Types of female drinkers: a multivariate study

Data from a total of 1,055 recent female drinkers were analyzed using factor analysis (as a form of data reduction) and cluster analysis in order to identify groups of different types of drinkers. The data were derived from a survey conducted early in 1982 in six provincial cities in New Zealand. A total sample of 3,600 people was obtained of whom 2,091 were women. Of this female sample, 14% were abstainers, 2% were detected as outliners by the cluster technique and a further 35% were not recent drinkers (i.e., they reported not having consumed alcohol in the 7 days preceding the interview). The variables that were factor analyzed included attitudinal, motivational, situational and consumption items. The resulting factor scores were submitted for clustering and the final cluster solutions were cross-tabulated by alcohol consumption measures and demographic characteristics. A total of seven segments were identified: infrequent light drinkers (43%), liberal light drinkers (35%), casual drinkers (7%), frequent early evening drinkers (6%), nightclubbers (5%), heavy hotel-tavern drinkers (2%) and solitary drinkers (2%).