Alcohol market research
Alcohol market research that reflects how people really buy
Alcohol market research is how beer, wine, spirits and RTD brands understand how people really choose what to drink, and where growth actually sits. It spans brand positioning, occasion and shopper research, innovation and flavor testing, segmentation and brand health. Basis runs it across the US, UK and globally, for a single brand or a full portfolio.
Alcohol looks like a simple category to read. Buyers return to the same brands, decide fast, and lean on habit and memory more than comparison. That surface simplicity is exactly what makes it easy to misread, because underneath the habit, the category switches easily.
Drinks look loyal. They’re up for grabs.
Alcohol looks like the most loyal category there is. Buyers arrive with a brand in mind more reliably than almost anywhere: 68% of spirits buyers say theirs came to mind first, and in beer, 73% reach for the one they always buy. It looks like brand strength. It isn’t, or not the kind you can bank.
Because the same buyers switch at the first excuse. Nearly half of spirits buyers would have bought a different brand if it had been cheaper, more price-fragile than any of the other 17 categories in our 2026 study. In beer, 51% say switching would be easy and 41% would have gone elsewhere for a cheaper rival. The loyalty is loud, and it’s thin. Easy to remember, easy to replace.
That’s because alcohol isn’t won on brand equity alone. It’s won on salience, availability and the occasion: coming to mind, being in reach, being worth the price on the day. Trust and premium credentials earn a place on the shortlist; they don’t seal the choice. So the brands that win aren’t the ones that look most loyal. They’re the ones that stay top of mind, show up in the right occasions, and keep giving people a fresh reason to reach for them, on purpose, again and again.
What great alcohol research delivers
In a category that looks loyal but switches at the first excuse, the job of research is to show how people really choose, and where your next point of growth actually sits.
We help alcohol brands:
- Understand how buyers really choose, before the trip and at the shelf
- Sharpen positioning so your brand comes to mind first, and means something when it does
- Find where growth actually sits, in new occasions, audiences and needs
- Develop and test new products, flavors and propositions before they hit shelf
- Map the occasions and entry points you win, and the ones you’re missing
- Build segmentations grounded in real drinking occasions and attitudes
- Test creative and messaging that earns attention in a crowded category
- Track brand health over time, salience, availability and the pull to switch
How an alcohol study comes together
No off-the-shelf template. We build every alcohol study around the decision in front of you, then choose the methods that answer it.
That usually means a mix. Qualitative work to get inside the occasion and what actually earns the reach. Quantitative research to size occasions, segments and demand, and to separate loud loyalty from the real thing. Organic Intelligence, our AI and big-data practice, to read across millions of real drinks conversations and reviews. Cultural and trend analysis to tell a lasting shift from a passing moment. And shopper and occasion work, through Touchpoint 360°, to follow the choice from the trip to the shelf.
AI runs through all of it, from how we read conversation at scale to how we model demand. The judgment about what it means for your brand stays human.
Alcohol market research FAQ
What is alcohol market research?
Alcohol market research is how beer, wine, spirits and RTD brands understand how people really choose what to drink, and where growth actually sits. It covers brand positioning, occasion and shopper research, innovation and flavor testing, segmentation and brand health, including salience, availability and the pull to switch. Basis runs it across the US, UK and globally, for a single brand or a full portfolio.
How do people choose which drink to buy?
Mostly on habit, but far less loyally than it looks. Buyers arrive with a brand in mind, yet switch at the first excuse: nearly half of spirits buyers say they’d have bought a different brand if it had been cheaper. Basis finds that salience, availability and the occasion, being top of mind and in reach on the day, do more to win the choice than brand equity alone.
What does Basis do in alcohol market research?
Basis works across brand positioning, occasion and shopper research, innovation and flavor testing, segmentation, and brand health tracking, for beer, wine, spirits and RTD brands. Every project is scoped around the commercial question rather than a fixed template, from sharpening a single brand’s positioning to finding the next point of growth across a full portfolio.
How can alcohol market research find growth?
By showing where a brand is winning or missing occasions, audiences and needs, rather than reading loyalty at face value. Basis maps how people really choose, sizes the occasions worth backing, and tests new products, flavors and propositions before they hit shelf, so investment goes where growth actually sits instead of where a brand only looks safe.
Why is loyalty misleading in alcohol?
Because it’s loud but thin. Buyers reach for a familiar brand out of habit, which reads as strength, yet the same buyers switch easily for a cheaper bottle, a new flavor or whatever catches their eye. Basis measures how exposed that base really is, so brands defend the right ground instead of over-investing where they only appear secure.
Can Basis research beer, wine, spirits and RTDs?
Yes. Basis works across the full drinks category, from beer and wine to spirits and ready-to-drink, for a single brand or a whole portfolio. The approach adapts to each sub-category, because the occasions, buyers and switching behavior behind a beer are not the same as those behind a premium spirit or an RTD.
Which markets can Basis run alcohol research in?
Basis runs alcohol market research in the US, the UK and globally from a single team, rather than stitching together separate local suppliers. That means consistent method and comparable results across markets, with local nuance where it matters, useful for drinks brands managing a portfolio across regions and occasions.
Why alcohol teams choose Basis
We understand that in drinks what looks like loyalty can hide how easily a brand loses buyers. So we don’t hand over a tidy answer and disappear. We work with your team to show how people really choose, and turn it into sharper brands, products and positioning.
What we bring:
- Deep drinks expertise across beer, wine, spirits and RTDs
- A decision-first approach, built around how people really choose in the category
- Fluency in salience, availability and the occasions that carry the category
- End-to-end capability across qual, quant, Organic Intelligence and cultural insight
- The confidence to challenge an easy answer, and the focus to find where you really grow
See where alcohol growth really comes from
We help drinks brands read past loud, thin loyalty to how people really choose, and where the next point of growth actually sits.
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