
Richard PurvesUniversity of Stirling · Institute for Social Marketing
Richard Purves
BSc (Hons), MSc, PhD
About
72
Publications
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Introduction
Richard Purves currently works at the Institute for Social Marketing, University of Stirling. Richard does research in Qualitative Social Research, Quantitative Social Research and Social Policy.
Publications
Publications (72)
Background
To explore continuities and changes in gambling behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic and the factors that influenced these among a sample of regular sports bettors.
Methods
A longitudinal qualitative study using in-depth interviews. Sixteen sports bettors living in Britain took part in the first interviews in July-November 2020, and 1...
Background
In November 2022, the Scottish Government launched a consultation about restricting alcohol advertising and promotion, covering a wide range of marketing activities (e.g., television, out-of-home, in-store etc). The news media plays an integral role in influencing perceptions of public health policy among both the general public and poli...
Background
International systematic reviews suggest an association between alcohol availability and increased alcohol-related harms. Alcohol availability is regulated through separate locally administered licensing systems in England and Scotland, in which local public health teams have a statutory role. The system in Scotland includes a public hea...
Background
Greater availability of alcohol is associated with higher consumption and harms. The legal systems, by which premises are licensed to sell alcohol in England and Scotland, differ in several ways. The ‘Exploring the impact of alcohol licensing in England and Scotland’ study measured public health team activity regarding alcohol licensing...
Aims
Interventions restricting temporal and spatial availability of alcohol are associated with reduced harm, but the pathways by which specific interventions have impact are poorly understood. We examined mechanisms of impact from the perspective of diverse licensing stakeholders.
Methods
Fifty-three in-depth interviews were conducted with licens...
Background: Under Sect. 15 of the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018, Ireland has banned alcohol advertising in or on the sports area during a sports event, except for branded clothing. The restrictions commenced on 12th November 2021, but concerns have been raised that alcohol branding continues to feature in the now-prohibited sporting area.
Aim:...
The UEFA EURO 2020 football tournament was one of the largest Sporting Mega Events (SMEs) to take place during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mitigating the risk of virus transmission requires a multi-layered approach for any large event, more so in this case due to staging the tournament across eleven host countries. Yet, little is known about COVID-19 ri...
Background and aims: Alcohol sports sponsorship provides a highly effective, high-profile, and high-reach platform for alcohol companies to promote their products and allows brands to capitalise on existing emotional connections that consumers have with their favourite teams, players, or events. Controls on alcohol marketing, including alcohol spon...
Objective:
In the UK, some public health teams (PHTs) routinely engage with local alcohol premises licensing systems, through which licences to sell alcohol are granted. We aimed to categorise PHT efforts, and to develop and apply a measure of their efforts over time.
Methods:
Preliminary categories of PHT activity were developed based on prior...
Background
Public health teams (PHTs) in England and Scotland engage to varying degrees in local alcohol licensing systems to try to reduce alcohol-related harms. No previous quantitative evidence is available on the effectiveness of this engagement. We aimed to quantify the effects of PHT engagement in alcohol licensing on selected health and crim...
Background
In 2021, a fan-led review of football governance in England recommended that legislation surrounding alcohol and football be reviewed to determine whether it is still fit for purpose, the first such review since the mid-1980s. Restricting football fans’ alcohol consumption has been debated in the UK for over 40 years. However, more resea...
In England and Scotland, local governments regulate the sale of alcohol by awarding licences to premises to permit the sale of alcohol for consumption on or off the premises, under certain conditions; without such a licence, alcohol cannot be legally sold. In recent years, many local public health teams have become proactive in engaging with alcoho...
Objective:
Little research has been conducted on consumer perceptions of alcohol packaging as a marketing tool. The aim of this study was to explore how young adults view and engage with alcohol packaging.
Method:
Eight focus groups were conducted in Glasgow (Scotland) with current drinkers (n = 50), segmented by age (18-24, 25-35), gender (fema...
Minimum unit pricing for alcohol (MUP) came into effect on 1st May 2018 in Scotland, raising the price of the cheapest shop-bought alcohol. Small retailers are a key source of alcohol for communities, often located in areas of high alcohol-related harm. We sought to examine their experiences of MUP implementation and impact. We conducted semi-struc...
