A Preference Study for No Alcohol Beer in Italy
Using Quantitative Concept Analysis
S. Porretta1 and G. Donadini2,3
ABSTRACT
J. Inst. Brew. 114(4), 315–321, 2008
The aim of this paper is to understand the consumer’s attitude
towards alcohol free beers in Italy by using a quantitative con-
cept analysis. The method uses conjoint analysis with consumers
of Italian beer, living in different geographical areas. Results
show that packaging (RI = 56.24%) is the main attribute consid-
ered, followed by price, flavour, claims and colour. As far as
part-worths are concerned, glass and twist-off caps are the utili-
ties that most increase the preference. They are followed by
malty and fruity characters, a price of less than 0.80 Euros, a re-
markable body and intended for young adults. In contrast, plas-
tics, a price of over 1.25 Euros, organic raw materials and im-
ports showed the greatest negative impact on preference. These
findings can be used as a base for new product development and
for media communication purposes.
Key words: Conjoint analysis, consumer preference, no alcohol
beer, quantitative concept analysis.
INTRODUCTION
According to Italian regulations a non alcoholic beer,
termed as “birra analcolica” is a beer which presents a
degree Plato in the range of 3–8 for an alcoholic residue
equal to or less than 1.2% ABV9. No standard legal defini-
tion exists in Europe for this class of beer. It is typical that
a non alcoholic beer (NAB) has a restricted final alcohol
by volume content lower than 0.5% whereas a low alcohol
beer (LAB) is between 0.5 and 1.2% ABV.
Non alcoholic beers can offer several opportunities that
can be exploited by marketers. This is true especially in a
context where more strict regulations are likely to ban or
restrict alcoholic products from classical usage situations.
This is the case of Europe, where administrators are en-
forcing a renewed battle against alcohol misuse and
abuse. A list of positivities for a beer with a zero alcohol
level is summarized as follows: a) no restriction for sale
by hours and by places of consumption; b) no warning on
labels for sensitive consumer subgroups such as pregnant
1 SSICA—Stazione
Sperimentale per l’Industria delle Conserve Ali-
mentari, viale F. Tanara, 31/a, I43100 Parma, Italy.
2 AIDASA, Istituto di Entomologia e Patologia Vegetale, Università
Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Via Emilia Parmense, 84, I29100 Pia-
cenza, Italy.
3 Corresponding author. E-mail: gianluca.donadini0@aliceposta.it.
Publication no. G-2009-0106-556
© 2008 The Institute of Brewing & Distilling
women; c) health benefits of beer can be promoted; d) no
social judgement in the case of heavy drinking out of the
home; e) no excise duty or a reduced one is charged; f) no
consequence in case of “drink and drive”; g) export and
distribution are made possible in countries where the sale
of alcoholic beverages is restricted or forbidden for reli-
gious reasons; h) a wider domestic potential market which
can embrace members of religious groups which forbid,
discourage, or restrict consumption of alcoholic bever-
ages; j) a NAB can be targeted at non-traditional domestic
market segments such as younger people, females or those
who like the taste of beer but not the alcoholic content; k)
fewer calories than the regular beer varieties may attract
potential consumers who are sensitive about weight is-
sues.
In spite of these positive aspects, that should make a
non-alcoholic beer more attractive to consumers, market-
ers have to consider that non-alcoholic beers have been
criticized because they have a different flavour profile
compared to regular beers. Overall flavour is reported to
be quite poor and mild due to a very low intensity of most
of the descriptors typically associated with beer, and to a
particular lack of complexity and balance which can be
partially attributed to the absence of alcohol (Donadini
unpublished data). Furthermore, 3-methylbutanal, 2-meth-
ylbutanal and 3-methylthiopropionaldehyde are described
in the literature as preponderantly responsible for the
worty taste of alcohol-free beers30,31. The intensity of worty
taste can vary greatly from brand to brand, as a conse-
quence of the production technologies, which vary greatly
in this beer class as well. Moreover such beers can offer
different social benefits as a consequence of the fact that
alcohol is socially related with fun and celebration in
Western societies15,37.
Italian consumers have shown to be relatively poorly
informed about the health preserving properties of moder-
ate beer consumption38. Thus it is hard for brewers to pre-
dict the consumers’ reaction towards health claims on la-
bels and if these claims would consistently boost the sales
in the beer department.
