Drinkaware Monitor 2014: Adults’ drinking behaviour and attitudes in the UK

The report contributes to a wide base of research and evidence which helps us determine where and how to best focus our work.    

Download the full 2014 Monitor

Background

The research used a nationally representative sample of 2,294 UK adults aged 18-75. As in previous years we used online and face-to-face surveys with the addition of new standardised research tools.

The aims and objectives were

• Provide an overview of adults’ drinking behaviour in the UK to see when, where and how they’re drinking
• Take a close look at attitudes towards alcohol, motivations for drinking drunkenness, harmful drinking behaviour and strategies people use to help moderate their drinking
• To identify which demographic groups display particular drinking behaviour patterns and which groups may be most at risk of harm
• To provide profiles of different types of drinkers, to help Drinkaware identify where best to target and tailor its messages to reduce harmful drinking.

Key findings contained in the report are

• Consumption patterns
• Motivations
• Drunkenness
• Harmful drinking
• Risk awareness and moderation
• Segmentation of adult drinkers

Implications for Drinkaware

The research highlights the challenges Drinkaware faces in our work to reduce alcohol misuse and harm in the UK.

• To reach and engage the younger age groups who are beginning to drink less frequently but with which alcohol harm and drunkenness are concentrated.
• We must work to engage older age groups who appear to be drinking more frequently above the weekly low risk limits
• To educate the sizeable group of adult drinkers who believe they are drinking within ‘safe’ limits despite being classified as increasing or high risk drinkers

While there are education barriers to overcome there are also encouraging signs such as:

• The proportion of UK drinkers who want to cut down and say they would like more guidance to do that
• The openness to moderation strategies such as drinking smaller glasses of alcohol or lower strength drinks

The segmentation analysis has provided Drinkaware with a better understanding of the drinking landscape of adults across the UK.

Britain's hidden drinkers

The monitor revealed that 3.4 million middle aged people are the nation’s hidden drinkers who regularly drink above the lower risk limits* despite many recognising the potential health harms.

Independent Analysis

Drinkaware invites researchers to access the Drinkaware Monitor data for independent analysis. For more information, please contact our research team: research@drinkaware.co.uk