1c focus group

1. 1c focus group Sarah Bildstein Becca Ronketty Taylor Young Kayndra Henderson

2. Case objective • The case objective is to establish the extent of overconsumption of alcohol among college students and to define what characteristics were associated with these behaviors. • We wanted to see what students thought about the words “binge drinking” and what behavior they associated with them. • We also really looked at how college students want/like to be contacted to best fit the campaign to students’ preferences.

3. Participants • Moderator: Sarah Bildstein • March 4, 2014 at 6 p.m. in JB 316 • 7 participants • Age range: 19-22 • 6 women • Caucasian, 21 years old • African-American, 21 years old • Caucasian, 22 years old • African-American, 19 years old (non-drinker) • African-American, 21 years old • Caucasian, 22 years old • 1 male • Biracial , 21 years old

4. Overall research questions • What form of communications do you use most? • How often do you drink alcohol? • What groups do you know of that advocate safe drinking habits? • What is your definition of binge drinking? • How do you feel about the words “binge drinking”? • How often do you see alcohol safety messages?

5. What form of communications is best? When asked what form of communication they used most the consensus was Twitter or texting. “Twitter, Facebook, SnapChat. Those are my main ones.” When asked what platform The Century Council should use to get the message out, social media was most popular. Others said they didn’t want the messages at all. “We should rephrase that question. I don’t really want them communicated to me in general.”

6. How often do you drink alcohol or go to the bars? Even though there were only 7 people in this group, the majority (5 of 7) said they drank alcohol often. “Two or three times a week.” “Two times on like, a fun week. One time on a normal week.” When asked why, they said: “There is nothing else to do it Stillwater.” “Some people just aren’t tolerable without alcohol.”

7. What groups do you know of that advocate safe drinking habits? 0 of the 7 participants could name one organization that advocated safe drinking habits. No one brought up MADD, alcohol commercials or The Century Council. “Captain Morgan, does that count?” “Professors? Does that count? I mean…they don’t want you to die?” “Um…what?”

8. What is your definition of binge drinking? 0 out of 7 participants knew the definition of binge drinking. “When you throw up.” “When people start passing out.” “When you don’t remember anything that happens.”

9. How do you feel about the words “binge drinking”? Group thought they were just another word for drinking. Group agreed it is better to be called a “binge drinker” than it would be to be called a drunk or an alcoholic. “I think binge drinking is more on a lifetime/weekly basis than just one night. Like, if a person goes out one night a month and gets just belligerently drunk…to me that’s not binge drinking… it depends on their habits.” “I would rather someone call me a binge drinker than an alcoholic.” “When I think of binge drinking I just think of drinking. You don’t have to put binge in front of it. It’s just gonna be drinking to me.”

10. How often do you see alcohol safety messages? Consensus of the group was very rarely. • Alcohol.Edu • At the end of sporting events (not the DUI clip, though) “But honestly, that online thing did nothing but annoy me that I had to do it. It didn’t educate me at all.” “I hear them at the end of basketball and football games. The guy says ‘Remember, to designate a driver’ or something like that.” “Never.”

11. Unexpected findings • 0 out of 7 participants knew what binge drinking is, by definition. • “It makes me a little sick to know that I would be considered a binge drinker. Cause I’ve never thought that I was…but…“ • The group said that absolutely nothing could change their drinking habits, including binge drinking. • The participants accepted the words “binge drinking” in a more positive way than they did the words “alcoholic” or “drunk.”

12. Implications/Major take-aways • College students are unaware of the real definition of binge drinking. • The Century Council has NObrand awareness among college students. • College students prefer to be contacted by social media.

13. Limitations • We were only able to have one focus group due to deadlines and schedules. • We only had one male participant. • We did not have a varying age range or varying ethnicities. • We only had one participant that did not drink. • We were supposed to have our focus group Sunday night but had to cancel due to weather. • Some of the participants that we had for Sunday were unable to come to the new focus group on Tuesday.

14. Future research • Find a broader range of students involved in different activities on campus. (Greek life, different on-campus clubs, etc.) • Have more male participants. • Have more non-drinking participants. • Have a varying age range and different ethnicities. • Find a better way to get people to really open up about the sensitive topic of binge drinking.