Brands of LAB and NAB are presently being marketed
and sold in Italy, although the market is small. The no
alcohol beer market share was nearly 0.7% for 0.114 mio
hectolitres in 20032. This is far below that of Spain and
Sweden, yet in line with most of the countries which show
a far more established beer culture. The risk of being
niche confined is not to be underestimated, nor should the
probability of pay back from additional production costs
for the implementation of new technologies in the produc-
tion lines be misestimated.
VOL. 114, NO. 4, 2008 315
 This study is part of a new product development proc-
ess and occurred at the early stages of the process. It helps
to quantify the attitude of Italian consumers about no al-
cohol beer by providing information about the relative im-
portance of product attributes, and by measuring the atti-
tude that consumers have about the various properties of
these beers, at the concept level. The main goal was to
identify the ideal product design in order to guide the
creation of a physical protocept or early phase mock-up.
This prototype was then tested for consumer acceptance
in a selected off-premise area.
Conjoint analysis is a consumer technique for measur-
ing, analyzing, and predicting customer response to new
products and new features of existing products1,12. Accord-
ing to conjoint analysis, a given product is defined as a
combination of attributes and each attribute can be studied
at different levels, to identify potential product parame-
ters. Basically conjoint analysis decomposes customer pref-
erences for products and services into “part-worth” utili-
ties associated with each level of each attribute of the
product category. This systematic approach is based on
Lancaster’s theory22. The theory posits that consumers
generate a different degree of interest or satisfaction as a
consequence of their decision making process in the
choice for goods and that these goods are sets of attrib-
utes. Utilities can then be recombined to calculate a pref-
erence score and to predict consumer preference for any
hypothetical product profile. The utilities can also be used
to determine the optimal product profile or to identify
market segments.
Traditional surveys ask consumers to evaluate attrib-
utes one at a time, thus failing to reveal the tradeoffs that
are made when a product is presented1. When making eve-
ryday choices, consumers evaluate a set of attributes of a
given product. In so doing they integrate as much infor-
mation as is required to develop a preference. Similarly, a
conjoint design asks consumers to make trade-offs by
evaluating different bundles of attributes for a given prod-
uct. This can help consumers feel more comfortable in
their evaluation process due to the degree of realism the
respondents can experience in the rating/ranking tasks28.
OVERVIEW ON THE BEER MARKET
IN ITALY
Italy is one of the lowest consumers of beer per capita
in Europe. The main beer competitors are mineral water
and wine. The former is the leading beverage in the Italian
market with 182 L per capita, whereas wine, although un-
dergoing a current decline, has a consumption of 51 L per
capita27. Historically alcohol consumption was integrated
into meals32 and Italians seldom consumed spirits between
meals.
Drinking patterns have changed in Italy in the last
decades as a consequence of the homogenization of bever-
age preferences that harmonized consumption behaviours
in Europe. This homogenization led to a partial, but pro-
gressive, conversion to drinking beer32. Particularly young
adults shifted from more traditional beverages to beer, and
a similar cross cultural trend can be observed in most of
the wine dominant countries bordering the Mediterranean
Sea. Italy was the only Western European market where
316 JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF BREWING
beer consumption consistently grew between 1996 and
2005. Beer still trails wine, but it reached nearly 30 litres
per capita in 2003, although consumption is strongly in-
fluenced by seasonal variations.
Italy consumes the highest percentage of imported
beers in Europe3. Imports are driven by Germany, fol-
lowed by the United Kingdom, The Netherlands and Bel-
gium. Prices in Italy are among the highest in Europe.
