Table 3 Means and standard deviations for believability, convincingness, and personal relevance by individual statement*

Warning: alcohol harms your health (n = 547)

3.68 (1.11)

3.42 (1.17)

2.91 (1.23)

Alcohol increases your risk of bowel cancer (n = 541)

3.34 (1.13)

3.20 (1.13)

2.86 (1.17)

Alcohol causes cancer: reduce your intake to reduce your risk (n = 541)

3.26 (1.20)

3.14 (1.22)

2.76 (1.19)

Alcohol increases your risk of breast, bowel, throat, and mouth cancer (n = 544)

3.26 (1.20)

3.09 (1.22)

2.82 (1.20)

Reduce your drinking to reduce your risk of cancer (n = 545)

3.24 (1.18)

3.10 (1.18)

2.77 (1.22)

Alcohol increases your risk of cancer (n = 535)

3.24 (1.23)

3.09 (1.25)

2.83 (1.27)

Warning: alcohol increases your risk of cancer (n = 548)

3.24 (1.22)

3.07 (1.21)

2.86 (1.24)

Alcohol can cause bowel cancer (n = 543)

3.23 (1.14)

3.05 (1.14)

2.79 (1.18)

Alcohol causes around 5000 new cases of cancer each year (n = 541)

3.09 (1.18)

2.97 (1.19)

2.64 (1.23)

Alcohol causes 1 in 20 cancer deaths (n = 540)

3.00 (1.22)

2.95 (1.23)

2.64 (1.23)

Alcohol increases your risk of breast cancer (n = 545)

2.98 (1.25)

2.86 (1.23)

2.48 (1.31)

Alcohol can cause breast cancer (n = 534)

2.89 (1.25)

2.78 (1.23)

2.37 (1.25)