Bottle size matters: Heterogeneity in the German carbonated soft drink market

Abstract Germany is Europe's largest market for carbonated soft drinks. In 2015, the average per capita consumption of carbonated soft drinks reached 119 L. Furthermore, the market is highly differentiated. This study uses a unique household panel data set of carbonated soft drink consumption in Germany to determine the effect of product and household characteristics on purchase decisions. Characteristics of special interests were product brands, bottle sizes, and households’ brand loyalty. A random parameter logit model is estimated to account explicitly for consumer heterogeneity. The results clearly show that The Coca‐Cola Company is still the market leader on the German market, but private label brands from Aldi and Lidl also have a strong influence. The results further indicate that 63% of households are brand loyal regarding their preferred soft drink brand and prefer small bottle sizes (≤1,500 ml) over large bottle sizes (>1,500 ml).