Millennial drinkers not fussed about brand loyalty, says UBS
Millennial drinkers express less brand loyalty than their older counterparts, preferring to experiment with their alcohol consumption according to research released on Wednesday by UBS.
The openness of younger drinkers to the influence of brand promotion lies behind such behaviour, the Swiss broker said, although factors such as celebrity endorsements or brand novelty did not score well in a ranking of the key drivers for picking alcoholic drinks.
UBS said this suggests that millennials, a crucial segment of the market for drinks manufacturers due to their higher consumption compared to older consumers, are trying to find a brand that appeals to them most.
Millennials were also observed to place more importance on the calorie count of drinks than average consumers did, while quality and the premium nature of some brands were deemed less important.
"Clearly, there is an increased wellness and health awareness trend among millennials that companies try to follow with roll- outs of brand variants with lower ABV as well as products based only on organic ingredients," UBS said.
Beer, heavy and calorific as it is, appeared to be on the slide among millennials as spirits such as vodka, rum and whiskey (or Whisky) grow in popularity.
Unsurprisingly perhaps, taste, recommendations and trust were the top three drivers of brand selection for almost every variety of drink, losing out to promotions and quality only when respondents were quizzed about cognac.
The research stems from Swiss multinational investment bank UBS's fourth annual survey of 2,600 US alcohol consumers.