VAT is at 20% and the excise duty was raised to 1.97 Euro
per hL in 20053. The European Union is trying to place
restrictions on the sale of alcoholic beverages. The pur-
pose of these measures is to cut down on the consumption
of alcohol, especially where binge drinking is a tradition,
in order to reduce public health risk factors. In order to
discourage people from drinking, partial legal restrictions
for beer advertisements on national TV, radio, press and
billboards have been applied4 in Italy. Beer exposure is
thus restricted by hours, type of programmes and where
the ads are made. People in Italy can buy beer and any
form of alcoholic beverage from the usual stores. The
minimum legal drinking age in Italy is 16 for off-premise
and on-premise sales of various types of alcoholic bever-
ages. A reduced blood alcohol content (BAC) limit (50 mg
per 100 ml blood) has been introduced to reduce the
number of accidents, injuries and fatalities that result
from driving while intoxicated. Against this background,
no alcohol beers can be a credible alternative for brewers
who share the concerns of government and society about
the misuse of alcohol and are committed to promoting
their products in a socially responsible manner. The re-
sults of this study can offer concrete solutions to R&D
managers to develop a protocept, since it can help stress
the do’s and don’ts when it comes to designing a no alco-
hol beer for the Italian market.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The product attributes and their possible levels were
selected on the basis of the results of two focus groups (n
= 16; 8 members per session), data from literature11,20,26 as
well as from the results of a preliminary sensory study
which identified sensory properties of NAB beers on sale
in Italy (QDA techniques and sensory mapping). The
attributes studied included product features such as colour
and flavour, marketing mix variables such as price attribu-
tion, and structural characteristics such as packaging and
general claims. For each attribute a set of levels was cre-
ated. The attributes comprised both non-product related
elements and product-related ones according to Keller’s
classification grid18. Price levels represented common
attributions for low, medium and quality options in the
Italian market3. General claim levels varied from country
of origin to nutritional benefits and targeted consumer
segments according to gender and age. Attributes and
related levels are summarized in Table I.
Hypothetical product profiles were generated through a
fractional factorial design, with orthogonal variables. This
technique helped to reduce the number of element combi-
nations that the consumers needed to rate 81 beer profiles,
instead of a raw 3,024 combinations, which would have
come from using a theoretical full design (3×7×9×4×4).
Each concept was created in a systematic way, so that a
hypothetical beer profile had at least one attribute level for
all the five attributes considered, but never more than one
level at a time for a given attribute. Each of the 81 profiles
was displayed by means of visual and text cards contain-
ing depictions of the product, a short description and a 9-
point scoring scale. An example is displayed in Fig. 1.
A total of 90 consumers participated in this study. They
were recruited and equally divided per location, in Varese,
Trento and Catania. Catania is the second biggest city in
Sicily. All of them had to be regular beer consumers. Reg-
ular beer consumers in Italy are reported to drink approxi-
mately four or five 0.66 L beers per month34,38. Partici-
pants had to rate each beer profile according to their
personal interest in purchasing using a 9-point scale. The
scoring scale was anchored at both extremes. A 1 meant
not at all interested in the product and a 9 meant ex-
tremely interested in the product. Before starting the task,
consumers were introduced to an explanation of each ele-
ment and its related level, the score system and the use of
a 9-point scale of interest in order to become familiar with
the experimental tasks they had to perform.
The conjoint survey was administered using a com-
puter based technique. Each card was presented to the
consumers on a computer screen in a randomized order. It
took nearly 45 minutes to complete the task. After the re-
spondents had entered their ratings, interviewers checked
the rating cards for completion. Demographic questions
on the interviewees were asked at the end of each session.
Survey responses were analyzed, regressing the 81 profile
ratings on the five attributes. The regression results were
Table I. Factors and levels selected for the concept study.
Factors Levels
Colour Gold; Amber; Dark.
Flavour Bitter; Astringent; Sweet; Full bodied; Malty; Fruity;
Caramel like.
Claims Imported; Domestic; Thirst quenching; Rich in
antioxidant; For a Male; For a female; For a young
adult; From organic raw materials; For seniors.
Packaging Glass; Al can; Plastic; Twist-off cap.
Price (0.66L < 0.80 Euro; 0.80 ≤ x ≤ 1.00 Euro; 1.00 < x ≤ 1.25 Euro; >
bottle) 1.25 Euro
Fig. 1. Example of visual and text card used in the study.
converted into part-worths called utilities. The conceptual
model used as a basis for regression is as follows:
Uij = β0 + β1GOij + β2AMij + β3DAij + β4BIij +
…+ β27PR125ij + eij
Where: Uij is the utility rating by the ith interviewee to the
jth profile, GO is the level “golden” for the factor colour,
AM is the level “amber” for the factor colour, DA is the
level “dark” for the factor colour, BI is the level “bitter”
for the factor flavour, …, PR125 is the level “price attribu-
tion major of 1.25 Euro” for the factor price, β0 is the
regression constant, β1, β2, β3, β4, …β27 are the regression
coefficients of each factor level and eij is the estimation
error.
