Provenance as a filtering and framing device in the qualification of wine

This research examines how provenance – where a product was produced, by whom, how and when – features in the work of cultural intermediaries in the Australian premium wine market, at two different stages in the career of a wine. First, evaluations of provenance attributes (in terms of sincerity, tradition and transparency) serve as filters through which wine promoters identify market-worthy wines; second, those attributes are strategically deployed to frame the wine as a worthy choice for consumers (focusing on the use of the winemaker as a framing device). The article offers a distinctive account of the qualification of wine, and makes the case for a cultural economic conceptualization of provenance as a negotiated, accomplished quality. In foregrounding wine promoters’ emotional attachments to provenance attributes of wines they choose to promote, the research highlights the affective dimensions of markets, which are made, in part, through the consuming passions of cultural intermediaries.     

A Conjoint Analysis of Quality Wine

Abstract

Weighted least squares approach for conjoint analysis is used to examine buyer preferences towards wines produced in different Spanish regions. Two producer regions are considered, Na-varra and Aragon, and three wine attributes: price, origin and grape vintage year (wine age). In both regions, differences between urban and rural consumers' preferences are tested. Results indicate that the origin of the grapes is the most important attribute for the wine consumer. Rural consumers prefer locally produced wines while Rioja wines are better considered by urban consumers. The price and the age of the wines are secondary attributes in consumer preferences. Finally, some market segments are formed based on individual consumer preferences and some of their sociodemographic characteristics in order to address differentiated marketing strategies to these segments.     

我国葡萄酒进口需求及产品异质性的实证研究

我国是葡萄酒净进口国,随着我国居民收入水平的不断提高,进口规模逐渐扩大,需要把握进口变化的动因,判断我国葡萄酒进口贸易的发展方向,从而促进我国葡萄酒贸易的健康发展。运用进口需求模型定量分析葡萄酒进口变化的主要决定因素,进而针对不同来源地产品之间的关系,用近似理想需求系统模型进行分析。结果表明,随着消费者收入的提高和进口关税的降低,我国葡萄酒进口贸易仍有很大发展空间;进口葡萄酒和国产葡萄酒存在差异化竞争,进口葡萄酒占据了我国高端市场;在我国的葡萄酒进口市场上,法国与智利和澳大利亚的产品具有异质性,智利与澳大利亚的产品表现为同质性。我国葡萄酒进口规模将逐渐扩大,国产高端产品需要一定的保护和培育。     

Imagery and Consumption of Wine: A Southern United States Case Study

The present study examines images that wine evokes among frequent and non-frequent wine consumers, as well as factors driving wine choices (e.g., type of wine, country/region) and the level of consumption of wines from different regions?/?countries. The findings indicate that regardless of respondents' wine consumption level, wine evokes various positive memories, particularly related to pleasure, special occasions, relaxation food, and travel. However, lack of consumption experience of wines from different origin is noticed among the more frequent consumers. The importance of education is therefore emphasised to create a long-term link between the wine product and consumers.     

葡萄酒消费行为影响因素分析

葡萄酒是一种健康的酒精饮料,在我国潜在消费市场巨大,发展前景良好。葡萄酒的消费行为受外在因素、内在因素、营销因素三个方面的影响。葡萄酒企业制定营销计划应以消费者为中心,针对葡萄酒消费市场的特点以及消费者的需求,巧妙灵活、广泛宣传葡萄酒健康功能、美容功能、社交功能,刺激消费者的购买欲望,建立消费者对葡萄酒的认知度和忠诚度。同时,结合我国传统文化、各区域历史、民族、饮食等文化,建立具有中国特色的葡萄酒文化,使葡萄酒真正的走进消费者的生活中。     

Estimating Optimal Prices for Wine Exhibition Awards Using Comparative Judgements

Abstract

Producers of bottled wine have their products evaluated at various wine exhibitions for the purpose of receiving awards that can be displayed on the bottles. This contribution introduces an approach for retailers and producers to estimate optimal prices for wine exhibition awards. A case study has been employed in cooperation with a major Czech wine company to investigate the practical application of the method. Wine exhibition awards are found to be among the important factors affecting consumer preferences for bottled wine. A Conjoint experiment allowed for estimating the relative importance of selected wine exhibitions as award origins and for determining the partial utilities of selected awards (medals). Calculating the individual price equivalents for those awards and three selected wines enables the estimation of prices for maximum turnover. According to the approach, price equivalents and markups can be estimated based on consumer preferences. Retailers as well as producers can employ the procedure for matching their offers with specifically designed prices to their target group's needs and wants in their individual markets.     

