Research Insight | How Ridesharing Affects Alcohol Consumption and Drunk Driving
It’s a situation many consumers have found themselves in: they’re enjoying their time at a restaurant or bar and want to have one more drink—but then they remember they need to drive home. What happens when consumers have another transportation choice available to them that allows them to indulge in that extra drink and get home safely?
For a Journal of Public Policy & Marketing study, researchers examined a large dataset of alcohol sales across several cities, finding that when ridesharing enters a market, alcohol sales at restaurants and bars increase by 10.1%. In addition, a ban on ridesharing for a period of time led to beer and liquor sales at restaurants and bars decreasing by 6.5% and 6.0%, respectively. This pattern underscores the role of ridesharing in facilitating increased alcohol consumption in social settings.
An analysis of daily arrest data in a major American city also shows that when ridesharing enters a market, the number of daily drunk driving arrests decreases by 5%. In an exploratory analysis, the researchers find that the relative decrease in the number of daily drunk driving arrests is greatest for women, minorities, and younger consumers.
These findings reveal a dual benefit of ridesharing availability—enhancing consumer freedom while reducing public safety risks—and contribute to a broader understanding of how disruptive technologies reshape consumer behavior and societal outcomes.
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What You Need to Know
- Ridesharing availability leads to a 10.1% increase in alcohol sales at restaurants and bars, displaying a spillover effect on adjacent industries.
- Temporary bans on ridesharing result in a measurable decline in alcohol sales, highlighting its influence on consumer behavior.
- Ridesharing availability reduces daily drunk driving arrests by 5%, revealing a public safety benefit.
Abstract
In an effort to provide new insights into the sharing economy, the current research examines its combined spillover effects on both alcohol sales and drunk driving arrests. In an analysis of how ride-sharing affects sales of alcohol at restaurants and bars, a generalized difference-in-differences model of monthly sales gathered from alcohol-selling establishments in Texas reveals that Uber availability increases monthly sales of alcohol by 10.1%, compared with cities where Uber is unavailable. A complementary study of the effect of Uber availability on drunk driving arrests helps address public safety concerns related to increased alcohol consumption. In detail, data from San Antonio, Texas, indicate that Uber availability leads to a 5% reduction in daily drunk driving arrests, with greater relative declines among members of minority populations and young people. These findings add to research on the sharing economy by illuminating some meaningful complementary effects, which also have crucial implications for policy makers seeking to craft appropriate regulations and for marketers seeking to communicate the value proposition of sharing economy services.
Samantha V. Galvan, Yongseok Kim, and Richard T. Gretz, “Drink, but Please Don’t Drive: Spillover Effects of Ride-Sharing on Alcohol Sales and Drunk Driving Arrests,” Journal of Public Policy & Marketing. doi:10.1177/07439156251385578.