Hard seltzer’s popularity hasn’t waned with college-aged consumers, who ranked White Claw and Truly among their favorite brands in a study conducted from July 2-8 by the Generation Lab, a polling and research firm that specializes in tracking youth views and behaviors.
The Generation Lab asked 544 students across the U.S. from 2- and 4-year colleges and universities to characterize 13 beer, wine, and spirits brands: Corona, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Bud Light, Natural Light, White Claw, Truly Hard Seltzer, Smirnoff, Svedka, Tito’s, Angry Orchard, Barefoot, High Noon, and Franzia. Respondents could choose between four “positive” associations (on the rise, cool, cheap, and high quality) and three “negative” (on-the-decline, low-quality, and never heard of).
“After much research, these words were chosen as they were thought to be strong indicators of a brand’s success and perception among college students,” the report stated.
Mark Anthony Brands’ White Claw was deemed the “coolest” alcoholic beverage,” as well as the most “on the rise.” It was also the third most “never heard of” brand, suggesting that the brand still has room to grow.
Boston Beer’s Truly was ranked the “best” brand overall, with the most positive attributes, with the brand receiving an overall score of 9.7 (out of 10), outperforming White Claw by half a point. Truly came in second to its hard seltzer competitor in the “on-the-rise” category, but outperformed all other brands.
Ready-to-drink, vodka-seltzer brand High Noon (which this survey included in the hard seltzer segment), performed the worst with an overall score of 6.7. Of all 13 brands, it was the brand most students had “never heard of,” with more than 50% of respondents saying they had no knowledge of it.
“Seltzers are flooding the mainstream,” Cyrus Beschloss, founder of The Generation Lab, told Brewbound in an email. “Young drinkers are influential drinkers. It’s now socially acceptable to order a White Claw at a bar — ya know, as long as you flash the bartender a look that says ‘I want what I want.’”
Students were also asked to rank the brands that they see the most often in social settings.
White Claw (29%) and Truly (21%) are the most-seen hard seltzer brands at social gatherings, followed by (in order) Bud Light Seltzer, Smirnoff Seltzer, High Noon, and Corona Seltzer. Bon and Viv rounded out the category, with 1% of respondents seeing it the most.
Exposure is particularly influential with younger drinkers, according to Kiran Toiwala, a Texas A&M University respondent, who noted in the survey that “a lot of folks will just drink [hard seltzers] because they see other people drinking them.”
Among beer brands, Corona received the highest overall score (8.9) and ranked first in beer brands in the “high-quality” category, and second to White Claw in the overall “cool” category. Bud Light was not far behind, with an overall score of 8.7. Bud Light was also deemed the “cheapest” out of all 13 brands.
Regarding beer exposure, Bud Light was ranked the most seen, with Corona not far behind. Modelo and Budweiser were neck-and-neck for the third most-seen beer at social gatherings, followed by a three-way tie between Natural Light, Heineken, and Coors.
Cocktails (23.3%) were the most popular drink of choice for students when drinking with friends. IPAs took second (19.5%), separated from beer in the survey, which was the fifth most consumed drink (13.2%), trailing mixed drinks (14.2%) and hard seltzer (13.7%).
At parties, beer’s share of drinks consumed was slightly higher (19.2%), rising to the second most consumed drink after mixed drinks (22.5%). Hard seltzers (15.9%) came in fourth after shots (18.5%), while IPAs (4.6%) dropped to last place in the social setting.