Binge Drinking - UK

Published by: Mintel International Group Ltd.

Published: Jun. 1, 2009 - 127 Pages

Table of Contents

Issues in the Market

Key themes

Definition

Abbreviations

Future Opportunities

'Slow drinking'

Don’t fight the culture?

Moulding men

Wining and dining

Market in Brief

Are we a nation of bingers?

Only one in seven binge drink

Less, but stronger

On-trade is suffering

Government and industry action

Raising awareness

Looking forward

Drinking Habits and Binge Drinking

Key points

The problem of definition

Figure 1: Knowledge of NHS recommended daily limits, by gender, 1997-2007

The government walking a tightrope

Despite the headlines, UK drinking is declining

Figure 2: Drinking trends of the population, 2004-08

Binge drinking becoming less acceptable amongst young

Figure 3: Agreement that the point of drinking is to get drunk, by age, 2004-08

Figure 4: Adults who drink two or three times a week, by age, 2008

Figure 5: Adults drinking three to seven times a week and average units per session, by age, February 2009

Socio-economic group and employment also impact on drinking

Figure 6: Adults who drink two or three times a week, by socio-economic group and working status, 2008

In-home drinking is stable, out-of-home is declining

Higher alcohol content

Figure 7: Litres of alcohol and of pure alcohol consumed per capita,1990-2007

Threat of spirits receding

Figure 8: Trends in consumption of alcoholic drinks two to three times a week, by type, 2004-08

Economic Impact on Binge Drinking

Key points

A taxing time

Figure 9: Trends in combined excise duty receipts for different types of alcoholic drink, 2001/02-2008/09

Despite heavy duty, cheap alcohol is on the rise

Drinking round the clock has not happened

Figure 10: 24-hour licences, 2007 and 2008

Tightening of the purse strings

Alcohol becoming less important to the economy

Figure 11: Changing shares of main categories of spend in the UK, at current prices, 1998 and 2008

More drinks are now non-alcoholic

Figure 12: Consumer expenditure on alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, 1998 and 2008

Demographic Impact on Binge Drinking

Key points

Empty nesters - the new binge drinkers

Figure 13: Structure of UK 18+ population, by age and gender, 2004, 2009 and 2014

Rising socio-economic group

Figure 14: Change in structure of the UK population, by socio-economic group, 2004-09 and 2009-14

Health Issues and Binge Drinking

Key points

Health issues - alcohol-related deaths are increasing

Figure 15: Alcohol-related deaths, by gender, 1991-2007

Social effects

Figure 16: Nature of behaviours experienced by those who perceive people being drunk or rowdy to be a problem in their local area, 2007/08

Frequency of Drinking Alcohol

Key points

Drinking culture shifting to in home

Figure 17: Drinking trends, by venue of consumption, 2004-08

Blame the men, but watch out for the women

Figure 18: Trends for drinking two to three times a week, by gender, 2004-08

Growing old disgracefully

Figure 19: Trends for drinking two to three times a week, by gender and age, 2004-08

Who Drinks and How Much?

Key points

Figure 20: Drinking behaviour in last three months, in and out of home, February 2009

Wine to the forefront of drinkers’ repertoires

Non-drinkers

One in five drinks too many units

Figure 21: Number of units of alcohol drunk in an average week, in and out of home, February 2009

Little and often or weekend binge

Figure 22: Number of days in an average week that alcohol is consumed, February 2009

Four in ten claim to be cutting back

Figure 23: Current drinking habits compared to two years ago, both in and out of home, February 2009

Drinking more as a coping mechanism

Attitudes towards Drinking

Key points

Government acts on attitudes

Figure 24: Attitudes towards drinking, February 2009

Moderate drinkers are most aware of government campaigns

Awareness of dangers

The cultural role of drinking

The root of the problem

Money troubles don’t always impact on alcohol consumption

Who Binges?

Key points

Identifying binge drinkers

Figure 25: Propensity to binge drink amongst population, by gender, age, socio-economic group and working status, February 2009

Is consistency key?