Part-worths are additive. This means that part-worths
of attribute levels can be combined to obtain a total utility
for each profile. With regard to the attributes used in this
study, the total utility (TU) of a given combination (e.g.
jth profile for the ith respondent) can be modelled as fol-
lows:
TUij = Uijpackagingh + Uijflavourm + Uijclaimsk +
Uijpricen + Uijcolourl + constant
Where: Uijpackagingh = utility of the h level of the factor
packaging, Uijflavourm = utility of the m level of the factor
flavour, Uijclaimsk = utility of the k level of the factor
claims, Uijpricen = utility of the n level of the factor price,
Uijcolourl = utility of the l level of the factor colour.
Positive utilities increase the preference score of a
given profile, whereas negative ones decrease it. The rela-
tive importance score (RI) was calculated by dividing the
absolute value of an attribute part worth by the sum of the
absolute values of the part-worths for all attributes. RI dis-
plays the importance of each attribute. Goodness of fit is
indicated by Pearson’s R statistic.
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
Statistical analyses were performed by means of
SPSS® conjoint module 15.0 version (SPSS Inc., Chicago,
IL, USA)39.
RESULTS
Aggregate conjoint model
Conjoint analysis reveals a picture of the relative im-
portance of dimensions in evaluating the preference judg-
ment of a no alcohol beer. Pearson’s R statistic showed a
good fit between the models and the data (Pearson’s R =
0.974; P = 0.0001). The relative importance percentages
showed the aggregate priorities when selecting no alcohol
beer. The results reported in decreasing order in Table II
Table II. Attribute importance in the aggregate and segmented for males
and females.
Aggregate Males Females
Packaging (56.24%) Packaging (55.24%) Packaging (50.57%)
Price (15.65%) Claims (17.43) Price (15.93%)
Flavour (12.96%) Price (13.32%) Claims (15.91%)
Claims (12.65%) Flavour (12.77%) Flavour (13.88%)
Colour (2.50%) Colour (1.24%) Colour (3.72%)
Constant 3.9249 Constant 3.9684 Constant 3.8561
Pearson’s R 0.974* Pearson’s R 0.970* Pearson’s R 0.958*
*P = 0.0001
VOL. 114, NO. 4, 2008 317
 Fig. 2. Level utilities for claims (in the aggregate and segmented for gender).
Fig. 3. Level utilities for colour and flavour (in the aggregate and segmented for gender).
show that different elements of a no alcohol beer are dif-
ferently important for the judgment of the overall prefer-
ence. The attribute that most impacts on Italian consumer
preference is packaging (RI = 56.24%), which is nearly
four times as important as price (15.65%) and nearly five
times as important as flavour (12.96%) and claims
(12.65%). Least important of all is beer colour (2.50%).
The levels of preference scores are reported in Figs. 2, 3
and 4. Each of these utility values is a relative indication
of the respondent’s preference for a beer having that
attribute level.
The attribute levels provide the information on how the
co-occurrence of different element levels affects the over-
all preference judgment. Note that the negative utility val-
ues do not indicate complete rejection of a no alcohol beer
having that level. It merely indicates a lower preference
level, rather than positive values. The ideal no alcohol
beer configuration is one that combines attribute levels
with highest utility values. Thus when projecting a no al-
cohol beer, brewers must be aware that consumer prefer-
ence is oriented towards a beer in a glass format provided
with a twist off cap. Moreover, alcohol free beer should be
addressed to young adults. “Body” and “malty” are sen-
sory attributes which consumers base their choice on.
Plastic is unlikely to be a desirable container. Organic raw
materials are not an issue for our sample. Country of
318 JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF BREWING
origin is a concern for our respondents, as they state that
they dislike imported no alcohol beer. Moreover such beer
should not be positioned in the premium and super pre-
mium segment.
Preference segment models
Since preference varies greatly within a consumer pop-
ulation19, preference models were studied in different con-
sumer subgroups. Age, gender and location identified
seven preference segments based on an a priori approach.
Preference models for males and females are reported.
