An Investigation of Momentary Demand for Alcohol in the Context of a Special Event

Alcohol use is an important component of many special events, where the typical “rules” or norms governing alcohol use may be suspended or altered (e.g., sporting events, concerts, fairs). Additionally, these special events typically have their own economies, where alcohol can only be obtained from select vendors at set, often inflated, prices. If individuals choose to consume alcohol, they must purchase each beverage from a vendor at the set price (or sneak in their own). This creates a context where, in order to consume alcohol, one must have a willingness to spend money on alcohol rather than other goods or services. At the same time, people may suspend their typical beliefs about how much they should drink or how much money they should spend, drinking more and/or paying more than they generally would. Alcohol purchase options are also limited and consumption occurs soon after the time of purchase. Because of the constraints in this context, many sources of variation in the relationship between demand and alcohol consumption (product, price, time to consumption) are minimized and consumption may be more directly reflective of the relative reinforcing value of alcohol (i.e. demand for alcohol). This makes such special events ideal opportunities to understand how people make decisions about drinking in the real world. However, little is known about how alcohol demand functions within-person from moment to moment. This study aims to examine behavioral economic demand in the context of the Minnesota State Fair, investigating demand over time using ecological momentary assessment and examining the association of demand with alcohol consumption, craving, and amount of money spent on alcohol. This study will better characterize the nature of within-person alcohol demand in a constrained real-world context, a context in which alcohol use is frequent and normative. Participants consisted of attendees of the 2025 Minnesota State Fair. Participants completed a baseline measure of alcohol demand, the Alcohol Purchase Task (APT), and a two-day ecological momentary assessment (EMA) protocol that consisted of regular brief assessments during their time at the fair and a final next-day assessment. Participants completed the Brief Assessment of Alcohol Demand (BAAD) at each EMA assessment.