Figure 26: Average units per session, by gender, age and socio-economic group, February 2009

Coming of age

Sit back and relax

Figure 27: Attitudes of binge drinkers compared to non-binge drinkers, February 2009

Drinking groups

Figure 28: Alcohol drinking groups, February 2009

Figure 29: Attitudinal groups differentiated, by key statements, February 2009

Cultural bingers

Who are they?

Marketing message

Open to guidance

Who are they?

Marketing message

Not to be nannied

Who are they?

Marketing messages

Heightened concerns

Who are they?

Next steps

Helps me relax

Who are they?

Marketing messages

Communication and Promotion

Key points

Government ups the ante

Figure 30: Main monitored media advertising expenditure on alcoholic drinks and alcohol-related government campaigns, 2004-09

Educating and challenging

Figure 31: Main monitored media advertising expenditure on alcohol-related government campaigns, 2004-09

Restrictions on advertising

Industry and Government Initiatives

Key points

Industry

The Portman Group

The Drinkaware Trust

Government

National alcohol strategies

Alcohol labelling

A new retail code

Educational campaigns

Experiences outside England

Scotland

France

Finland

Australia

Companies’ Responsible Drinking Campaigns

Key points

Grocery multiples

Tesco

Morrisons

Sainsbury’s

Asda

Manufacturers

InBev UK

NPD

Responsible drinking campaigns

Diageo

NPD

Responsible drinking campaigns

Molson Coors (UK)

NPD

Responsible drinking campaigns

Other

Appendix - Internal Market Environment

Figure 32: Alcohol consumption, by demographics, 2008

Figure 33: Trends for drinking two or three times a week or more (both in and out of home), by demographics, 2004-08

Appendix - Health Issues and Binge Drinking

Figure 34: Alcohol affordability index compared to indexed no. of alcohol-related deaths, 2002-07

Appendix - The Consumer - Usage and Frequency

Figure 35: Which drinks people have drunk in the past three months both in and out of home, by demographics. February 2009

Figure 36: Which drinks people have drunk in the past three months both in and out of home, by demographics (continued), February 2009

Figure 37: Which drinks people have drunk in the past three months both in and out of home, by demographics (continued), February 2009

Figure 38: Which drinks people have drunk in the past three months both in and out of home, by demographics (continued), February 2009

Figure 39: In an average week, how many units of alcohol people normally drink, both in and out of home, by demographics, February 2009

Figure 40: In an average week, how many units of alcohol men normally drink above and below limit, both in and out of home, by demographics, February 2009

Figure 41: In an average week, how many units of alcohol women normally drink above and below limit, both in and out of home, by demographics, February 2009

Figure 42: In an average week, how many days people drink alcohol, both in and out of home, by demographics, February 2009

Figure 43: In how many people drink now, compared with two years ago, by demographics, February 2009

Appendix - The Consumer - Attitudes to Drinking

Figure 44: Which attitudes towards drinking people agree with, by demographics, February 2009

Figure 45: Which attitudes towards drinking people agree with, by demographics (continued), February 2009

Figure 46: Which attitudes towards drinking people agree with, by demographics (continued), February 2009

Appendix -The Consumer - Who Binges?

Identifying binge drinkers

Figure 47: Attitudinal groups, by statements, February 2009

Figure 48: How people have changed their alcoholic drinking habits over the past two years, February 2009

Figure 49: Average units per day of each attitudinal group, February 2009

Figure 50: Attitudinal groups and their proportion of binge drinkers, February 2009

Figure 51: Attitudinal groups and what types of alcohol they drink, February 2009

Figure 52: Attitudinal groups, by demographics, February 2009

APPENDIX: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Abstract

Drinking alcohol is engrained in British culture and shows no signs of abating - two thirds of adults drink at least once a week and the government estimates that 10 million people exceed daily limit guidelines.

Mintel last examined British drinking habits in Attitudes Towards Drinking - UK, November 2006, when the alcohol market was facing pressure from legislators and other interested parties because of the social and health problems being attributed to excessive alcohol consumption.

One of the issues examined in that report was the gulf between consumers’ attitudes towards drinking and the raw data showing alcohol consumption and alcohol-related issues on the rise.

This report examines attitudes towards excessive alcohol consumption in more detail given that government resources are being committed to making people aware of the unit content of alcoholic drinks and the physical dangers associated with drinking to excess.

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