London School of Hygiene & Tropical MedicineOct 12 2024 Alcohol industry-funded apps may use covert 'misinformation strategies', omit important public health information and could 'nudge' users towards drinking more alcohol, new research has found.
The findings suggest that messaging used in industry-funded tools could potentially distort the health information provided and 'nudge' users towards increasing their consumption, which the researchers describe as covert 'misinformation strategies' and misleading app designs, referred to as 'dark patterns'.
"Stay safe and social by drinking no more than one standard drink an hour to keep your blood alcohol levels a bit lower." The team call for public and health practitioners to be warned about the tactics employed by some alcohol industry-funded tools, similarly to current regulations which advise against tobacco industry-funded apps, and for only independent health sources such as the NHS to be promoted.