Price sensitivity and consumer behaviour towards small-container alcoholic drinks in the context of the levy on the sale of these drinks.

The aim of the project is to determine how the levy on alcoholic drinks in containers of up to 300 ml might influence consumers’ purchasing decisions; in particular, at what level of the levy consumers accept the price, at what level they decide not to buy, and at what level they switch to larger containers.

The specific objectives include:

• determining price thresholds for consumption vs. no consumption,
• estimating own-price and cross-price elasticities between containers of different volume,
• estimating the actual prevalence of small-container drink purchases, taking into account the stigma associated with this behaviour, and
• understanding consumers’ motivations, attitudes and decision-making processes.

The study consists of two complementary, quantitative and qualitative, components.

The project is co-funded by the Gambling Problem Resolution Fund on behalf of the National Centre for Addiction Prevention.