Whether you had a dry January, a damp January, or a flooded one, there is no doubt that the general trend towards living a more moderated lifestyle continues to grow in popularity. In the first week of February, we spoke to 500 UK consumers who cut down their alcohol intake during January<\/strong>, to understand why they chose to do so and their plans for future consumption. This is what they told us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of the 500 consumers we spoke to, 19% cut out alcohol completely in January, whilst others were reducing their intake or choosing more no- and low-alcohol options. And this moderation looks to be here to stay, as 73% are planning to reduce the amount they consume in total across the year; another 14% are trying to give it up completely! Even if reality doesn\u2019t match intent, the trend towards moderation is real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So why did these consumers moderate their alcohol intake in January? For most, it\u2019s part of a plan to live a healthier lifestyle (51%), as well as a desire to save money (45%). Those who gave up alcohol completely during January were far more likely to be Gen Y or Z, rather than Gen X or Boomers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Okay, so people are drinking less, at least in January, and maybe longer term. What are they having instead? For nearly half (45%), the go-to alternatives were hot drinks, carbonated drinks, or juices. For non-alcoholic alternatives (chosen 25% of the time), non-alcoholic beer (64%) and ready-to-drink cocktails (33%) were the most popular choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the three-quarters of moderators who don\u2019t drink no- or low-alcohol alternatives, 64% have an issue with taste, price, or both. Perhaps unsurprisingly then, mocktails and ready-to-drink cocktails score the highest when consumers are asked about quality (50%+ positive).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Are you wondering what is most important to people when they look for alternatives to alcohol?<\/strong> What about whether beer drinkers and gin drinkers (and other categories) want the same things? Curious whether there\u2019s a difference in behaviour when looking at household income? And from which brands do consumers want to see more low- and no-alcohol options?<\/p>\n\n\n\n