Misleading Forecasts in Accounting Estimates: A Form of Ethical Blindness in Accounting Standards?

Drawing from research on strategic choice, this study investigates the relationship between market turbulence and firms’ sustainable behavior, in the context of sustainability-related institutional adversity. It argues that the relationship between market turbulence and sustainability is mediated by network embeddedness, and this mediating role in turn is moderated by a firm’s innovative orientation. Data collected from a sample of Ontario restaurants inform predictions about firms’ propensity to adopt local wines in their portfolios, despite the limited market and normative support that these wines receive compared with imported wines. The study shows that market turbulence enhances sustainable firm behavior, through the development of strong network relationships. Furthermore, the mediating effect of network embeddedness is particularly salient among firms that exhibit a stronger innovative orientation. These findings reveal how and when turbulent market conditions can contribute to a firm’s sustainable behaviors in the presence of limited institutional support for such behaviors.     

An Econometric Study of the Demand for Various Types of Wines and Spirits in the United Kingdom

The purpose of this study is to investigate by econometric methods the influence of changes in prices, advertising and consumer tastes upon the pattern of demand for eight different types of wines and spirits during the 1970s in the United Kingdom.

Relative prices are found to play possibly an important role in the determination of wine products' market shares, but to have been insignificant in the spirits sector.

Relative levels of advertising may affect the pattern of demand between products in the way suggested by Galbraith, but the influence appears to be weak.

Product market shares may be invariant with respect to the size of the total spirits market, although this conclusion is held with least confidence for brandy which appears to grow at a relatively slow rate on average. However, wine product shares do fluctuate with the size of the total demand for wine products.

The disaggregated wine equations would appear to provide a potentially useful framework for detailed demand forecasting. However, the advantages of disaggregated analysis for this purpose are not as pronounced in the case of the spirits sector.     

Label design of wines sold online: Effects of perceived authenticity on purchase intentions

This article aims at exploring the relation between customers' perception of the authenticity of wines and their purchase intentions in online retailing. We investigate if perceived pleasure plays a mediating role and whether the relation between perceived authenticity and perceived pleasure is moderated by the color type (heraldic vs. vivid colors), presence or absence of a château (icon), and visual complexity (high vs. low) with respect to label design. For this purpose, we conduct an exploratory study followed by an experiment (n = 215). The results reveal that perceived authenticity has a positive effect on both pleasure and purchase intent. Labels showing heraldic colors and low visual complexity lead to a stronger effect of authenticity on pleasure in comparison to labels with vivid colors and high visual complexity. The presence or absence of a château does not have a significant moderating effect. Therefore, wine marketers selling wines on the Internet are advised to design wine labels which tend to show heraldic colors and low visual complexity to enhance customers’ perception of wine authenticity.     

Sensory expectations generated by colours of red wine labels

Since there is usually no sales assistance available in supermarkets, wine labels represent the pivotal source of information for consumers at the point of purchase. In particular, it is the colour of the label which largely influences consumers’ wine choice. The purpose of our study was to reveal customers’ sensory expectations in relation to the flavour of red wines based on their label colours. Moreover, our goal was to examine whether there are any differences in the consumers’ expectations according to their frequency of wine purchase and gender. A survey was carried out among respondents who were intercepted in the wine aisles of two stores of an Austrian supermarket chain. The results indicate that label colours have a strong influence on flavour expectations. While, for example, red and black are most likely to create tangy flavour expectations, red and orange are most associated with fruity and flowery flavours. In addition, it appears that frequent buyers have stronger expectations than infrequent buyers with respect to most of the colours analysed. Finally, the customers’ gender seems to have little influence on flavour expectations. The results may be considered by wine producers in their label design to create sensory expectations in accordance with the actual flavour of their wine and, hence, avoid any disconfirmation of consumers’ expectations when they taste the wine. This is of particular importance when wine is sold in retail stores and consumers cannot rely on their taste experience prior to their purchase.     

