Types of male drinkers: a multivariate study

Data from 1070 recent male drinkers were analyzed using factor analysis (as a form of data reduction) and cluster analysis to identify groups of different types of drinkers. The data were derived from a sample of 3600 face-to-face interviews conducted in the early part of 1982 in six provincial cities in New Zealand. Of this total, 1509 interviews were with male respondents, of whom 28% were either abstainers or were not recent drinkers (i.e., had not 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. Six segments were identified and appeared to be primarily distinguishable on the basis of common drinking situations: Light Drinkers (43%), Frequent Early Evening Drinkers (28%), Heavy Hotel-Tavern Drinkers (21%), Club Drinkers (4%), Solitary Drinkers (2%) and Party Drinkers (2%).