What am I missing in this science article?

[Jayhawker Soule]

I have a morning routine which includes reading the Washington Post and scanning articles on the Middle East and science. This morning I happened upon an article EurekAlert! | AAAS with the headline:

Removing largest serving sizes of wine decreases alcohol consumption, study finds​

It's almost as if I stumbled upon a headline declaring ...

Striking your thumb with a hammer increases pain, study finds​

What am I missng?

 

[Debater Slayer]

From the article:

In the new study, researchers asked 21 licensed premises in England to remove from their menus their largest serving of wine by the glass — usually 250 mL — for four weeks. The researchers then tracked the total volume of wine, beer and cider sold by each establishment.

Over the course of the four weeks, the total volume of wine sold by the licensed premises decreased by 7.6%, and there was no overall increase in beer and cider sales. There was an increase in the sales of smaller servings of wine by the glass — generally 125 mL and 175 mL — but no impact on sales of wine by the bottle or beer or cider sales. Despite the decreased volume of wine sold, there was no change in daily revenue, likely reflecting an increased profit margin for smaller glasses of wine. Overall, the study suggests that when the largest serving of wine is not available, people shifted toward the smaller options and ultimately drank less alcohol.

What I understand from this is that customers didn't opt to order more of the smaller servings in order to consume the same amount as the larger serving, which means that they simply ordered what was on offer and not more.

If I were a bar owner, my takeaway from this would be that reducing the size of the largest serving on offer would, on average, decrease the amount of alcohol that customers consumed. So, for example, a subset of the customers who normally ordered a 300 ml serving would not order two 150 ml servings to make up for the removal of the 300 ml serving from the menu.

 

[SalixIncendium]

I have a morning routine which includes reading the Washington Post and scanning articles on the Middle East and science. This morning I happened upon an article EurekAlert! | AAAS with the headline:

Removing largest serving sizes of wine decreases alcohol consumption, study finds​

It's almost as if I stumbled upon a headline declaring ...

Striking your thumb with a hammer increases pain, study finds​

What am I missng?

I don't know, but this is could change the face of humanity forever!

I hope whoever led this study received a Nobel Prize in Discoveries of the Blatantly Obvious.

 

[Debater Slayer]

I don't know, but this is could change the face of humanity forever!

I hope whoever led this study received a Nobel Prize in Discoveries of the Blatantly Obvious.

This study is so important that we need to discuss it over a couple of beers.

 

[SalixIncendium]

This study is so important that we need to discuss it over a couple of beers.

I'm not a fan of beer. Can we do scotch? Or martinis?

I hope they do a study on these soon and find out of there is some sort of parallel between wine and beer, scotch, and vodka with regard to serving size and consumption. But the world may never know...

 

[Debater Slayer]

I'm not a fan of beer. Can we do scotch? Or martinis?

Sure, but we'd have to count individual sips so that I wouldn't need a bucket.

I hope they do a study on these soon and find out of there is some sort of parallel between wine and beer, scotch, and vodka with regard to serving size and consumption. But the world may never know...

It is scientifically proven that the serving size of vodka is directly proportional to the number of angels one sees dancing on the head of a pin.

 

[Twilight Hue]

I have a morning routine which includes reading the Washington Post and scanning articles on the Middle East and science. This morning I happened upon an article EurekAlert! | AAAS with the headline:

Removing largest serving sizes of wine decreases alcohol consumption, study finds​

It's almost as if I stumbled upon a headline declaring ...

Striking your thumb with a hammer increases pain, study finds​

What am I missng?

Only thing I see you're missing is changing the establishment for one that would be a bit more generous.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

I don't know, but this is could change the face of humanity forever!

Not for those of us who drink our wine at a restaurant or at home. In either event, I buy the bottle.

 

[Revoltingest]

This study is so important that we need to discuss it over a couple of beers.

Using half pint glasses, I'll bet.

 

[Revoltingest]

Not for those of us who drink our wine at a restaurant or at home. In either event, I buy the bottle.

Millionaires.

 

[Subduction Zone]

One part of the "Well DUH!" factor to this is that it is proposing that establishments charge more for their alcohol. The labor involved in serving a drink is almost identical per glass. The time to pour the drink is very small compared to the time to take the order, walk to the bar and back, retrieve the glass when done and then wash it. All of which will be the same regardless of size of glass. Those costs will be built into the cost of serving a drink. That means that the larger glass will be cheaper per mm of wine or other beverage in it.

In other words, charging more for alcohol results in a drop in consumption. I would have never guessed that.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

In other words, charging more for alcohol results in a drop in consumption. I would have never guessed that.

That's not what tye research indicated. It was that people didn't order more smaller glasses to get the same amount.
Prices weren't accessed. It was removing the largest serving if wine.

 

[exchemist]

That's not what tye research indicated. It was that people didn't order more smaller glasses to get the same amount.
Prices weren't accessed. It was removing the largest serving if wine.