Introduction:
Alcohol packaging is a potentially valuable means of communicating product and health-related information, with growing academic and political interest in its role as a health communications vehicle.
Methods:
An online cross-sectional survey and experiment were conducted with a non-probability sample of 18-35-year-old drinkers in t...
Objectives
Little is known about the perspectives of staff working in prisons where e-cigarettes are permitted. Scotland now permits people in custody (PiC), but not staff/visitors to use e-cigarettes, following implementation of smoke-free prisons policy in 2018. Previous studies, conducted before and immediately after the introduction of e-cigare...
Background
Prisons had partial exemption from the UK’s 2006/7 smoking bans in enclosed public spaces. They became one of the few workplaces with continuing exposure to second-hand smoke, given the high levels of smoking among people in custody. Despite the introduction of smoke-free prisons elsewhere, evaluations of such ‘bans’ have been very limit...
Availability of alcohol at football matches in the UK is much debated and subject to multiple restrictions, yet there is little understanding of supporters’ attitudes. A cross-sectional survey of football supporters in Scotland and England (n = 1750) was conducted April–June 2019. Most supporters viewed drinking at matches as acceptable (74.4%) and...
Background
In England and Scotland, local governments regulate the sale of alcohol through premises licensing. In the past 10 years, some public health practitioner teams have become proactive in engaging with alcohol licensing to encourage actions regarded as likely to improve population health. These public health teams are largely based in the N...
Background
Public health teams (PHTs) in England and Scotland engage to varying degrees with local alcohol licensing processes to try to reduce harm to individuals and communities. Evidence is scarce on whether this engagement is effective. We aimed to quantify the effects of PHT engagement in alcohol licensing on selected health and crime outcomes...
Background
Given the dearth of research on consumer perceptions of alcohol packaging as a marketing tool, with existing studies focused on children and adolescents, our aim was to explore how young adults view and engage with alcohol packaging.
Methods
Eight focus groups were conducted in Glasgow (Scotland) in September 2019 with young adult drink...
Introduction:
The advertising of e-cigarettes in the UK is regulated through the revised EU Tobacco Products Directive and the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations, with further rules set out in the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) Committees of Advertising (CAP) Code. Focusing on the ASA CAP Code Rules, we examined e-cigarette advertisin...
Introduction
Alcohol packaging can communicate alcohol-related health information, messaging and warnings. However, there is a dearth of research exploring awareness of, and engagement with, health information and messaging on alcohol packaging, and response to novel alcohol warnings.
Methods
Eight focus groups were conducted in Glasgow (Scotland)...
Background
In Britain, unprecedented restrictions on daily life associated with the Covid-19 pandemic included the suspension of professional sports events during the initial ‘lockdown’. This provides opportunities to observe changes in sports bettors’ behaviour when their primary form of activity is removed and assess the impact of Covid-19 relate...
The COVID-19 pandemic led to unprecedented restrictions on people’s movements and interactions, as well as the cancellation of major sports events and social activities, directly altering the gambling landscape. There is urgent need to provide regulators, policy makers and treatment providers with evidence on the patterns and context of gambling du...
Background
Removal of tobacco from prisons poses distinct challenges, as prisons are 'homes' and smoking rates are high. TIPs is unique in comprehensively studying a smoking ban using data collected before, during and after the ban. This paper presents opinions and experiences of people in custody (PiC) and staff in Scotland, and identifies impleme...
Purpose
This paper aims to explore smokefree prison policy, from the perspective of people in custody in Scotland.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 77 people in custody in Scotland were interviewed in the period leading up to implementation of a nationwide prison smokefree policy. Data were thematically analysed to identify the diversity of v...
Introduction
Scotland is one of few countries in which e-cigarettes were available in prisons before the introduction of a comprehensive national smokefree policy, to assist in its implementation. This qualitative study explores initial views and experiences of vaping in this specific context, from the perspective of people in custody (prisoners)....
Introduction:
Scotland is one of few countries in which e-cigarettes were available in prisons before the introduction of a comprehensive national smokefree policy, to assist in its implementation. This qualitative study explores initial views and experiences of vaping in this specific context, from the perspective of people in custody (prisoners)...
Importance
Childhood obesity is one of the biggest public health threats facing the UK, and video game use is considered a risk behavior for obesity among children. However, few studies have explored the prospective association between video game use and body mass index (BMI) or the potential mediators of this association.
