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The purpose of this paper is to explore the history, classification, regulation, the current market and consumer trends and health effects of alcopops.

The articles reviewed were selected based on the following key descriptors such as alcopop, history, classification, types, production and consumption trend, health benefits and adverse effect.

“Alcopop” is a collective term used to refer to flavored alcoholic beverages (FAB), also known as malt alcoholic beverage; ready-to-drink beverage (RTD); pre-packaged spirit or premium packaged spirit; high-strength (HS) pre-mixed beverage; pre-mixed caffeinated alcoholic beverage or alcoholic energy drink, etc. Alcopops were introduced into the market in 1990s. Starting with the introduction of FAB in the form of wine coolers, a large number of alcoholic beverages have been introduced. FAB are sweet, containing relatively low alcohol content and especially designed for the young drinkers also called the “entry-level” drinkers. They are popular among young and underage drinkers, teenage girls particularly, and the industries use packaging materials and marketing strategies that appear to target the youth. These products are now marketed globally, and their production, classification and marketing vary by country based on national regulatory restrictions. In countries such as USA and Australia, the industry represents that the products were malt beverages for regulatory purpose which were found to be false as other products were derived from distilled spirits. The product has no health benefits so far, the government need to reform their regulations and include new definitions of alcopops with available restrictions that would be practice at both national and state levels until and unless there have been another scientifically approved method of production through which the beverage could be beneficial for human consumption.

This is a unique and comprehensive review that will provide a brief overview of alcopops, i.e., a global perspective on the new category of alcoholic beverage.

Food choices profoundly affect one's dietary, nutritional and health outcomes. Using alcoholic beverages as a case study, the authors assess the potential of genetic data in predicting consumers' food choices combined with conventional socio-demographic data.

A discrete choice experiment was conducted to elicit the underlying preferences of 484 participants from seven provinces in China. By linking three types of data (—data from the choice experiment, socio-demographic information and individual genotyping data) of the participants, the authors employed four machine learning-based classification (MLC) models to assess the performance of genetic information in predicting individuals' food choices.

The authors found that the XGBoost algorithm incorporating both genetic and socio-demographic data achieves the highest prediction accuracy (77.36%), significantly outperforming those using only socio-demographic data (permutation test p-value = 0.033). Polygenic scores of several behavioral traits (e.g. depression and height) and genetic variants associated with bitter taste perceptions (e.g. TAS2R5 rs2227264 and TAS2R38 rs713598) offer contributions comparable to that of standard socio-demographic factors (e.g. gender, age and income).

This study is among the first in the economic literature to empirically demonstrate genetic factors' important role in predicting consumer behavior. The findings contribute fresh insights to the realm of random utility theory and warrant further consumer behavior studies integrating genetic data to facilitate developments in precision nutrition and precision marketing.

The purpose of this study is to understand the effect of price promotions, venue and place of residence on low‐risk, risky and high‐risk alcohol consumption behaviour of young women between 18 and 24 years of age who attend university in Australia, Wales and Germany.

The quantitative, self‐administered questionnaire collected data from a convenience sample of three universities in three OECD countries with high alcohol consumption being: a regional Australian university (n=305), a city Welsh university (n=354) and a rural German university (n=325).

First, the multinomial logistic regression results revealed that price promotions and venue influenced alcohol consumption in Wales alone while place of residence influenced alcohol consumption in Australia; however, price promotions, venue and place of residence had no effect on young women attending university in Germany. Second, the binomial logistic regression results for Wales reported a sensitivity to price promotions for all three alcohol consumption risk classifications; however, location was of little consequence to risky drinkers when compared to high risk drinkers. For Australia, the place of residence did not influence alcohol consumption for both risky and high‐risk drinkers.

The value of this study lies in the examination of three levels of alcohol consumption – low‐risk, risky and high‐risk – for the same cohort across three countries using the same test instrument and standard alcohol consumption metrics. As such, this study provides a more meaningful macro view of alcohol consumption; thus has the capacity to contribute to effectual intervention strategies.

Reports research by the National Consumer Council (NCC) into UK children’s experiences and views as consumers; this survey of 10 to 19 year olds found that they form a new shopping generation which is more even consumer brand oriented than American counterparts but feels vulnerable and is critical of shops, companies and advertisers. Outlines the NCC recommendations for a children’s agenda: this covers stiffer fines for mis‐selling to children, monitoring of children’s wellbeing and life satisfaction, new Ofcom powers to enforce content labelling for entertainment, and ending abuses in Internet marketing to children.

The purpose of the study was to devise an instrument, labelled the Fine Wine Instrument (FWI), to measure the fine wine behaviour of respondents and then use that base to segment the consumer sample. The behaviour of those respondents who scored highly on the FWI was examined in detail.

An online survey collected quantitative information from a convenience sample of Australian wine consumers (n = 1,017). Using the FWI as the segmentation base, cluster analysis identified three segments of consumers, denoted “Wine Enthusiasts”, “Aspirants” and “No Frills” wine drinkers, and their respective wine-related behaviours were examined.

The Wine Enthusiasts’ segment consumed more wine, spent more money on wine and were more knowledgeable about wine than the other two segments. The demographics of the Wine Enthusiasts’ segment indicated that the members were not consistent with the conventional view of wine connoisseurs, as many were under the age of 35. Their lifetime value to the wine industry was highlighted along with potential targeting strategies. Some structural elements of the Australian domestic wine market were also noted.

A segmentation base of a wine market is presented, which the authors argue provides a more sophisticated analysis than other commonly used segmentation bases.

This study was the first to segment the Australian market using the recently developed FWI. The study provides the latest information on this market and deeper consumer insights that may permit better business-to-consumer engagement.

To propose a model for ethical behaviour based on product, production and marketing methods, and to make use of qualitative data relating to a specific product in order to test its validity. This model is termed the Ethical Cube.

The model was developed as a result of early examination of ethical practices. It was then tested using publicly available examples of marketing, production and product information concerning the wine industry.

The model was found to be effective, if basic. Proposals for improvements and extensions are put forward.

The examples used are largely those that are in the public domain. Facets of a product are classed as ethical or unethical according to the number of reported examples in each area of study – with a special emphasis on production and marketing.

This can provide a standard framework for assessing the ethicality of any product.

This paper is of value to researchers and marketing practitioners seeking to evaluate the public impressions of a specific product.

The purpose of this paper is to identify factors associated with drinking patterns during pregnancy.

A rapid evidence assessment was undertaken, scanning multiple databases for studies examining factors associated with alcohol consumption in pregnancy. Studies were included if they stratified data according to quantity of alcohol consumed and identified relevant associated factors. Drinking patterns were classified as light/moderate and heavy/binge.

In total, 15 studies were included (N=7 light/moderate; N=15 heavy/binge drinking). Factors associated with alcohol consumption during pregnancy included: smoking, age, SES, marital status, pre-pregnancy substance use and parity. While few studies reported an association between heavy/binge drinking and maternal mental health, none of the studies included explored the association between mental health and light/moderate drinking.

Relatively few studies have looked at the association between psychological characteristics of women and their drinking patterns. There is a lack of articles examining light/moderate drinking in pregnancy compared to heavy/binge drinking. Moreover, there is marked variation in how alcohol use is measured. Further studies are needed to increase understanding of the association between psychological factors and patterns of drinking during pregnancy, and how health professionals might support women in this context.

The authors expand on previous work by examining two different patterns of alcohol consumption in pregnancy, rather than alcohol use simply as an isolated concept. The two groups were found to differ in a number of demographic and social factors. This information could be used to aid healthcare professionals in targeting specific interventions to those women most at risk.