Although these results should be regarded as merely in-
dicative and need further confirmation using bigger popu-
lations, some interesting results emerged and are worthy
of a brief but complete discussion. Males focused mainly
on packaging (55.24%), followed by claims (17.43%),
price (13.32%) flavour (12.77%) and colour (1.24%). The
ideal product for males is a glass bottled beer provided
with a twist-off cap, that has a malty and fruity flavour, is
thirst quenching, has a distinct body, is priced at less than
0.80 Euros and is strictly intended for the male consumer.
No substantial differences existed for the female model,
for which the relative importance of the product attributes
was packaging (50.57%), followed by price (15.93%),
claims (15.91%), flavour (13.88%) and colour (3.72%).
However, females appeared to be more price oriented and
 Fig. 4. Level utilities for price and packaging (in the aggregate and segmented for gender).
to place more reliance upon bitterness (Ufemales 0.1706 vs.
Umales 0.0645) and astringency (Ufemales 0.2540 vs. Umales
0.1165) than males. Furthermore, a caramel-like note
reduced the preference in the male segment (Umales
0.1969), while it did not affect the female preference
judgment (Ufemales 0.0503). Males value a gender related
market strategy highly, as they believe that a no alcohol
beer is to be targeted directly at them (0.2322), but not
marketed in a way that appeals to females (0.3423).
Conversely females reveal that NABs should move to-
wards a more gender neutral positioning.
DISCUSSION
Conjoint analysis is a technique that shows the re-
sponse of potential users to a product idea, whether they
understand it, whether or not they react favourably, and
whether it satisfies specific needs. It estimates consumer
reactions to proposals, taking into consideration their de-
sirability, credibility and exclusiveness24. Conjoint analy-
sis also assesses the response to the characteristics of a
particular beer class. In so doing, this technique can esti-
mate what product feature can provide a sufficient return
on investment in order to maximize profits. Essential to a
new beer design is a combined effort by marketing
experts, behavioural psychologists, food technicians, sen-
sory experts and designers, who can offer integrated solu-
tions as to what makes a product appealing. Overall
acceptability can be influenced by both extrinsic and in-
trinsic properties such as health claims, price, design,
packaging material, colour of the product and sensory
properties of a given beverage.
Respondents appeared to focus on functional packag-
ing attributes and price attribution more than on the sen-
sory properties or on specific claims such as ingredient
functionality and country of origin. However price role is
not as significant as packaging, probably because the
range of price considered in this study is not that wide.
The great preference for glass over aluminium cans and
plastics confirms the results of a 2005 survey conducted
by Spigno et al.38 This study clearly evidenced that glass
was the favoured material for the Italian shopper, as glass
was considered more hygienic, less polluting and more
taste-preserving.
Our respondents did not focus on ingredient function-
ality when choosing a NAB. Although the beverage mar-
ket has undergone drastic changes in the recent past, as
consumers are increasingly longing for a healthier
lifestyle, a functional beer is not as yet a logical response
to the Italian consumer. The Italian consumers do not con-
sider health and nutritional claims of particular interest in
this class of beverages. Urala and Lähteenmäki43 indicated
that some products may have a strong health claim, while
others may not. As of today’s writing, NAB falls into the
latter category in Italy.
Nobody knows if the Italian consumer’s attitude de-
rives from driving factors of acceptability for functional
foods as reported in the literature6,16,25,42,43. These factors
are taste expectation, personal experience, lack of aware-
ness, misunderstanding of the functional food concept, or
a general belief that health claims on labels are to be
attributed to the company’s advertising. Italians have been
shown to be poorly informed about the health properties
of beer38. The relationship between the food system know-
ledge24 and consumer trust is important, as it may reassure
consumers and enable them to make more informed and
conscious choices. In this perspective, an organically pro-
duced alcohol free beer is not a credible alternative to
other ways of production, processing and distribution.
This is in disagreement with Caporale and Monteleone5,
who reported data showing that the use of organic meth-
ods in the beer production process had a positive impact
on the consumer’s liking, when the product was labelled
with information concerning aspects of the manufacturing
process. Cost impact, different expectations about food
quality and safety, different cultural and eating habits,
environmental protection, taste, and lack of standardiza-
tion across country, have all impacted on the acceptance
of organic food in Italy, as well as in the European Un-
ion33,35,42.
Market prices can determine a consumer’s acceptance,
since the selling price consistently forms the quality
standard of a specific product in the consumer’s mind10.
Selling price influences expectations, overall liking, and
shopping behaviour7,23,24,29. An inverse relationship be-
tween price and utility has been observed with higher
prices corresponding to lower utilities. As the price in-
creases, the consumer’s interest in the product drops.
