College Students’ Attributions of Responsibility For a Drunk Driving Accident
ABSTRACT - After reviewing the current research on alcohol and US college students, this study examines the amount of blame placed on various participants in a hypothetical drunk-driving accident (the student who was driving, the beer manufacturer, the drivers friends who celebrated the students birthday with him/her, and the bar where the party occurred). The influence situation and level of company ethics were manipulated to produce several scenarios. Results indicate that in general, student subjects are reluctant to blame the bar or manufacturer, but place the bulk of blame on the birthday friend who drank too much and then had the accident, regardless of the situation. The vast majority of student subjects felt that the birthday friend should have seen what was coming. It appears that college students know not to drink irresponsibly and realize the potential consequences, but neglect to behave responsibly nonetheless.
Citation:
M. Elizabeth Blair and Eva Hyatt (2001) ,"College Students’ Attributions of Responsibility For a Drunk Driving Accident", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 28, eds. Mary C. Gilly and Joan Meyers-Levy, Valdosta, GA : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 449.
After reviewing the current research on alcohol and US college students, this study examines the amount of blame placed on various participants in a hypothetical drunk-driving accident (the student who was driving, the beer manufacturer, the drivers friends who celebrated the students birthday with him/her, and the bar where the party occurred). The influence situation and level of company ethics were manipulated to produce several scenarios. Results indicate that in general, student subjects are reluctant to blame the bar or manufacturer, but place the bulk of blame on the birthday friend who drank too much and then had the accident, regardless of the situation. The vast majority of student subjects felt that the birthday friend should have seen what was coming. It appears that college students know not to drink irresponsibly and realize the potential consequences, but neglect to behave responsibly nonetheless. ----------------------------------------
Authors
M. Elizabeth Blair, Ohio University
Eva Hyatt, Appalachian State University
Volume
NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 28 | 2001
Share Proceeding
Featured papers
See MoreFeatured
O13. Pain of Loss: How Losing in a Promotional Competition Influences Consumer Attitude
Arash Talebi, ESSEC Business School
Sonja Prokopec, ESSEC Business School
Ayse Onculer, ESSEC Business School
Featured
How Passive Form Messages in CSR Advertisement Improve Consumer Reaction to the Campaign
Taehoon Park, University of South Carolina, USA
Anastasiya Pocheptsova Ghosh, University of Arizona, USA
Elise Chandon Ince, University of South Carolina, USA
Featured
The Positivity Problem: Using Mass-Scale Emotionality to Predict Marketplace Success
Matthew D Rocklage, Northwestern University, USA
Derek Rucker, Northwestern University, USA
Loran F Nordgren, Northwestern University, USA