Posts Tagged: drinks
Blacks and Hispanics drink more bottled water
Studies have consistently shown Black and Hispanic Americans are more inclined to drink bottled water than other ethnic groups.
But a new paper, recently published in Contemporary Economic Policy (pdf), sheds light on the reasons why—and why this disparity matters.
Analysts polled a representative group of more than 1,000 participants in 2009, asking a number of questions about water consumption as well as attributes of bottled water in terms of taste, safety and convenience. Researchers confirmed that Black and Hispanic respondents were much more likely to drink bottled water and believe it was safer.
“The preferences of these minority groups are not driven by concerns about convenience, but rather perceptions about water quality,” the study said.
The economists then included data from the US Environmental Protection Agency on water quality violations for states, and found that people who lived in states with more water quality violations were indeed more likely to drink bottled water. The authors then presented indirect evidence in the form of previous research from the American Housing Survey (tables) that said Blacks and Hispanics are overrepresented as a share of those living with unsafe drinking water. They wrote:
For owner-occupied units, the percentage of housing units with unsafe drinking water from their primary source is 6% for the population overall, 9% for Blacks, and 16% for Hispanics. For renter-occupied units, the corresponding percentages are even higher—11% overall, 11% for Blacks, and 21% for Hispanics.
These findings are consistent with previous studies. For instance, a 2011 study published in JAMA Pediatricsfound African-American and Latino parents were more likely to give their children mostly bottled water. And a separate paper published in 2007found that many Latino families don't drink tap water because of concerns that it could cause illness.
“We now have an understanding of why people do this,” said Joel Huber, a marketing professor at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, a co-author on the paper.
Of course, these results are based on broad aggregates, which mean they may not hold true for any individual. Still, such findings matter.
For instance, if policy makers want to use taxes to discourage bottled water consumption for environmental reasons, it means the tax would fall hardest on Blacks and Latinos.
There might also be public health implications, not so much related to bottled water consumption, but to aversions to cheaper tap water. Some studies have linked mistrust of tap water to lower consumption of water, and increased consumption of sugary drinks.
Source: Published originally on Quartz.com as Blacks and Hispanics drink more bottled water. Economists now know why, by Matt Phillips, June 29, 2015.
Latinos: Biggest coffee lovers in the nation
Whether it’s served hot or iced, black or con leche, one thing is certain: Latinos love their coffee. And a new study out by the National Coffee Association (NCA) is saying just how much.
According to the NCA’s National Coffee Drinking Trends 2013 market study, Hispanics are leading the way in coffee consumption. A whopping 67 percent of Hispanics said they drank coffee the day before. That number is 13 percentage points ahead of the population, with 47 percent of African-Americans and 64 percent of Caucasian Americans reporting drinking coffee up the day before.
The NCA has conducted the market study annually since 1950, but this is only the second year that they included ethnicity. This year, the study was designed to be more reflective of the United States population and involved 2,840 adults with ethnicities proportionate to the U.S. population’s makeup. Hispanics topped coffee consumption last year as well.
Latinos also outpace all other coffee lovers in the more specific categories of gourmet coffee and espresso consumption. For gourmet coffee, 44 percent of Latinos said they had drunk gourmet brews in the past day, compared to 30 percent for Caucasian people and 25 percent for African-Americans. Latinos love their espresso too, with 24 percent of Hispanics ordering it compared to 10 and 12 percent for whites and African Americans respectively.
It’s not just Latinos who enjoy the popular drink, Americans overall are showing their love for cups of joe. There was a five percent increase in overall coffee consumption up from last year, with 83 percent of the general U.S. adult population now saying they drink coffee. The study says that daily consumption is at 63 percent. When including people who drink coffee once per week brings, the number rises up to 75 percent.
But just who enjoys coffee more may also be an issue of age.
“Younger consumers also showed more affinity for espresso-based beverages than their elders, with 16 percent of those 18-39 drinking them in the past day compared with just 6 percent of those 60+. However, overall daily consumption of coffee by younger consumers appears to have dropped,” the NCA said in a statement.
Overall daily consumption fell to 41 percent from 50 percent last year for younger consumers age 18-24. Older age groups, on the other hand, have upped their intake over the years, with people over 60 years old drinking coffee up to 76 percent from 71 percent.
Source: Published originally on NBCLatino as Latinos are the biggest coffee lovers in the nation, study says by Jacquellena Carrero, March 25, 2013.