VOL. 114, NO. 4, 2008 319
Thus an alcoholic beer has to belong to the discount or to
the mainstream segment, probably because this type of
beer does not seem be able to provide consumers with
benefits that can justify a premium or super premium
positioning.
One additional consideration is that, at least implicitly,
a NAB signals a lower quality than other beer segments.
In fact price is around the consumer’s expectation up to
1.00 Euro for a 0.66 L glass bottle, as it emerges from the
positive utility values. In contrast, utility values for price
are negative or nearly zero for price levels more than 1.00
Euro. The apparent lower acceptance to higher levels of
price, by male consumers relative to females, may suggest
substantial differences across gender in the attribution of
the right selling price for a NAB.
The country of origin impacts on the willingness to
buy a product. Some consumers care a great deal about
the specific origin of the food they eat and drink. Con-
sumers may tend to have a relative preference towards
products from their own country (ethnocentrism)36 or may
tend to have a relative preference for, or aversion to, cer-
tain products that are imported. In this study, an imported
non alcoholic beer was negatively valued by Italian con-
sumers. This low acceptance contrasts with the general
positive attitude towards imported regular beers belonging
to premium and super-premium segments, which consti-
tute nearly 30% of the beer market4.
The data show that more attention is given to sensory
properties. This finding appears logical. Taste is critical in
obtaining a successful beverage. Overall flavour prefer-
ence is highest for a full bodied beer with a malty taste.
Body and smoothness are reported by Kaneda et al.17 to
be important factors affecting the pleasantness of beer.
The former is a positive influencer, while the latter is a
negative one. Unfortunately a full bodied NAB is hardly
technologically addressable, because alcohol removal will
inevitably affect the overall flavour due to the synergetic
effect of ethanol on flavour.
The perception of beer body shows a positive correla-
tion with both bitterness and astringency intensity and du-
ration according to Kaneda et al.17 Bitterness is a negative
utility for females, whereas it is irrelevant for males. Pref-
erence for bitter and/or astringent food and beverages can
vary greatly from subject to subject. In fact variation is
both genetic and experience related. The individual varia-
tion in salivary flow rates8, the concentration of fungiform
papillae in the oral cavity, which determines the status of
taster or non-taster for bitterness, and individual experi-
ences are reported to enhance acceptance of bitter and as-
tringent foods14,21,40,41. To our ancestors, bitterness may
have been the ‘radar’ that a food might be unsafe to eat,
and the types of food which are responsible for these par-
ticular notes can elicit negative consumer reactions. Thus
bitter and astringent beverages can be rejected because of
their taste, and masking these notes can enhance palata-
bility, especially for Italian females, who are in general
less experienced beer consumers than males34. Occasional
consumers of beer have significantly higher sensitivity to
iso-alpha-acids than regular consumers40. Thus the pro-
duction of full bodied alcohol free beers seems to be par-
tially technologically dependent on attribute levels that
are negatively valued by the consumers interviewed in the
320 JOURNAL OF THE INSTITUTE OF BREWING
study.
A reduction of bitterness and astringency intensity can
also positively affect the thirst quenching character of a
beer as reported by Guinard et al.13 Likewise a malty char-
acter is a negative determinant of thirst quenching13.
Finally, an alcohol free beer should target 20–35 year
old males. No effort appears to be reasonable for our re-
spondents to capture the over-60 users, although numer-
ous scientific surveys have stated that a moderate con-
sumption of beer can be a healthy habit in this age class.
CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study provide data that can estimate
the perceived value of any combination of the selected
attributes that influence a consumer’s attitude towards
alcohol free beer in Italy. They show the most important
attributes, their relative importance, and give a realistic
picture of the consumers’ sensitivities to changes in attrib-
ute levels.
Packaging features are highly valued for designing a
NAB prototype in this study. Glass bottles and twist-off
caps are the most positively valued utilities among beer
factors and related levels.
With respect to the sensory determinants of accepta-
bility, the results of this study pose some contradictory
results. The production of a NAB beer which comprises
all the sets of sensory characters with positive utilities will
be a difficult task. In fact, sensory characters that ought to
be assembled in the final product are in some cases
contradictory from a technological point of view. Al-
though pay back is to be evaluated, different preferred
sensory profiles seem to emerge for males and females,
which make them reasonable to be tested in market sit-
uations. A larger sample size can indisputably confirm the
preference trends traced in this survey.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to thank Teresa Franceschini for sup-
porting us during consumer interviews in Trento. Anna Carabelli
and Angela Sanvito are also greatly acknowledged.
