Dark nudges and sludge: how alcohol marketing targets young people online

For most rangatahi young people, this is the digital backdrop of everyday social life. And in between, are alcohol promotions designed not just to catch attention, but to quietly shape behaviour.

These tactics, known as “dark advertising”, rely on subtle psychological triggers; little nudges and cognitive misdirection that influence choices before users are aware this is happening. The worry is increasingly clear: could these tactics be shifting how rangatahi view alcohol and make choices about drinking? And what does that mean for efforts to reduce alcohol harm in Aotearoa New Zealand?

A Marsden-funded research project led by Associate Professor Taisia Huckle (Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University) is tackling these questions. The interdisciplinary team includes Dr Acushla Sciascia (Ngāti Ruanui, Ngāruahine Rangi, Te Atiawa), Professor Antonia Lyons, Georgia McLellan (Whakatōhea, Ngāi Te Rangi), and Rawiri Nicholls (Ngāi Te Rangi) and brings together expertise in health, psychology, Māori studies, and digital behaviour to unpack how alcohol companies target rangatahi online, and how these young people actually experience it.

When marketing doesn’t look like marketing

On platforms like TikTok and Instagram, alcohol content often appears harmless: a joke, a vibe-heavy aesthetic, a meme that mimics influencer culture. But beneath the light tone is a sophisticated set of design strategies. Dark nudges use techniques that are unseen to the user but may push them in specific directions such as the illusion that “everyone’s doing it”, countdown clocks or limited-time deals that subtly steer people towards drinking-related choices. Sludge makes it difficult for rangatahi to resist such content and can include the positioning and colours of text.

Despite the change in young people’s attitudes towards drinking , for young New Zealanders who spend significant time online, this kind of marketing blends easily into daily life. This invisibility is precisely the risk: when ads don’t look like ads, their influence becomes harder to recognise, harder to critique, and easier to absorb.

While the research pays particular attention to rangatahi Māori, including how manipulative design intersects with mana motuhake (self-determination) and shapes ngā wawata (aspirations), the work is relevant to all youth in Aotearoa. The online environment that enables dark advertising is shared, and the pressures it creates cut across cultural and community lines. The Māori-led elements broaden its analytical lens, offering insights with wide applicability.

Hearing directly from our rangatahi

One of the most distinctive features of the study is its participatory approach. Young people across Aotearoa are sending the research team screenshots of the alcohol ads that surface in their feeds, capturing the precise content they encounter in everyday scrolling. These snapshots feed into friendship-group discussions, where researchers explore how young people interpret  the content and subtle persuasion in the fast-paced digital landscape.

To analyse these patterns, the team has created a new framework grounded in Te Ao Māori . This approach helps illuminate not only what these ads do, but why they matter for individuals, whānau, and communities navigating a rapidly evolving marketing environment.

Local insights with global impact

By blending conceptual innovation with lived experience, this research will generate vital evidence on how digital alcohol marketing reaches and influences young people. The findings will inform policy and prevention strategies in Aotearoa.

But the implications stretch far beyond national borders. As countries worldwide confront the rise of targeted, often invisible advertising, this project positions Aotearoa as a world leader in understanding and challenging how companies shape youth behaviour in the digital age.

Left to right: Taisia Huckle, Rawiri Nicholls, Antonia Lyons, Acushla Sciascia, Georgia McLellan (photo: supplied)