People aged 25-44, who account for a whopping 42% of Europe's multi-million pound alcoholic drinks market, are being ignored by alcoholic drinks manufacturers, claimed a new report by independent market analyst Datamonitor.
Instead, companies continue to regard young adults as the key target group, despite concerns about excessive alcohol intake among many interest groups.
“Overall the volume of alcoholic drinks consumed is decreasing across Europe and the US”, said Matt Adams, consumer markets analyst at Datamonitor and author of the report. “Whilst the rise inbinge drinking among young adults has to a degree helped to stem this volume reduction, this decline is set to continue. As such, failure to tap into the 'midlifer' group could potentially spell the end for some players in this market.”
Midlifers have greater personal wealth than young adults and will be prepared to pay premium prices for products that provide quality over quantity, claimed the report. “The convergence of gourmet leanings and the pursuit of connoisseur status are key drivers in establishing the premium alcoholic drinks market,” said Adams. “Whilst the volume of alcohol consumed by midlifers is decreasing, their adoption of the 'fewer drinks but of better quality' approach, is helping to maintain the high value of this market.”
Alcoholic drinks manufacturers appear to be blind to the facts, said Adams. “Midlifers are a more profitable group to service. Today, they stay single for longer, have a greater need for social interaction, low level of commitments, thus display many of the traits and behaviours of young adults, and have higher incomes,” he said.
Furthermore, in view of concerns with binge drinking, its impact on health and disorderly behaviour, the positive score midlifers attributed to indulgence as a motivating factor in the research, shows intoxication is less important for midlifers than it is for young adults, he added.