THE GENDER PINT GAP: REVISITED/DRINKING HABITSCommentary and OpportunitiesThe taste of beer becomes inincreasingly important factor aswomen reach 45 to 54, and thendrops away again as they age.For men, taste remains themost important factor for themthroughout their adult liveswith over 65% rating is as themost enjoyable factor.As women age, they can toleratehigher levels of flavour becausetheir taste buds becomedesensitised, and thereforetheir enjoyment of aromas andflavours becomes increasinglyimportant.The ‘Supertasters’Many studies have shown that women are ‘supertasters’ becausethey have more taste areas (fungiform papillae) on their tonguethan men. This sensitivity to flavour is at its highest during thereproductive years.Women can ascertain specific aromas and flavours at a far lowerlevel than men during the reproductive years, and for some, thelevel of bitter or sour tastes in particular can be overwhelming andunpleasant.“It's suspected that, from an evolutionary standpoint, women'stasting tools are more developed because the female sex has a moreimportant role in protecting offspring 4 both during and afterpregnancy.”(University of Copenhagen).21The social aspect of drinking beer has beenstudied in many reports. In Helana Darwin’sreport entitled Omnivorous Masculinity:Gender Capital and Cultural Legitimacy inCraft Beer Culture, the author argues “Beerconsumption is central to homosocialbonding among men, a key component of‘doing masculinity.’”It’s habit forming and male consumption ofbeer is intrinsically linked with socialoccasions and bonding. For men, the socialside of drinking beer remained aconsistently enjoyable aspect, scoring above40% in all age groups.For women, this aspect became lessenjoyable and decreased in directcorrelation with age.Is this just a reflection of the factthat women don’t tend to drinkbeer at social occasions? Or is itjust that their socialising is doneover a different beverage andthey’re more likely to be sharinga bottle of wine?The ‘Queenagers’The OpportunityAre women in the 45+ age range beingpositively represented in mainstreammedia or marketing campaigns as beerdrinkers? If not, they should be.Just because women say theysocialise less out of home as theyget older doesn’t mean they don’tsocialise at all. They socialise in adifferent way. This presents aopportunities to engage thesewomen with beer, such as:Sharing options such as largeserve bottles are an idealalternative to a bottle of wine athome.Tapping into meal deals, such as‘Dine In for £25’ which rarelyoffer beer as an alternative tothe wine option.“In the 2019 census, women over 40 outearned women under 40 for the firsttime ever. These women 3 we call themQueenagers 3 are financially solvent,driving 93 per cent of consumerdecisions, but are underrepresented inadvertising and the market.”(Noon2023).A quick search of internet images showedyoung women beer drinkers beingportrayed as ‘cool’, whereas older womenbeer drinkers were portrayed as workingclass, don’t care about how they look anduninformed about their drink of choice.Additionally, women need to seewomen like themselves enjoyingbeer. Make ‘Real Women’ the focusof their beer advertising campaign
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