Results of thematic analysis of positive, negative and neutral tweets with paraphrased examples
| n | % | Paraphrased example | |
| Theme of positive tweets | |||
| Reduces health harms | 352 | 70.4 | Minimum unit pricing will decrease hospital admissions and save lives #mupsaveslives |
| Reduces social harms | 13 | 2.6 | This will greatly reduce alcohol-fuelled violence and other countries must follow |
| Effectively targets the cheapest, strongest alcohol | 36 | 7.2 | Strong cider sold at pocket money prices is hugely damaging |
| Scotland has an alcohol problem and something must be done | 26 | 5.2 | This country has an awful relationship with drink - let’s try MUP |
| MUP is an evidence-based policy | 5 | 1.0 | The evidence backs MUP, which has been approved by the courts and will be extensively evaluated with a sunset clause |
| Nil reason given | 60 | 12.0 | Excellent work from the SNP! |
| Incorrectly classified as positive | 8 | 1.6 | |
| Total | 500 | 100 | |
| Theme of negative tweets | |||
| Alcoholics will not decrease their alcohol intake | 138 | 27.6 | Alcoholics will not buy less but their children will go without so they can get it |
| Increase in illicit alcohol production and/or encourage cross-border trading | 71 | 14.2 | Hoards will rush over the border to stock up on frosty jacks - who would’ve thought we’d have a booze cruise in 2018 |
| Libertarian | 54 | 10.8 | First the sugar tax and now this - the nanny state won’t stop |
| A tax on the poor | 52 | 10.4 | Another example of a classist poor-bashing policy |
| Increase in drug use and/or petty crime | 23 | 4.6 | Neds will rob grannies for booze money and the jakeys will turn to drugs instead |
| Punishes responsible drinkers | 17 | 3.4 | A few people can’t drink responsibly and now everyone else has to pay the price? |
| Increases retailer profits | 6 | 1.2 | All this will do is line the pockets of billionaires - the supermarkets can’t believe their luck |
| Harms businesses | 2 | 0.4 | How many jobs will be lost from this? |
| Alcohol consumption is a cultural problem | 3 | 0.6 | Other countries with cheap alcohol don’t have the same problems - the problem isn’t to do with the price |
| Nil reason given | 108 | 21.6 | This new alcohol law is embarrassing bs #SNPfail |
| Incorrectly classified as negative | 26 | 5.2 | |
| Total | 500 | 100 | |
| Theme of neutral tweets | |||
| Factual | 301 | 60 | Scotland introduces new alcohol law |
| Humour | 102 | 20 | Great that Scotland are adopting the alcohol pricing design they have trialled for so long at the Edinburgh fringe |
| Balanced/Unclear Sentiment | 82 | 16 | On the one hand it could reduce overconsumption of alcohol, but on the other it could encourage a black market |
| Incorrectly classified as neutral | 15 | 3 | |
MUP, minimum unit pricing; SNP, Scottish National Party.