Feelings and alcohol consumption

Consumption choices depend on the feelings experienced in the period preceding a consumer's decisions. Using a large sample of Italian consumers collected by ISTAT (the Italian National Statistics Institute) as part of the multi-purpose survey “Indagine multiscopo sulle famiglie: Aspetti della vita quotidiana” (n = 114,052), we find that positive feelings are associated with wine and beer consumption, while negative feelings relate to spirits consumption. Older consumers drink more following a period of positive feelings, whereas younger consumers drink less. Our two-level modelling strategy confirms the mediating role of personal characteristics in explaining the relation between feelings and alcohol consumption.