Sapporo Breweries and Tokyo Metropolitan University to Launch Joint Research on the Psychology of Drinking Alcoholic and Non-Alcoholic Beverages in May 2026

Sapporo Breweries Ltd. and Tokyo Metropolitan University will begin full-scale joint research in May 2026 focusing on the psychology of consuming alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. In recent years, as values around health and lifestyles have diversified, people’s relationships with alcohol have also become more varied. Beyond simply drinking or not drinking, it is becoming increasingly important for individuals to proactively choose drinking styles that suit them from a wide range of options, including non-alcoholic beverages. The joint research will use psychological methods to study approaches that can lead to proposals for drinking styles that create experiential value while keeping responsible drinking in mind. The project plans to examine positive psychological changes and related effects when alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages are consumed in various ways, with research findings targeted for announcement around autumn 2027. The Sapporo Group has positioned “Healthie Choice,” or the provision of healthier choices, as one of the pillars of its medium- to long-term growth strategy. In January 2026, it also established a new marketing slogan, “BETTER DRINKING EXPERIENCE: Find a toast that is good for you,” aiming to respond to diverse ways of raising a glass. In addition to sharing information through its website and social media, the group is working from multiple angles to promote responsible drinking and improve the quality of drinking experiences, including holding experiential seminars in dining-out settings where participants can learn while enjoying themselves, and strengthening its product development structure for non-alcoholic beverages. Associate Professor Kazuya Inoue of Tokyo Metropolitan University’s Cognitive and Affective Science Laboratory has continuously conducted basic and applied research in psychology and cognitive science on the characteristics of human cognition, emotion, and behavior. In particular, he studies the mechanisms by which people form positive attitudes toward diverse objects, including beverages and foods. Sapporo Breweries and Tokyo Metropolitan University will apply the insights gained through this joint research to propose drinking experiences that align with each customer’s lifestyle and values. They will also continue addressing alcohol-related issues while promoting responsible drinking and preventing inappropriate drinking. As a corporate group engaged in the alcoholic beverage business, the Sapporo Group works to address alcohol-related problems as part of its social responsibility, promoting responsible drinking and preventing inappropriate drinking. Its initiatives include information sharing through websites and social media, responsible drinking awareness seminars for universities, companies, and local governments, experiential seminars in dining-out settings, and the strengthening of non-alcoholic beverage development systems, including products that serve as alternatives to alcohol or create new drinking occasions. Tokyo Metropolitan University’s Cognitive and Affective Science Laboratory uses methods from perceptual and cognitive psychology as well as affective psychology to experimentally clarify the mechanisms of human cognition, emotion, and learning. Its research covers attention, memory, decision-making, impression formation, and emotional evaluation, and also applies these findings to real-world issues such as advertising, eating behavior, readability of text and typefaces, and human-machine interaction.