Objectives
To investigat...
Objective
Gambling operators in the United Kingdom have introduced a voluntary ban on adverts broadcast during televised sport before 21:00 (the ‘whistle-to-whistle’ ban). To inform debates around the potential effectiveness of this ban, we examine the frequency and nature of gambling marketing in televised broadcasts across professional sporting e...
Background
Tobacco displays at point of sale have been shown to increase young people’s pro-smoking attitudes, susceptibility to smoking and smoking initiation. In Scotland, legislation that prohibited tobacco point-of-sale displays was implemented in large stores (i.e. those > 280 m ² ) in April 2013 and in small retailers in April 2015.
Objectiv...
Background
Prisons had partial exemption from UK 2006–07 policies banning smoking in enclosed public spaces, becoming one of few workplaces with continued exposure to second-hand smoke (SHS). Although bans have been introduced elsewhere, evidence of the process and impact of implementing smoke-free prisons is sparse. We aimed to provide evidence on...
Introduction: While most countries require health warnings on cigarette packs, the Scottish and Canadian Governments are considering requiring health warnings on cigarette sticks.
Methods: Twenty focus groups were conducted in Glasgow and Edinburgh (Scotland) with smokers (n = 120) segmented by age (16–17, 18–24, 25–35, 36–50, >50), gender and soci...
Background:
Smoking prevention programmes that reach adolescents before they experiment with tobacco may reduce the prevalence of tobacco use. ASSIST is a school-based, peer-led smoking prevention programme that encourages the diffusion of non-smoking norms among secondary school students (aged 12-13), and was shown in a randomised control trial (...
Background: Recent regulatory changes in the system by which premises are licensed to sell alcohol, have given health representatives a formal role in the process in England and Scotland. The degree to which local public health teams engage with this process varies by locality in both nations, which have different licensing regimes. This study aims...
Introduction:
With most marketing channels prohibited, the retail environment has assumed greater importance for tobacco companies, even in markets with a ban on the open display of tobacco products. Research has yet to qualitatively explore how retailers respond to standardized packaging in a country where this has been introduced.
Methods:
As...
Objectives: In this paper, we describe a point-of-sale (POS) tobacco visibility tool and examine its utility for assessing changes in visibility following legislation banning tobacco displays. Methods: An observational tool was developed as part of DISPLAY, a multimodal, longitudinal study evaluating the impact of the tobacco POS display ban in Sco...
Background
In April 2015, point of sale (POS) displays of tobacco products were prohibited in small retail outlets in Scotland. Retailers had several years to prepare for the ban. As part of the DISPLAY (Determining Impact of Smoking Point-of-Sale Legislation Among Youth) study, retailers was interviewed annually for 5 years pre- and post-implement...
Background
ASSSIT (A Stop Smoking in Schools Trial) is a UK peer led, school based, smoking prevention programme that encourages the dissemination of non-smoking norms among 11-13 year olds. It is based on strong evidence, with results from a large cluster randomised trial showing a reduction in smoking uptake. However, data for this trial was coll...
The consumption of alcohol by young people remains a major public health concern at both the national and international level. Levels of drinking among 15-yearolds in the United Kingdom (UK) remain significantly higher than the European average. This study explored how alcohol brands are used by young people to develop their desired identities and...
Background:
Video gamers are a population at heightened risk of developing obesity due to the sedentary nature of gaming, increased energy intake, and the disruption caused to their sleep. This increases their risk of developing a number of noncommunicable diseases. To date, research seeking to improve health behaviors has focused on developing no...
We explored the experiences of young people, aged 11-13, selected by their peers to become peer supporters, tasked with disseminating non-smoking norms among their year group.
Background
ASSSIT (A Stop Smoking in Schools Trial) is a peer led smoking prevention programme that encourages the dissemination of non-smoking norms. Students (aged 11–13) are nominated by their peers to become peer supporters. ASSIST is an evidence based programme with results from a large cluster randomised trial showing a reduction in smoking p...
Introduction
Since being brought to market in 2007, cigarettes with capsules in the filter that can be burst to change the flavor have had remarkable global success, highlighting the importance of product innovation for tobacco companies. Very few studies have explored how these products are perceived by smokers however. This paper sought to addres...
