Heavy episodic drinking is prevalent among 39% of students and is associated with individual and societal harm. For the development of effective prevention and interventions strategies it is important to understand the cognitive mechanisms that drive alcohol-related behavior. The present study examines, based on the dual-process model of addiction, whether implicit and explicit alcohol-related processes differ in their sensitivity to contextual cues. 

Twenty-one students completed both an alcohol-related and neutral context condition, induced through guided imagery. Implicit motivation was measured with an alcohol approach bias measure and explicit motivation with self-reported positive alcohol expectancies, completed in both conditions. No significant difference was found in alcohol approach bias and positive alcohol expectancies between alcohol-related and neutral context conditions. 

The interaction effect of context × measure was also non-significant. However, the effect sizes for approach bias and the interaction approached medium thresholds. Future studies with a sufficiently powered sample and more ecologically valid context inductions, such as virtual reality environments, are needed to draw conclusions about the differential context-sensitivity of implicit and explicit alcohol-related processes.