2 - Understanding the behavior of beer consumers

Abstract

In the beer market, changes in demand are playing a pivotal role for future sectoral dynamics. Beer drinkers are increasingly seeking new tastes, experiencing different consumption situations and food matching, and demonstrating willingness to pay for superior quality products. The purpose of this chapter is to analyze the recent scientific literature investigating beer demand and beer consumer perceptions and preferences. Using a systematic review, we found 65 journal articles—indexed in the Web of Science and Scopus databases and published in the period from 2010 to 2019—analyzing beer consumer perceptions and preferences. We observed an increasing interest in recent years among scholars in studying beer consumption from a marketing perspective, especially in the case of craft and premium beer. Studies during the last decade have identified a significant number of determinants characterizing (craft) beer consumption. Sociodemographic characteristics are considered one of the main market segmentation factors, mainly in terms of age, gender, and lifestyle. Among other individual factors, involvement in beer, familiarity with beers and brands, and consumer knowledge of beers and frequency of consumption play a focal role. Moreover, consumption situations and occasions are relevant segmentation variables. Consumer perceptions of new styles of beer and speciality beers (such as sustainable or organic beer) require additional attention from scholars and market analysts. They potentially represent factors generating further differentiation strategies in the beer market for the future. Thus there is a need for further research in this field, along with more cross-country analysis, to better understand beer market particularities and allow beer businesses to meet the multiple expectations of beer consumers.