Reaching the U.S. Hispanic Wine Market: Highlighting the Opportunities

With over 50 million Hispanics living in the United States commanding 1.2 trillion dollars in purchasing power, Hispanic wine consumers may comprise a lucrative market for the saturated wine industry. Yet the wine industry has largely ignored consumers who do not fit the profile of its traditional demographic base. This study aims to fill a gap in the existing body of knowledge on Hispanic consumers of wine. Building on acculturation theory, the current study investigates predominant attitudes, opinions, and interests of the Hispanic consumer relating to wine consumption. The results of three focus groups indicate that the core cultural values of family, food, and social interaction are critical factors in developing an interest in wine among Hispanic wine consumers. Levels of acculturation also play a significant role in wine consumption among Hispanic consumers. Special attention should be addressed to younger, more acculturated consumers, as they are not only the primary consumers of wine but also advocates for wine for their parents and other groups of consumers.     

Promotional efforts of muscadine wines and muscadine‐related products: the case of southern United States wineries

Muscadine grapes are native to the southern United States, where they have been grown and consumed for generations. Apart from extensive coverage provided in scientific research concerning their healthy properties, to date very little has been researched about other areas of the muscadine grapes, muscadine wines and related products. For example, in an era when the ‘local’ aspect of foods can have a strong impact on both consumers and food growers, very little has been researched from an entrepreneurial, marketing and (wine) tourism perspective. In this context, academic literature investigating winery operators' efforts in promoting and selling muscadine products through the cellar door is almost inexistent. The present study examines this area from the perspective of 31 operators of family‐run wineries located in several southern states. The findings demonstrate agreement among respondents about the critical need to promote the ‘local’ aspect of muscadine wines, as well as other value‐added muscadine products. Some operators refer to the need to support local/state farmers following ‘buy local’ slogans, while others are reacting at consumers' demands for local products. Arguably, as more muscadine wineries are established in some of the southern states, muscadine wines may become more popular and more accepted by mainstream consumers. However, muscadine winery operators are confronted by several challenges such as the lack of resources and support to invest in or expand their promotional efforts; in some cases, state legislation prevents operators from distributing their products outside the cellar door. With so many wines and other beverages consumers can find in retail stores and in the hospitality industry today, the strengthening of current promotional efforts at the cellar door and introducing consumers to a relatively unknown local product (as compared with Vitis vinifera wines) become critical for southern winery operators.     

Reducing information asymmetry in the auctioning of non-perishable experience goods: The case of online wine auctions

We highlight the importance of reducing the perceived risk associated with information asymmetry for experience goods. We analyse a major online non-perishable experience good, wine, from the seller's perspective. The mechanism for lowering information asymmetry is the verification service offered by the auctioneer. By focusing on unsold items/lots, the wine and auction characteristics affecting the probability of a sale are identified. Results show that the verification of the wine's provenance increases the probability of sale by 5.7 percent and leads to an expected increase of 5.1 percent in the auction price. When both effects are combined, the increase in the expected revenue of the seller is 7.3 percent. We test and find no evidence of selection bias. Given the heterogeneity in wine prices, a quantile regression analysis shows how the results differ for high-priced wines compared to lower priced wines. Results highlight how the mechanisms to lower the degree of information asymmetry work both in attracting bidders to online auctions and encouraging bidders to submit higher bids.     

The effect of item reduction on assortment satisfaction—A consideration of the category of red wine in a controlled retail setting

This study aims to investigate the effect of item reduction on assortment satisfaction within the red wine category. The study conducted an online experiment using a simulated online wine store. Lowest selling wines were removed after the first buying phase, and the respondents repeated the browsing process in the reduced assortment. A questionnaire measured the shift in perceptions. The results show that assortment perceptions can be maintained in the face of item reduction. There is also a strong association between category familiarity and assortment satisfaction, with differing levels of assortment satisfaction between high and low category familiarity groups. The presence of a favourite item also plays a role in maintaining assortment perceptions. The results suggest that retail managers can reduce assortments by removing low selling items while not affecting customers' assortment perceptions. Furthermore item reduction can be used to increase consumers' satisfaction if they are unfamiliar with the product category. This particular study is limited in the sense that the results were obtained exclusively in an online environment. Future studies may therefore be useful in validating these results in brick and mortar wine outlets.     