REFERENCES
1. American Marketing Association-AMA, Conjoint analysis: a
guide for designing and interpreting conjoint studies. Market
Research Division, Marketing Research Techniques Series, 1992.
2. Canadean, “Annual Report—2004 Cycle Italy” canadean.com.
3. Canadean, “Annual Report—2005 Cycle Italy” canadean.com.
4. European Community. Attitude towards alcohol. Special Euro-
barometer 272/b Wave 66.2 – TNS Opinions & Social. 2007.
http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_272b_en.pdf
(last accessed Dec. 2008)
5. Caporale, G. and Monteleone, E., Influence of information
about manufacturing process on beer acceptability. Food. Qual.
Prefer., 2004, 15(3), 271-278.
6. Darrington, H., The claims and the evidence. Food
Manufacturer, 1999, 74(6), 28-30.
7. Dransfield, E., Zamora, F. and Bayle, M-C., Consumer selection
of steaks as influenced by information and price index. Food.
Qual. Pref., 1998, 9(5), 321-326.
8. Fischer, U, Boulton, R. B. and Noble, A. C., Physiological fac-
tors contributing to the variability of sensory assessments: rela-
 tionship between salivary flow rate and temporal perception of
gustatory stimuli. Food. Qual. Prefer., 1994, 5, 55-64.
9. Gazzetta Ufficiale della Repubblica Italiana n. 185 del
10.08.1998: Decreto del Presidente della Repubblica 30 giugno
1998, n. 272. Regolamento recante modificazioni alla normativa
in materia di produzione e commercio della birra.
10. Gabszewicz, J., Pepall, L. and Thiesse, J. F., Sequential entry
with brand loyalty caused by consumer learning-by-using. J.
Ind. Econ., 40(4), 397-416.
11. Gil, J. M. and Sánchez, M., Consumer preferences for wine at-
tributes: a conjoint approach. Brit. Food J., 1997, 99(1), 3-11.
12. Green, P. E. and Srinivasan, V., Conjoint analysis in consumer
research: issues and outlook. J. Consum. Res., 1978, 5, l03-l23.
13. Guinard, J. X., Souchard, A., Picot, M., Rogeaux, M. and
Sieffermann, J. M., Determinants of the thirst-quenching char-
acter of beer. Appetite, 1998, 31(1), 101-115.
14. Guinard, J. X., Zoumas-Morse, C., Dietz, J., Goldberg, S., Holz,
M., Heck, E. and Amoros, A., Does consumption of beer, alco-
hol, and bitter substances affect bitterness perception? Physiol.
Behav., 1996, 59(4–5), 625-631.
15. Gusfield, J. R., Passage to play: rituals of drinking time in
American society. In: Constructive Drinking: Perspectives on
Drinking from Anthropology, M. Douglas, ed., Cambridge
University Press, 1987.
16. Jonas, M. S. and Beckmann, S. C., Functional foods—Con-
sumer perceptions in Denmark and England. MAPP Working
Paper No. 55, October, 1998.
17. Kaneda, H., Kobayashi, N., Watari, J., Shinotsuka, K. and
Takashio, M., A new taste sensor for evaluation of beer body
and smoothness using a lipid-coated quartz crystal microbal-
ance. J. Am. Soc. Brew. Chem., 2002, 60(2), 71-76.
18. Keller, K. L., Conceptualizing, measuring, and managing cus-
tomer-based brand equity. J. Marketing Res., 1993, 29, 1-22.
19. Kotler, P., Armstrong, G., Saunders, J. and Wong, V., Principles
of marketing: the European Edition. Prentice Hall: London
(Chapter 9), 1996.
20. Kupiec, B. and Revell, B., Measuring consumer quality judge-
ments. Brit. Food J., 2001, 103(1), 7-22.
21. Intranuovo, L. R. and Powers, A. S., The perceived bitterness of
beer and 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) taste sensitivity. Ann. N.
Y. Acad. Sci., 1998, 855(1), 813-815.
22. Lancaster, K. J., A new approach to consumer theory. J. Polit.
Econ., 1966, 74, 132-157.
