of their respective experimental grouping. Participants were then asked to evaluate the degree of customization of their supplied source, as well as their levels of cognitive trust, positive or negative attitudes, resulting behavioral intentions, and impression of information completeness. Two-way univariate analyses of covariance (ANCOVAs) were used to test effects of the variables across experimental conditions.
Results of the study found that participants in the peer source condition reported higher levels of cognitive trust, attitudes toward health information, and behavioral intentions compared to that of technology sources, and similar levels of the same three variables when compared to authority sources. Perceived customization also produced a significant effect in the study; students in the peer source condition (with or without customization) had significantly higher attitudes scores than those in the technology source group containing no perceived customization.
Takeaway: Peer sources continue to be powerful media for health information dissemination and will often take precedence over expert sources or those which are technologically generated. Health information supplied to college students regarding harmful drinking will be more likely to be received and influential if it is perceived to be customized according to their individual traits.
Niu Z, Jeong DC, Willoughby JF. Friends over Doctors? The Influences of Source and Perceived Customization on College Drinking. Health Communication. 2020;0(0):1-11. doi:10.1080/10410236.2020.1712034