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Purpose -Earlier studies into consumer ethnocentrism focused on identification of the level of ethnocentric tendencies in different countries and their investigation for various categories of products. This research contributes to a wider understanding of that phenomenon, aiming to explore the characteristics of Polish consumers' national and regional ethnocentric attitudes and behaviours, especially symptoms of those attitudes in relationship with locally produced brands of beer. Design/methodology/approach -All the data were collected on a university campus in Poland in late autumn 2007 in a group of ten university students. Purposive sampling was used to establish two focus groups within the industry's main target market age group, each of which met on two occasions, three weeks apart. Findings -The main identified issues broadly covered two main categories: national ethnocentrism and regional ethnocentrism. The findings point to the relative importance of elements such as brand image (based on Polish culture and referring to its symbols), local brands as contributors to local identities and the form of their expression, as well as a moral obligation to buy local brands. Originality/value -Indicative findings suggest that several areas need to be further investigated in future research in order to better understand the characteristics of national and regional ethnocentric tendencies, and the contribution they make to local identities.

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PurposeThe proportion of young people binge drinking continues to grow despite extensive research efforts aiming to reverse this growing trend. Binge drinking has typically been viewed as the consumption of five or more standard drinks or units in a single drinking session. Research on binge drinking is US centric and largely quantitative. This paper, using qualitative methods, aims to gain richer insights into binge drinking.Design/methodology/approachSeven focus groups involving 36 participants were conducted in Poland and Canada. Focus group data were transcribed and analysed.FindingsThree distinct types of binge drinking were identified. The authors termed these initiation, indulgence and moderation. The paper details how each type of binge drinking can be distinguished through different attitudes and drinking behaviours.Research limitations/implicationsAny observations made in this paper are restricted by the sample used and the methodology employed, and therefore cannot be uncritically generalised. The findings should be used to further investigate the phenomena, in different contexts, with different respondents and using different methods, in order to deepen the understanding of binge drinking.Practical implicationsThe results suggest that rather than thinking of binge drinking as one thing, binge drinking should be thought of as different types, involving different behaviours and attitudes.Originality/valueTo date the literature has viewed binge drinking as a single phenomenon. This study is the first to put forward the notion that binge drinking should not be defined as one thing, i.e. consuming five or more alcohol drinks in one day. The framework offered in this paper will assist future researchers to consider different types of binge drinking.