Table 1 Variables used to code alcohol harm reduction advertisements and associated Krippendorff’s alpha coefficients

 Dominant topic. What is the key information communicated in the ad?

A. Short-term harms of drinking (depicts short-term harms of drinking e.g. injury, violence, unsafe/unwanted sexual experience, vomiting, social embarrassment etc.)

B. Long-term harms of drinking (depicts long-term harms of drinking e.g. cancer, heart disease etc.)

C. Underage drinking (depicts dangers of underage drinking or adult role modelling of drinking behaviours for those underage)

D. How to change behaviour (depicts how to change alcohol consumption behaviours)

E. Advocacy/Policy change (advocates for or aims to influence policy change)

0.96

 What is the objective of the ad? That is, what is the main behaviour the ad is trying to elicit?

A. Reduce alcohol consumption/limit drinking

B. Behave responsibly when drinking alcohol/don’t get drunk when drinking

C. Look after friends and family when they are drinking

D. Talk to a friend or family member about their drinking

E. Limit drinking around minors

F. Never supply alcohol to minors

G. Parents to talk to their children about alcohol

H. Promote policy change

0.91

 Emotional response likely to be elicited among target audience

A. Negative (e.g. fear, anxiety, disgust, worry, shame, guilt, regret, sadness etc.)

B. Positive (e.g. hope, inspiration, determination, empowerment etc.)

C. Negative and positive

D. Neutral (i.e. no emotion)

0.71

 Presence of drinking guidelines/recommendations to reduce harms

A. Yes

B. No

0.96

 Style

A. Dramatisation (mini drama scene, with actors depicting a short story)

B. Simulation/Animation (involves simulations, animations or models of people, alcohol, or key concepts)

C. Factual (presents factual, medical, or statistical information)

D. Personal testimonial (depicts a person telling “their story”)

0.96

 Graphic imagery

A. Yes (explicit graphic or negative visceral imagery portraying the consequences of drinking alcohol that elicits a visceral “ugh!” response)

B. No

0.83

 Portrayal of drinking

A. Implicit portrayal only (alcoholic beverages being bought, ordered, held, poured - but not actively being drunk)

B. Explicit portrayal (people actively drinking alcoholic beverage/s)

C. No portrayal

0.84

 Target audience: age or role

A. Children/adolescents (under 18 year olds)

B. Specifically young adults (18–30 years)

C. Specifically parents

D. General adult audience (clearly targeted at adults, but not a specific age/role)

E. Government

0.91

 Target audience: gender specific message

A. Yes (content/messages directed at females or males)

B. No gender specific message/unknown

0.88

 Subject of depicted harms/consequences of drinking

A. Personal (focus on consequences of drinking for the target audience of the ad)

B. Others (focus on consequences of drinking for people other than the target audience of the ad [e.g. ads that target parents but depict consequences for children])

C. Both personal and others (targets drinkers by showing the consequences of their drinking for themselves and for their friends/family members, or targets friends/family members of drinkers and shows the consequences to both the target audience and drinkers themselves)

0.94