The Gender Pint Gap Revisited FINAL - Flipbook - Page 22
THE GENDER PINT GAP: REVISITED/DRINKING HABITS
Commentary and Opportunities
The taste of beer becomes in
increasingly important factor as
women reach 45 to 54, and then
drops away again as they age.
For men, taste remains the
most important factor for them
throughout their adult lives
with over 65% rating is as the
most enjoyable factor.
As women age, they can tolerate
higher levels of flavour because
their taste buds become
desensitised, and therefore
their enjoyment of aromas and
flavours becomes increasingly
important.
The ‘Supertasters’
Many studies have shown that women are ‘supertasters’ because
they have more taste areas (fungiform papillae) on their tongue
than men. This sensitivity to flavour is at its highest during the
reproductive years.
Women can ascertain specific aromas and flavours at a far lower
level than men during the reproductive years, and for some, the
level of bitter or sour tastes in particular can be overwhelming and
unpleasant.
“It's suspected that, from an evolutionary standpoint, women's
tasting tools are more developed because the female sex has a more
important role in protecting offspring 4 both during and after
pregnancy.”(University of Copenhagen).
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The social aspect of drinking beer has been
studied in many reports. In Helana Darwin’s
report entitled Omnivorous Masculinity:
Gender Capital and Cultural Legitimacy in
Craft Beer Culture, the author argues “Beer
consumption is central to homosocial
bonding among men, a key component of
‘doing masculinity.’”
It’s habit forming and male consumption of
beer is intrinsically linked with social
occasions and bonding. For men, the social
side of drinking beer remained a
consistently enjoyable aspect, scoring above
40% in all age groups.
For women, this aspect became less
enjoyable and decreased in direct
correlation with age.
Is this just a reflection of the fact
that women don’t tend to drink
beer at social occasions? Or is it
just that their socialising is done
over a different beverage and
they’re more likely to be sharing
a bottle of wine?
The ‘Queenagers’
The Opportunity
Are women in the 45+ age range being
positively represented in mainstream
media or marketing campaigns as beer
drinkers? If not, they should be.
Just because women say they
socialise less out of home as they
get older doesn’t mean they don’t
socialise at all. They socialise in a
different way. This presents a
opportunities to engage these
women with beer, such as:
Sharing options such as large
serve bottles are an ideal
alternative to a bottle of wine at
home.
Tapping into meal deals, such as
‘Dine In for £25’ which rarely
offer beer as an alternative to
the wine option.
“In the 2019 census, women over 40 outearned women under 40 for the first
time ever. These women 3 we call them
Queenagers 3 are financially solvent,
driving 93 per cent of consumer
decisions, but are underrepresented in
advertising and the market.”(Noon
2023).
A quick search of internet images showed
young women beer drinkers being
portrayed as ‘cool’, whereas older women
beer drinkers were portrayed as working
class, don’t care about how they look and
uninformed about their drink of choice.
Additionally, women need to see
women like themselves enjoying
beer. Make ‘Real Women’ the focus
of their beer advertising campaign