Yes. The point is that a lot of people in the habit of ordering a large 250ml glass, if they can only order ones of half the size (125ml), find that the smaller one is enough and they do NOT order a second one in order to drink the same amount as before. So it's another demonstration of the "eyes bigger than belly" phenomenon (or liver in this case). People order what they think they need, but actually they don't need as much as they think.

We can all save money and improve our waistlines and our liver condition by ordering less than we are encouraged to do by social pressure, marketing and habit - and still have just as good a time.

 

[Subduction Zone]

That's not what tye research indicated. It was that people didn't order more smaller glasses to get the same amount.
Prices weren't accessed. It was removing the largest serving if wine.

But that is effectively raising the price of wine. The price of wine is not based upon the volume. You will get more for your money with the larger glasses.

 

[Subduction Zone]

Yes. The point is that a lot of people in the habit of ordering a large 250ml glass, if they can only order ones of half the size (125ml), find that the smaller one is enough and they do NOT order a second one in order to drink the same amount as before. So it's another demonstration of the "eyes bigger than belly" phenomenon (or liver in this case). People order what they think they need, but actually they don't need as much as they think.

We can all save money and improve our waistlines and our liver condition by ordering less than we are encouraged to do by social pressure, marketing and habit - and still have just as good a time.

Except that two 125 ml glasses of wine will cost significantly more than one 250 ml glass. So one cannot say that it is just a matter of "oh, one was enough". Cost will also be a deciding factor. Restaurant prices are a combination of the work that goes into getting the product to the table and the cost of the materials. Labor wise the cost of delivering two 125 glasses of wine and two 250 ml glasses of wine is identical. And that cost is a big part of the price.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

But that is effectively raising the price of wine. The price of wine is not based upon the volume. You will get more for your money with the larger glasses.

You are inserting that into it. Its nit there. That was not tested or accessed.

 

[Subduction Zone]

You are inserting that into it. Its nit there. That was not tested or accessed.

Correct, it was not. But it should have been. It is a simple economic fact. If you do not trust me go to a restaurant with different sizes of pours of wine. You will find that you pay less per volume for the larger glasses. They should have realized that what they did was as I said to effectively raise the price of alcohol. If you take away a lower priced choice you have raise the average price paid for wine at those establishments.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Correct, it was not. But it should have been. It is a simple economic fact. If you do not trust me go to a restaurant with different sizes of pours of wine. You will find that you pay less per volume for the larger glasses. They should have realized that what they did was as I said to effectively raise the price of alcohol. If you take away a lower priced choice you have raise the average price paid for wine at those establishments.

I've known a ton of smokers who said they quit when a pack hits a certain prices or just goes up at all again they're gonna quit. But they don't.
What you're mentioning is just a general pricing thing where you usually get more for less. But to assert that would require an entirely different study as this one does not access that claim, amd we mustn't read things into a research paper that are not there.
And we are discussing economic and consumption trends. The trends are facts, but there's too much variance for the genral statement of people paying less because of a price increase they may not even be considering. Sometimes people willingly pay more and sometimes companies charge more.
But increasing the price causing people to buy less is nowhere close to the scope and topic of this paper.

 

[Subduction Zone]

I've known a ton of smokers who said they quit when a pack hits a certain prices or just goes up at all again they're gonna quit. But they don't.
What you're mentioning is just a general pricing thing where you usually get more for less. But to assert that would require an entirely different study as this one does not access that claim, amd we mustn't read things into a research paper that are not there.
And we are discussing economic and consumption trends. The trends are facts, but there's too much variance for the genral statement of people paying less because of a price increase they may not even be considering. Sometimes people willingly pay more and sometimes companies charge more.
But increasing the price causing people to buy less is nowhere close to the scope and topic of this paper.

And I had an uncle that quit smoking when a new series of taxes were put on cigarettes. Yes, many do not stop smoking when the price goes up. But some do. The same may have been happening at those restaurants. Some people kept drinking the same amount when the price went up. But some cut down or even quit. Those that do not change does not help you at all if some do quit.

And that uncle of mine is still alive. His wife, who was also a smoker,, died from emphysema about twenty years ago. If she had quit at the same time she would have been young enough to recover.

 

[exchemist]

Except that two 125 ml glasses of wine will cost significantly more than one 250 ml glass. So one cannot say that it is just a matter of "oh, one was enough". Cost will also be a deciding factor. Restaurant prices are a combination of the work that goes into getting the product to the table and the cost of the materials. Labor wise the cost of delivering two 125 glasses of wine and two 250 ml glasses of wine is identical. And that cost is a big part of the price.

Yes that's a fair criticism. All you can say is that the blend of extra cost and what a person finds enough in practice limits their consumption. It's a pity the reports of this research do not say what the prices of the different sized measures were.