A mystery-shopping study to test enforcement of minimum legal purchasing age in Lithuania in 2022
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A mystery-shopping study to test enforcement of minimum legal purchasing age in Lithuania in 2022. / Miščikienė, Laura; Tran, Alexander; Petkevičienė, Janina; Rehm, Jürgen; Vaitkevičiūtė, Justina; Galkus, Lukas; Lange, Shannon; Štelemėkas, Mindaugas.
In: EUR J PUBLIC HEALTH, Vol. 33, No. 2, 01.04.2023, p. 317-322.Research output: SCORING: Contribution to journal › SCORING: Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - A mystery-shopping study to test enforcement of minimum legal purchasing age in Lithuania in 2022
AU - Miščikienė, Laura
AU - Tran, Alexander
AU - Petkevičienė, Janina
AU - Rehm, Jürgen
AU - Vaitkevičiūtė, Justina
AU - Galkus, Lukas
AU - Lange, Shannon
AU - Štelemėkas, Mindaugas
N1 - © The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association.
PY - 2023/4/1
Y1 - 2023/4/1
N2 - BACKGROUND: According to the Lithuanian law to prevent the sale of alcohol to customers below the legal minimum purchasing age of 20 years, young adults below 25 years must be asked to show an age-verification document when purchasing alcohol. The aim of this study was to assess whether off-premise outlets comply with the law.METHODS: In 2022, mystery-shopping study was carried out in three consecutive phases: (i) in a representative sample (n = 239) of off-premise alcohol outlets covering all Lithuanian district centres, (ii) after lifting the requirement to wear a mask and (iii) after warning the outlets that a mystery-shopping study was ongoing. Phases 2 and 3 were held in two cities. The mystery shopping involved attempts by young, but legally eligible customers to purchase alcohol. Across the three study phases, we compared compliance with the law by measuring overall success of purchase attempts and included situational characteristics (working day or weekend), time of day and number of customers in line as an additional predictor.RESULTS: Out of 239 attempts to purchase alcohol from off-premise outlets in the main phase of the study, 107 (or 44.8%) were considered to be successful (visits in which staff were willing to sell alcohol). There was a significantly higher chance of success to purchase alcohol with no ID request if a mystery shopper was the only customer in a queue and on weekends.CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate an insufficient level of age-verification control in Lithuania, and that additional action is needed to increase compliance.
AB - BACKGROUND: According to the Lithuanian law to prevent the sale of alcohol to customers below the legal minimum purchasing age of 20 years, young adults below 25 years must be asked to show an age-verification document when purchasing alcohol. The aim of this study was to assess whether off-premise outlets comply with the law.METHODS: In 2022, mystery-shopping study was carried out in three consecutive phases: (i) in a representative sample (n = 239) of off-premise alcohol outlets covering all Lithuanian district centres, (ii) after lifting the requirement to wear a mask and (iii) after warning the outlets that a mystery-shopping study was ongoing. Phases 2 and 3 were held in two cities. The mystery shopping involved attempts by young, but legally eligible customers to purchase alcohol. Across the three study phases, we compared compliance with the law by measuring overall success of purchase attempts and included situational characteristics (working day or weekend), time of day and number of customers in line as an additional predictor.RESULTS: Out of 239 attempts to purchase alcohol from off-premise outlets in the main phase of the study, 107 (or 44.8%) were considered to be successful (visits in which staff were willing to sell alcohol). There was a significantly higher chance of success to purchase alcohol with no ID request if a mystery shopper was the only customer in a queue and on weekends.CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate an insufficient level of age-verification control in Lithuania, and that additional action is needed to increase compliance.
KW - Young Adult
KW - Humans
KW - Adult
KW - Alcoholic Beverages
KW - Lithuania
KW - Commerce
KW - Alcohol Drinking/prevention & control
U2 - 10.1093/eurpub/ckad027
DO - 10.1093/eurpub/ckad027
M3 - SCORING: Journal article
C2 - 36840664
VL - 33
SP - 317
EP - 322
JO - EUR J PUBLIC HEALTH
JF - EUR J PUBLIC HEALTH
SN - 1101-1262
IS - 2
ER -