An Analysis of the Appeals of College and University Viewbooks to the Underlying Dispositions of Frequent Drinkers and Non Drinkers

Educators and researchers who study college alcohol use have explored shaping the campus environment as a method to positively influence college students' decisions regarding alcohol use. Existing literature has suggested that the interaction between the college students and the campus environment affects students' behavior (Goree & Szalay, 1996; Strange & Banning, 2001).

The purpose of this study was to analyze how college and university viewbooks appeal to the different underlying dispositions of college students (non drinker vs. frequent drinker dispositions). The present study was also intended to identify whether college and university viewbooks are a part of the campus environment that affects students' behavioral decisions.

The purposive sample included 51 college and university viewbooks from four different regions, six Carnegie Classifications, and an over-sampling of historically Black institutions. The findings revealed that college and university viewbooks appeal more to the non drinker dispositions than to the frequent drinker disposition. The findings also call into question previous scholarship suggesting that university recruitment materials have an influence on college student behaviors.