Datamonitor’s analysis has found that consumers are refusing to let economic worries influence their favourite tipple when out with family and friends in bars and restaurants. They would prefer to drink less of a premium branded drink than risk being seen to trade down. Yet, once they’re back home, they’re happier to trade down to lower cost alcohol.
“It’s typical keeping up with the Jones’ behaviour just exaggerated during the recession,” says Richard Parker, senior consumer insights analyst at Datamonitor. “In a significant number of cases, people are actually trading up, so rather than drinking two or three bottles of house wine with a meal, they’re splurging on one top-end bottle.”
An unwillingness to sacrifice premium brands is a worrying trend for the alcohol industry, though, as the economy starts to recover.
“Although people are sticking with quality, they’re drinking less, impacting on the bottom line of the industry,” says Parker. “Companies that have introduced offers and cut their prices will struggle to maintain a reputation for being a premium product. As a result, people will start to trade up to new products and experiment. Therefore, we can expect to see those products that have spent money on innovation do well in the near future.”
Source: Datamonitor
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