Introduction
Incentives have been used by tobacco companies for many years to encourage retailers to sell and promote their products. However, few studies have examined the use of retailer incentives in countries with a ban on the open display of tobacco products in stores.
Methods
As part of the DISPLAY(Determining the Impact of Smoking Point of...
This study examined the frequency and nature of alcohol marketing references in broadcasts of the 2016 UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) European Championships football tournament in the United Kingdom (UK). Eighteen matches from across the tournament were recorded in full as broadcast in the UK, including all four matches featuring th...
Introduction: International football tournaments provide a high-profile platform for alcohol marketing. UEFA EURO 2016 was held in France, where the national law governing alcohol advertising and sports sponsorship ('Loi Évin') was the most restrictive to apply in the tournament's history. This study examined alcohol marketing references in the UEF...
Background: International football tournaments provide a high-profile platform for alcohol marketing. UEFA EURO 2016, however, was held in France where the national law governing alcohol advertising and sports sponsorship (the ‘Loi Évin’) was the most restrictive to apply in the tournament’s history. This study examined alcohol marketing references...
Online bingo has seen significant growth in recent years. This study sought to increase understanding of this growth by exploring the appeal of online bingo. Our aim was to examine the content of ten online bingo websites in the UK and analyse a qualitative secondary dataset of 12 female bingo players to investigate the appeal of online bingo. Usin...
Framework matrices.
Coded data entered into framework matrices.
(DOCX)
Coding frame.
Coding frame for website thematic content analysis.
(DOCX)
Protocol.
Study protocol for collecting data from bingo websites.
(DOCX)
Objectives To explore perceptions of superslims packaging, including compact ‘lipstick’ packs, in line with 3 potential impacts identified within the impact assessment of the European Union (EU) Tobacco Products Directive: appeal, harm perceptions and the seriousness of warning of health risks.
Design Qualitative focus group study.
Setting Informal...
Background:
NHS Stop Smoking Services (SSSs) provide free at the point of use treatment for smokers who would like to stop. Since their inception in 1999 they have evolved to offer a variety of support options. Given the changes that have happened in the provision of services and the ongoing need for evidence on effectiveness, the Evaluating Long-...
Objectives To explore how e-cigarettes are being promoted at point of sale in the UK and how retailers perceive market trends.
Setting Fixed retail outlets subject to a ban on the display of tobacco products.
Participants Observational audit of all stores selling tobacco products (n=96) in 4 Scottish communities, conducted over 2 waves 12 months ap...
Poor cooking skills may be a barrier to healthy eating and a contributor to overweight and obesity. Little population-representative data on adult cooking skills has been published. We explored prevalence and socio-demographic correlates of cooking skills among adult respondents to wave 1 of the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey (2008-9).
Socio...
Twelve focus groups in Glasgow (Scotland) were conducted with female non-smokers and occasional smokers aged 12-24 years (N = 75), with each group shown 11 cigarettes: two (standard) cigarettes with cork filters; two coloured cigarettes (pink or brown); four slim cigarettes; an aromatized black cigarette; a menthol cigarette and a cigarette with a...
Background
Alcohol marketing is a key focus for concern for alcohol and public health researchers because of growing evidence that it is a determinant of uptake and frequency of drinking. To date, research attention has focused on more traditional forms of marketing promotion. However, research needs to keep pace with the fast-changing, multi-pla...
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to map and identify evidence for effective components of
combined school and family alcohol education interventions. The paper describes current practice,
evaluative evidence of its effects, and highlights specific elements of school and family linked education
associated with effective prevention or...
Tobacco packaging provides an important means for governments to communicate the health risks associated with smoking. This study explores novel ways in which cigarette packaging, including cigarettes, can be used to communicate health risk and cessation messages. Eight focus groups were conducted with young women smokers (N = 49), aged 16-24 years...
Background and objectives:
Standardised or 'plain' tobacco packaging was introduced in Australia in December 2012 and is currently being considered in other countries. The primary objective of this systematic review was to locate, assess and synthesise published and grey literature relating to the potential impacts of standardised tobacco packagin...
Opponents of plain tobacco packaging argue that it would make production of counterfeit tobacco products cheaper; lower costs for consumers; confuse consumers in respect to product authenticity; and increase appeal and purchase of counterfeit tobacco. We explored the last of these contentions with young women smokers (N ¼ 49), aged 16–24 years, rec...