Maximum consumption: Heavy quantity drinking amongst university students Kirsten Robertson ⇑ , Sarah Forbes Department of Marketing, School of Business, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand Department of Marketing, P.O. Box 56, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand article info Article history: Available online 12 June 2011 Keywords: Heavy quantity drinking Binge drinking Student alcohol consumption Students’ perceptions of binge drinking Social norms abstract Knowledge of students’ alcohol consumption is limited by differences in definitions and a reliance on stu- dents’ standard drink calculations. This paper examines the extent of students’ consumption across dif- ferent measures. Additionally, students’ attitudes towards acceptable consumption are examined to inform public policy and social marketing. Data are presented from 167 and 102 students at two time points 6 months apart, collected using a seven-day reflective web-based diary. Students’ reports of what they drank and how much they consumed were used to estimate standard drink consumption. Findings revealed that students drank excessively: the average largest consumption in one day was 14.27 and 11.21 standard drinks for males and females, respectively, at time-point one. Drinking patterns were con- sistent over time, although moderate drinkers increased their consumption. As students perceived binge drinking as acceptable, we outline a norms-based intervention that could modify their behaviour. Ó 2011 Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction University students’ drinking is a serious public health concern in many countries (Dantzer et al., 2006; Karam et al., 2007). Stu- dents tend to drink heavily on single occasions, a behaviour that puts them at increased risk of injury (Mcleod et al., 1999) and can result in death (Rivara et al., 2004). Although there is a substantial body of research revealing that students drink heavily, knowledge of students’ alcohol consumption has been limited by differences in definitions and limitations in measurement techniques, in partic- ular, students’ self-reported standard drinks calculations (Green- field and Kerr, 2008). This study estimated standard drink consumption by employing a researcher to calculate standard drinks from participants’ self-reports of alcohol consumed. Con- sumption was reported across varied measurements. We also examined students’ perceptions of acceptable consumption. Fol- lowing the recommendations by Greenfield and Kerr (2008), we re- fer to heavy consumption as ‘heavy quantity drinking’ to encompass both episodic and routine heavy drinking. The findings will inform future research and public policy on the measurement of alcohol consumption, as well as future social marketing campaigns. 1.1. Issues surrounding the measurement of alcohol consumption Estimates of the extent of heavy quantity drinking vary widely between countries and studies due to differences in consumption patterns, definitions (i.e., binge drinking and heavy drinking), reference periods (i.e., average weekly consumption and average daily consumption) and measurement techniques. In addition to a lack of agreement on a definition for students’ heavy quantity drinking, definitions of standard drinks vary between studies and countries (Herring et al., 2008; Murgraff et al., 1999). In New Zealand previous research has found 37% of students from across five universities reported binge drinking in the past 7 days, with binge drinking defined as consuming more than four drinks for women and six drinks for men, where one standard drink = 10 g of pure alcohol (Kypri et al., 2009). By comparison, a Swedish study found a slightly lower percentage of students en- gaged in heavy drinking (27% of males and 14.1% of females) de- fined as five or more standard drinks for males and four or more for females, where one standard drink equals 12 g of pure alcohol (Bendtsen et al., 2006). Other studies do not have differing classifi- cations for males and females. For example, a study in France de- fined heavy episodic drinking as five or more drinks (one standard drink = 10 g of pure alcohol) in one sitting (regardless of gender) and found 29% of the sample drank heavily (Franca et al., 2010). These studies demonstrate the variability of heavy quantity drinking definitions (both in respect of number of drinks and alco- hol consumed) and different approaches to defining drinkers. In addition to these differences, assessing student alcohol con- sumption has been limited by variations in reference periods and limitations in standard drink measurements. Researchers typically report average consumption across a given time frame such as average daily or weekly consumption. However, Greenfield and Kerr (2008) argue that largest consumption on one drinking occa- sion is an important indicator of risk, a measure not captured by reports of average consumption. 1441-3582/$ - see front matter Ó 2011 Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ausmj.2011.05.006 ⇑ Corresponding author at: Department of Marketing, School of Business, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. E-mail address: Kirsten.Robertson@otago.ac.nz (K. Robertson). Australasian Marketing Journal 19 (2011) 196–202 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Australasian Marketing Journal journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/amj