A psychographic analysis of college students’ alcohol consumption: Implications for prevention and consumer education

On the basis of alcohol consumption rates, the authors segmented a sample of college students (N = 669) into four types: the non/seldom drinker (17%), the social drinker (43%), the typical binge drinker (25%), and the heavy binge drinker (14%). Once the four segments were defined, each was profiled employing a psychographic scheme that encompasses personal values, beliefs regarding drinking, alcohol shopping orientations, situational contingencies, and demographics. Binge drinkers were best differentiated from social drinkers and non/seldom drinkers by social-hedonic characteristics such as social-affiliation values, psychological consequences of drinking, recreational shopping orientations, and social situations. Binge drinkers were also differentiated by several other market/consumption relevant factors. On the other hand, several utilitarian characteristics, such as health/moral consciousness, differentiated non/seldom drinkers from other groups. Discussion and the implications of this study are presented with the goal of aiding binge drinkers themselves as well as prevention and intervention practitioners.