Consumer choice of beer is driven by seven main attributes. These attributes are taste, price, the occasion being celebrated, perceived quality, brand image, tradition, and local authenticity. The functional reasons to choose a beer are taste, price, and perceived quality. The emotional reasons to choose a beer are the occasion being celebrated, brand image, tradition, and local authenticity. Some of the self-expressive reasons to choose a beer are tradition and brand image. The importance of these reasons will differ for each brand. There are some beer brands consumed because of the price, regardless of the other attributes and there are others drank because of tradition, regardless of other attributes. The attributes that contribute the most to Mountain Man Lager are taste, perceived quality, brand image, and tradition. One focus group participant expressed this by saying, “My dad drank Mountain Man just like my granddad did. They both felt it was as good a beer as you could get anywhere” (3). This quote encompasses not only the perceived quality associated with Mountain Man beer, but also the importance of tradition and the taste of the beer to Mountain Man consumers. These brand attributes are linked so firmly to the meaning of Mountain Man beer that it is my opinion that it will not transfer well to a light beer. For younger drinkers, the main consumer of light beers, the main attribute that affects what beer they purchase is price. They can’t afford higher priced, better tasting beers. For Mountain Man it is the emotional attributes that draw people to the brand primarily, rather than self-expressive or functional benefits. These emotional attributes do not transfer well to the light beer, because it breaks from the tradition. The consumer’s fathers and grandfathers didn’t drink Mountain Man Light. The target markets of light beer are the opposite of the market for Mountain Man Lager. Consumers of light beer tend to be women or younger people aged 21 to 27 years who are first-time drinkers. Mountain Man beer consumers tend to be male, aged 45-54, who make between $25k and $49.9k a year (See Exhibit 1). Mountain Man beer doesn’t appeal to the younger age groups, because the brand meanings associated with the beer do not have meaning to them. However, the Mountain Man brand has great meaning to their core consumers, who show extreme loyalty. The focus group that had the Mountain Man Light introduced to them showed this through some of the opinions they voiced. For example, one person said “fancy barbecue parties, with puppies running around…What do they have to do with Mountain Man?” (1). Another man said, “Mountain Man Light? Come on, I’m not interested in light beer. Just don’t mess with Mountain Man Lager” (1). Although this opinion suggests that introducing a light beer would be okay as long as the original beer isn’t changed, my fear is that simply by introducing a light beer it will corrupt the image of Mountain Man Lager.
Consumers purchase Mountain Man Lager for many reasons. Some of these reasons are due to the perception of quality, brand loyalty, smoothness, percentage of water content, drinkability. However, the two main reasons that consumers like Mountain Man Lager is the distinctively bitter flavor and the slightly higher than average alcohol content. These are two key distinguishing factors that set Mountain Man Lager apart from competitors. However, these two factors won’t translate over to light beer because there is more water in the beer, less alcohol, and not as much of a bitter flavor. Therefore, in order to create a light beer Mountain Man will lose most of its key attributes. Mountain Man’s main competitors are Anheuser-Busch, Miller, and Coors (See Exhibit 2). These brands have the ability to spend millions of dollars on advertising and their key attributes are transferrable to line extensions, while Mountain Man’s key qualities aren’t transferable to light beer.