Correlates of In-Store Promotions for Beer: Differential Effects of Market and Product Characteristics*

What U.S. data should be used to measure the price elasticity of demand for alcohol?

This paper examines how estimates of the price elasticity of demand for beer vary with the choice of alcohol price series examined. Our most important finding is that the commonly used ACCRA price data are unlikely to reliably indicate alcohol demand elasticities-estimates obtained from this source vary drastically and unpredictably. As an alternative, researchers often use beer taxes to proxy for alcohol prices. While the estimated beer taxes elasticities are more stable, there are several problems with using taxes, including difficulties in accounting for cross-price effects. We believe that the most useful estimates reported in this paper are obtained using annual Uniform Product Code (UPC) "barcode" scanner data on grocery store alcohol prices. These estimates suggest relatively low demand elasticity, probably around -0.3, with evidence that the elasticities are considerably overstated in models that control for beer but not wine or spirits prices.

Are Alcohol Prices and Taxes an Evidence-Based Approach to Reducing Alcohol-Related Harm and Promoting Public Health and Safety? A Literature Review

This literature review examines alcohol prices and taxes as potential prevention strategies—examining the links with high-risk drinking and drinking patterns and alcohol-related harm. A literature search of the studies on alcohol price and taxation was conducted using multiple electronic bibliographic databases. Examined outcomes were a) drinking patterns and high risk drinking; and b) harm from alcohol. Fifty-four relevant studies were evaluated, and the majority found that a change in price or taxes on alcohol had an impact on one or more of the two main outcome variables. Significant variations exist across studies in terms of designs, settings, effects across groups, and types of harm. In order to reduce alcohol-related trauma, chronic disease, and other consequences of high-risk drinking, an increase in pricing/taxation is a central component of an overall alcohol strategy.

Potential consequences of replacing a retail alcohol monopoly with a private licence system: results from Sweden

AIM

To examine the potential effects of replacing the Swedish alcohol retail system with a private licensing system on alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harm.

DESIGN

Two possible scenarios were analysed: (1) replacing the current alcohol retail monopoly with private licensed stores that specialize in alcohol sales or (2) making all alcohol available in grocery stores. We utilized a multiplicative model that projected effects of changes in a set of key factors including hours of sale, retail prices, promotion and advertising and outlet density. Next, we estimated the effect of the projected consumption increase on a set of harm indicators. Values for the model parameters were obtained from the research literature.

MEASUREMENTS

Measures of alcohol-related harm included explicitly alcohol-related mortality, accident mortality, suicide, homicide, assaults, drinking driving and sickness absence.

FINDINGS

According to the projections, scenario 1 yields a consumption increase of 17% (1.4 litres/capita), which in turn would cause an additional 770 deaths, 8500 assaults, 2700 drinking driving offences and 4.5 million sick days per year. The corresponding figures for scenario 2 are a consumption increase of 37.4% (3.1 litres/capita) leading to an additional annual toll of 2000 deaths, 20 000 assaults, 6600 drinking driving offences and 11.1 million days of sick leave.

CONCLUSIONS

Projections based on the research literature suggest that privatization of the Swedish alcohol retail market would significantly increase alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harm.

You save money when you buy in bulk: does volume-based pricing cause people to buy more beer?

This paper uses supermarket scanner data to estimate brand- and packaging-specific own- and cross-price elasticities for beer. We find that brand- and packaging-specific beer sales are highly price elastic. Cross-price elasticity estimates suggest that individuals are more likely to buy a higher-volume package of the same brand of beer than they are to switch brands. Policy simulations suggest that regulation of volume-based price discounts is potentially more effective than a tax increase at reducing beer consumption. Our results suggest that volume-based price discounting induces people to buy larger-volume packages of beer and may lead to an increased overall beer consumption.

O impacto da publicidade de bebidas alcoólicas sobre o consumo entre jovens: revisão da literatura internacional

OBJETIVO: Problemas relacionados ao consumo de álcool são freqüentes, especialmente entre a população jovem. A publicidade de bebidas alcoólicas é um dos fatores passíveis de modificação com impacto no aumento do consumo de álcool. MÉTODO: Foi realizada uma revisão bibliográfica de trabalhos que investigaram de diversos pontos de vista o impacto da publicidade do álcool sobre o consumo. A busca foi feita nas bases de dados Medline, SciELO, PsychoInfo e Google Scholar no período entre 1990 e 2008 e utilizou-se a técnica de " bola de neve" para a indicação de autores mais profícuos na área. Obtiveram-se mais de uma centena de artigos. RESULTADOS: O conjunto de trabalhos aponta que fatores como exposição à publicidade e atratividade da publicidade de bebidas alcoólicas estão relacionados com uma maior expectativa de consumo futuro e com um consumo maior e mais precoce, principalmente entre adolescentes e adultos jovens. Apesar das dificuldades metodológicas, estudos econométricos mais recentes consideram que a redução e/ou banimento de publicidade teria efeito de redução do consumo de álcool. Questões referentes às bases neurofisiológicas do processo de tomada de decisões e da liberdade de escolha no contexto da exposição à publicidade também são discutidas. CONCLUSÕES: O conhecimento atual sobre o tema indica que a redução da exposição à publicidade tem impacto sobre o consumo de álcool, principalmente entre os mais jovens.