The intoxication power of alcoholic beverages: image and reality

Because of the newness of wine coolers and their youthful appeal, questions have arisen of whether consumers have a realistic understanding of coolers' intoxication power. Questionnaires were given to 459 undergraduates to determine how accurately they could estimate the number of drinks (beer, light beer, wine, wine coolers, and whiskey) they would have to consume to become legally intoxicated. Results indicate that, although responses differ by race and gender, respondents have a poor understanding of the intoxication power of alcohol in general and of hard liquor and wine coolers in particular. Whereas liquor's intoxication power was overestimated, the intoxication power of wine coolers was underestimated relative to other types of drinks by the total sample and underestimated in absolute terms by females.