Alternative drinks: Understanding perceptions of a novel drink category using open-ended surveys in simulated drinking contexts

Abstract

Hop water is advertised as an alcohol-free and zero-calorie beer alternative or a more “natural” flavored seltzer alternative. This study investigates whether experiential or contextual factors influence consumers to perceive hop water as more beer-like or seltzer-like. 43 regular seltzer-drinkers, 41 regular beer-drinkers, 45 regular drinkers of both, and 68 who regularly drink neither tasted three commercially-available hop waters inside one of three drinking contexts (apartment garden, office breakroom, or outdoor bar) simulated in an immersive room using sound and 360° video projection. They described their overall perceptions, similar products, and potential drivers of liking or disliking. In order to quantify the beer-likeness and seltzer-likeness of descriptions, we identified sensory terms associated with beer or seltzer using a Correspondence Analysis of descriptions of typical beers, seltzers, and other drink categories from 518 online survey responses. Tokenized responses from the immersive tasting were projected into this space and the highest-contributing terms determined. In the bar, participants more often compared drinks to beer. In the breakroom, participants focused on carbonation. Regular beer-drinkers described the products with less beer-like vocabulary. These findings suggest perceptual assimilation with context-based expectations and perceptual contrast with more familiar products, especially for products in-between well-known categories.