Measuring the impact of alcohol multi-buy promotions on consumers’ purchase behaviour

The objective of this study was to understand the impact of alcohol multi-buy promotions on individual’s purchasing behaviour. Our study deployed a Stated Preference survey to measure consumers’ potential responses towards price changes and the introduction of promotions, as well as the resulting effects on demand. A series of econometric models were developed, ranging from simple selection models to advanced multiple discrete-continuous extreme value (MDCEV) models, to capture the discrete and continuous feature of alcohol purchasing choice behaviour. The model results were compared and then extrapolated to a series of policy scenario tests, to enable the evaluation of factors that underpin consumers’ alcohol purchasing behaviour. This research contributes to evidence on the role of multi-buy promotions on alcohol purchasing behaviour, as well as adding to recent developments in the choice modelling literature by providing a comparison of results across a range of different model structures suitable for the analysis of data such as used here.