More than half of consumers reported consuming less alcohol throughout the pandemic, What If Media Group, a performance marketing company found when it surveyed consumers.
“Faced with the greatest health crisis in over a century, most Americans took their time at home as an opportunity not just to “mask up” — but to adopt healthier habits as a whole,” says Jordan Cohen, Chief Marketing Officer at What If Media Group.
“Despite the widely reported spike in alcohol sales at the start of the pandemic, most consumers — including those young party animals — actually reported drinking less or looking at new lower alcohol alternatives; and people across generations say they’ve been eating healthier and making better decisions at the supermarket,” he said, adding:
“With restrictions loosening, and people beginning to return to bars and restaurants, whether these health-conscious trends continue into the “post-pandemic world” will be something for brands to pay close attention to.”
While that trend may have been driven by the lack of social gatherings, the survey results indicate that shifting consumer tastes for healthier options may also be at play, particularly among younger consumers — 62.9% ages 20-29 who were asked the following questions said they consumed less alcohol during the pandemic than before. The questions they were asked are:
- How Has The Pandemic Changed Your Alcohol Consumption?
- Are You Interested in Healthier Alcoholic-Beverage Alternatives?
- Are You Embracing Pandemic-Related Healthier Eating?
Whether or not these trends will hold as Gen Z ages and grows in spending power, there is a clear opportunity for marketers and advertisers to tap into health-related concerns within this group. Despite this, 53.8% of those aged between 20 and 29 report never or rarely having seen either online or TV ads for new low or non-alcoholic adult beverages–a clear gap in the market when it comes to matching buyer intent.
Additionally, age seems to be the best predictor of these preferences: while men are significantly more likely than women to make a new year’s resolution to drink less alcohol (45.3% compared to 37.9%), approximately 60% of both men and women have no interest in trying healthier alternatives.
This pattern also holds true when it comes to eating throughout the pandemic: while 28.1% of all consumers reported that staying at home had led to them eating more healthily, younger consumers were by far the largest cohort to do so: Some 35.7% of those 19 and under-reported dietary improvements, along with 28.5% of 20-29-year-olds. That compares favorably to the next three age decades, with only those over 60 improving their diet at a higher rate than the youngest respondents.