23. Lange, C., Rousseau, F. and Issanchou, F., Expectation, liking
and purchase behaviour under economical constraint. Food.
Qual. Prefer., 1998, 10(1), 31-39.
24. Lodish, L. M., Pricing and positioning for entrepreneurial mar-
keters, 2005. http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/articlepdf/
1129.pdf (last accessed Dec. 2008).
25. McCrea, D., Functional foods: in the consumer’s interest? Food
Sci. Technol., 2001, 15(1), 35.
26. Meilgaard, M. C., Dalgliesh, C. E. and Clapperton, J. F., Beer
flavor terminology. J. Am. Soc. Brew. Chem., 1978, 37(1), 47-
52.
27. Mineracqua. Il mercato delle acque minerali naturali 2004.
2005. http://www.mineracqua.it/pdf/presskit.pdf (last accessed
Dec. 2008).
28. Moskowitz, H. R., Porretta, S. and Silcher, M., Concept re-
search in food product development. Blackwell Publishing:
Oxford, 2005, 612.
29. Ordoñez, L. D., The effect of correlation between price and
quality on consumer choice. Organ. Behav. Hum. Decis.
Process., 1998, 75, 258-273.
30. Perpète, P. and Collin, S., Contribution of 3-methylthiopropion-
aldehyde to the worty flavor of alcohol-free beers. J. Agric.
Food Chem., 1999, 47(6), 2374-2378.
31. Perpète, P. and Collin, S., Influence of beer ethanol content on
the wort flavour perception. Food Chemistry, 2000, 71(3), 379-
385.
32. Rehm, J., Rehn, N., Monteiro, M., Gmel, G., Jernigan, D. and
Frick, U., The global distribution of average volume of alcohol
consumption and patterns of drinking. Eur. Addict. Res., 2003,
9, 147-156.
33. Santucci, F. M., Marino, D., Schifani, G. and Zanoli, R., The
marketing of organic foods in Italy. Medit, 1999, 10(4), 8-14.
34. Scafato, E., Ghirini., S., Russo., R., Pizzi, E., Di Pucchio, A.
and Gruppo di lavoro OssFAD. L’impatto sanitario e sociale
dell’alcool. Alcohol Prevention Day, Rome. 2005. www.iss.it/
binary/ofad/cont/scaf%20apd%20rel.1114598114.pdf (last ac-
cessed Dec. 2008).
35. Schifferstein, H. N. J. and Oude Ophius, P. A. M., Health-re-
lated determinants of organic food consumption in The Nether-
lands. Food. Qual. Prefer., 1998, 9(3), 119-133.
36. Shimp, T. A. and Sharma, S., Consumer ethnocentrism: con-
struction and validation of the CETSCALE. J. Marketing Res.
1987, 24, 280-289.
37. Social Issue Research Center (SIRC). Social and cultural
aspects of drinking. www.sirc.org/publik/drinking_contents.html
(last accessed Dec. 2008).
38. Spigno, G., Donadini, G., Fumi, M. D. and Pastori, P., Indagine
di mercato sui criteri di acquisto di birre lager in Italia. In:
Ricerche e innovazioni nell’industria alimentare, S. Porretta,
ed., Chiriotti Editore: Torino, 2005, Volume 7, pp. 142-146.
39. SPSS.SPSS for Windows (Version 15.0). Chicago, IL, SPSS
Inc., 2006.
40. Stein, L. J., Nagai, H., Nakagawa, M. and Beauchamp, G. K.,
Effects of repeated exposure and health-related information on
hedonic evaluation and acceptance of a bitter beverage.
Appetite, 2003, 40, 119-129.
41. Tanimura, S. and Mattes, R. D., Relationships between bitter
taste sensitivity and consumption of bitter substances. J. Sens.
Stud., 1993, 8(1), 31-41.
42. Torjusen, H., Sangstad, L., O’Doherty, K., Kjærnes, J. and
Kjærnes, U., European consumers’ conceptions of organic food:
a review of available research. 2004, Professional Report No. 4,
National Institute for Consumer Research, Oslo.
43. Urala, N. and Lähteenmäki, L., Attitudes behind consumers’
willingness to use functional foods. Food. Qual. Prefer., 2004,
15, 793-803.
(Manuscript accepted for publication December 2008)
VOL. 114, NO. 4, 2008 321