Red obsession: The ascent of fine wine in China

This article uses hammer prices from five global auction houses to analyse the price premium Bordeaux fine wine yielded at Hong Kong wine auctions. We find that fine wine was on average sold at a 19% premium in Hong Kong. We further observe that the Hong Kong premium is not uniform and most pronounced for wines with perfect Parker scores and the most powerful brands. The premium has declined throughout the sample period from 60% in 2008 to a level of 15% since 2012. This can be attributed to the increase in knowledge on fine wine by Chinese customers.     

(Dynamic) willingness to pay and e-commerce: Insights from sparkling wine sector in Russia

Although economic theory clearly provides reasons for a hedonic price function to change over time, this is not how it is traditionally approached empirically. For wine, which is one of the most widely used implications of hedonic price analysis, such time invariance can be traced down to the issues of data availability and price rigidity in the food and beverage sector. The development of e-commerce changes both these premises, providing reasons for more frequent price adjustments and making price data available at each point of time. Is willingness to pay for particular product attributes indeed time-invariant? In this paper, daily price quotes from the largest online grocery market in Russia are used to address this question using sparkling wines as an example. The results indicate that time invariance might be a rather strong empirical assumption, suggesting that the time dimension should be included into hedonic price studies whenever the data allows for it.     

Do consumer expectations match experience? Predicting the influence of price and country of origin on perceptions of product quality

This study investigates the respective influences of price and country of origin as extrinsic cues on consumer evaluations of wine quality when all intrinsic cues are experienced through sensory perceptions, and then compares these results with those of a survey employing identical intrinsic and extrinsic cues. Taste testing experiments were conducted (N = 263) using Chardonnay and a three (COO) by three (price) by three (acid level) conjoint analysis fractional factorial design. Price and COO were both found to be more important contributors to perception of wine quality than taste. The study advances our understanding of the influence of extrinsic cues to dominant quality assessment and shows conjoint analysis to be a credible means of measuring consumer reactions to specific wine attributes.     

Consumer Brand Loyalty in the Chilean Wine Industry

Worldwide, the wine industry has become tremendously competitive, with new world wine countries, such as Chile, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa becoming relevant players. Consumers are increasingly offered a broad range of wine brands in supermarkets, restaurants, and wine stores. Consequently, wine marketing managers are required to develop strategies for building consumer brand loyalty for their own wines. This study attempts to investigate this issue and tests a model of antecedents of wine brand loyalty with 300 consumers from Chile, a new world wine producer. Results are analyzed with structural equation modeling (SEM). Our results indicate that wine brand satisfaction has the strongest relationship with wine brand loyalty. Additionally, wine experience is positively related to brand trust and brand satisfaction.     

European Wines Exports Towards Emerging Markets. The Role of Geographical Identity

The geographical identity of agricultural products may be regarded as a means to differentiate the product in the consumers’ taste and eye, thereby ensuring higher prices. Building on the analysis of Agostino and Trivieri (Food Policy46:22–36, 2014), this paper provides empirical evidence on the performance of geographically designated and indicated wines in emerging economies. According to our findings—based on bilateral exports of wine originating from France, Italy and Spain in the period 2010–2013—the geographical designation seems reaching the ultimate goal of a price premium in the BRICS countries. Italian and Spanish quality wines, yet, appear lagging behind their French counterparts.     

Assessing experiential augmentation of the environment in the valuation of wine: Evidence from an economic experiment in Mt. Etna,Italy

In this study, we conducted an experimental auction to determine the impacts that “experiential augmentation,” a phenomenon in which a physical location impacts decision‐making, has on consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for wine. The experiment elicited subjects’ valuation under experiential augmentation conditions for three types of wine grown in the Mt. Etna area in Sicily, Italy. Our findings indicate that experiential augmentation increased consumers’ WTP for wine. Our results suggest that experiential marketing practices explicitly related to the environment where the wine is produced and consumed can lead to increased valuation for wine.