Facebook users who are frequently exposed to alcohol-related pages or posts -- whether It's a like a share or comment -- are more likely to consider drinking alcohol, according to a recent study.

Researchers at Michigan State University found that the more social media users engaged with alcohol-related Facebook items, the greater their chances are of wanting to drink.

"What we found is if people actually feel so engaged with that message and want to do something about it -- like, share or comment -- that it makes the likelihood of them thinking about drinking even greater," Saleem Alhabash, an assistant professor of advertising and public relations who headed up the study, said in a statement. "Alcohol content is everywhere. Underage drinkers will see these ads, think they're cool, and then like or share. They interact with it and start thinking about it."

Barriers to underage youth seeing alcohol ads online are "minimal," Alhabash said. Social media, by law, cannot target alcohol-related content to those under 21, but "once it's out there you don't own it. You can't control what happens to it."

For the study, researchers asked more than 400 participants about their feelings after they encountered and responded to alcohol-related Facebook items. They were shown three Facebook pages -- one that was an alcohol marketing Facebook post paired with a display promoting drinking; another coupled with an anti-drinking public service announcement; and another coupled with a non-drinking ad, such as an ad for a bank.

They found that the participants who were interested in liking, sharing or commenting on the alcohol marketing messages showed greater intentions to consume alcohol. This was especially true when the marketing message they viewed already had high numbers of likes and shares from other Facebook users.

"Do intentions lead to actions?" asked Anna McAlister, an assistant professor of advertising and public relations and a team member. "Intention is the single strongest predictor of actual behavior."

The findings are detailed in the journal Mass Communication and Society.