Wine drinkers spend more but go out less, finds research

The research, which was carried out by YouGov for WDR, found that that 87 per cent of British adult drinkers go on some form of night out, with 37 per cent going to a restaurant when they go out, drink-led pubs were 2nd choice (32 per cent), food-led pubs 3rd (26 per cent), high street branded pubs 4th (20 per cent), and gastropubs 5th (11 per cent).

The study, which is contained in the 5th edition of WDR, was based on the responses of 5,432 British adult drinkers, who took part in online omnibus panels between September and November 2010.

it also found that red wine drinkers spend more on average each time they go out (£17.68) than any other type of drinker. The study found that lager (£56) and bitter (£54) drinkers tend to spend the most going out each month. But they also go out far more than other types of drinker, which brings their average spend per trip down to £15.97 and £11.49 respectively.

However, the research found that those adults most likely to drink at home are red wine drinkers (86 per cent), whilst the least likely are bitter drinkers (39 per cent).

Wine linked with food

Tim Wilson, managing director of the WDR, commented: “Whilst our analysis shows that wine drinkers tend to go out less than lager or bitter drinkers, wine drinkers do spend the most each time they go out. The trick for pub, bar and restaurant owners is to encourage wine drinkers to go out more often and to make sure they maintain their average spend per trip.

“Although restaurants came out top overall, our analysis of the research shows a big difference in behaviour between wine drinkers and the rest.

“Those adults who mostly drink wine tend to go to places where food is the main focus: restaurants, food-led pubs and gastro pubs. Lager, bitter, cider and spirits drinkers, on the other hand, prefer to go to drink-led pubs. This split has profound implications for the relative success and profitability of pubs, bars and restaurants.”

The research also showed that red wine drinkers (18 per cent) are more likely to go to gastro pubs than any other type of drinker.

Wilson noted : “Many analysts regard gastro pubs as the most likely pub format to survive the incredibly tough trading conditions that we face in the UK. It seems that red wine drinkers again hold the key to saving many of our pubs, bars and restaurants.”