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Has Anheuser-Busch Let the Steam Out of Craft Beer? The Economics of Acquiring Craft Brewers

2021; Springer Science+Business Media; Volume: 60; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1007/s11151-021-09838-7

1573-7160

Kenneth G. Elzinga, Alexander McGlothlin,

Consumer Market Behavior and Pricing

Macrobrewers initially responded to the rapid growth of the craft beer segment by product differentiation: offering versions of their own “craft beer.” When this proved unsuccessful, they began acquiring independent craft brewers. We examine the consequences of Anheuser-Busch InBev’s acquisition of Goose Island. We find large gains in sales for craft brewers post-acquisition, which suggests that marketing spillovers attracted new consumers to craft beer. We also find large negative effects on product variety, which suggests greater difficulty for craft brewers gaining shelf space in off-premise accounts. These variety effects are particularly pronounced in Goose Island’s regional “birthplace”: Illinois.