You haven’t raised your glass yet, but sometimes the idea of a shot of tequila with friends or a glass of wine after work is enough to relax you. This feeling is not just an isolated impression. Researchers tested what these drinks trigger in the minds of young adults, long before the first sip.
Their study, published at the end of February 2026 in the scientific journal
Young Consumersfollowed 429 young adults through four experiments. The team compared the mental effect of three classics of our evenings: tequilaTHE
whiskey and the wine. As a result, each alcohol activates a particular state of mind, like an evening scenario that starts on its own.
When tequila, whiskey and wine put your brain into party mode
To understand these mechanisms, the researchers first let the participants express themselves freely. “We conducted two preliminary studies to understand how people perceive different types of alcohol“, explained Logan Pant, assistant professor of marketing at the University of Evansville. From the answers and word association games, the team identified associations learned linked to each drink.
These data were used to construct three large families of states of mind: a festive mode, a masculine mode and a sophisticated mode. Each participant was then asked to randomly think of either tequila, whiskey, or wine, and then say how energetic, manly, or elegant they felt, all without swallowing a single drop of alcohol.
Festive tequila, virile whiskey, sophisticated wine: three very distinct states of mind
Very clear trends have emerged:
- Tequila brought out words like fun, madness, celebration, evening, in short a state of mind of unbridled partying;
- Whiskey, on the contrary, evoked something solid: strong, robust, self-confident, masculine. Here we find the image of amber glass which gives the impression of being more adult, harder, sometimes more intrepid than in reality;
- The wine brought with it a completely different register: elegance, class, refinement, sophistication, a more relaxed atmosphere. Thinking about a drink during a romantic dinner can then encourage you to choose a more polished outfit, a quiet table, a more intimate conversation.
“These results show that alcohol can function as a ‘symbolic signal‘”, concludes Logan Pant, that is to say a simple clue which already prepares our social role for the evening.
From Mindset to Health: What These Drinks Really Change
In young adults, including generation Zthese visual codes circulate everywhere: evenings filmed on the networks, spirits campaigns, series where each character has their favorite drink. Logan Pant sums it up: “Understanding these psychological signals can help explain how social norms and expectations around alcohol develop and influence drinking decisions.“. These states of mind influence how we imagine our evening, who we go out with and how much we plan to drink.
These results can feed very concrete messages: space out the glasses, alternate with water, avoid overbidding. In France, the authorities advise not to exceed 10 drinks per week, 2 per day and to plan alcohol-free days, as alcohol remains linked to around 49,000 annual deaths.