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Author ORCID Identifier

0009-0004-0105-2969

Date Available

2-1-2027

Year of Publication

2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

College

Agriculture, Food and Environment

Department/School/Program

Agricultural Economics

Faculty

Tyler Mark

Yoko Kusunose

Abstract

Ready-to-drink (RTD) alcoholic beverages are a fast-growing part of the U.S. alcohol market, but there is still limited evidence on how specific product features shape their prices. This study addresses that gap using product-level data from the Mintel Global New Products Database (GNPD) on 1,547 RTD alcoholic beverages launched in the United States between 2010 and 2025. We estimate a hedonic pricing model with state- and year-fixed effects to examine how alcohol content, package size, RTD type, flavor, packaging format, brand, country of manufacture, launch type, and product claims relate to price per 100 milliliters. We find that alcohol content, RTD type, package size, packaging format, several leading brands, and claims such as low-calorie, no-additives, and organic are all significantly associated with RTD prices, and that prepared spirits-based cocktails and wine-based beverages tend to be priced higher than flavored malt beverages. Overall, the results indicate that RTD prices reflect substantial product differentiation and that observable product attributes are systematically capitalized into market prices across the U.S. RTD alcoholic beverage market.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2026.386

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Archival

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Available for download on Monday, February 01, 2027

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