Geographical origin, use of traditional varieties and ancestral viticulture/oenology practices characterize wines classified as Historical Wines of Portugal (HWP). This post reports a study that identifies the authenticity attributes consumers associate with this classification and assesses the relative strength of associations. Compared to Aspirational Explorers, wine connoisseurs emerged as Heritage Gatekeepers, associating origin, cultural heritage, quality, production and at-home consumption more strongly with HWP, and tradition, wine age and out-of-home consumption less strongly. Market recognition of HWP as a novel and distinctive table wine classification, with well-defined and unique attributes, is thus likely to depend on consumers’ general wine knowledge. Related promotional activities targeting wine novices should first focus on educating them on HWP classification, whereas those directed at savvier consumers should emphasize wine authenticity cues instead.
Do we really understand what experts tell us about wine?
Expert wine tasters have a greater ability than non-experts to discriminate between and evaluate the sensory properties of wine. In this study the authors explore non-experts’ understanding of a set of 64 terms which are frequently used as descriptors of the sensory properties of wine. The results reinforce the idea that when people describe wine or convey information, there is a serious risk of misunderstandings occurring when experts communicate with standard consumers. This indicates a necessity for wine industries to invest in research aimed at ensuring that experts (e.g. sommeliers, oenologists or producers) refer to the same basic sensory dimensions relating to wine as standard consumers. The present paper aimed to raise the question of whether the dimension referred to by experts (in the present case relating to a wine’s body or its acidity, for instance) matches the dimension that non-experts think of. This study has shown that modelling these dimensions in terms of opposite poles (which is typical of some tasting scales used by experts) also works quite well for standard consumers.
The Wine Influencers: Exploring a New Communication Model of Open Innovation on Social Networks
Wine Influencers (WIs) represent a new type of independent third-party endorsers that are progressively establishing themselves within social networks. This study analyzes the characteristics of the activity of WIs and the communication model used via Instagram. Netnographic Analysis, Factor Analysis and AGIL methods were applied. The results show five Key-findings within specific relationships established during discussions: advice from Wine Influencers and generalized reciprocity in relationships; structural and social bonds established based on the frequency of messages from regular followers; peer-to-peer relationship development through recommendation; development of trust established through online relationships; wine influencer’s influence on followers regarding everything about the wine. The study derives a model that explains the communication dimensions used by WIs that are: advertising (information about product/brand) (35.71%); persuasion—added value to brand and product (42.62%); brand democratization (10.07%); and identity (8.03%). This study provides a novel contribution to the open innovation process of small and medium-sized wine industries for their marketing strategies.
Facing Giants: The Wine Industry in Canada
The Canadian wine industry is a small but growing sector of the economy rooted in non-metropolitan areas. Dependent upon local natural resources and climatic conditions and coupled with changes in consumers’ preferences, wineries are pressured to adopt and develop more ecological practices and production processes. This post is based on a study that explores the main drivers of eco-innovation and analyzes differences between the factors associated with eco-innovation and conventional innovation.
Measuring Wine Industry Efficiency with Wine Industry Network Evaluation Model (WINE-Model)
In this post the authors propose a group of indicators for the analysis of wine industry performance. They present a new model that analyzes the direct impact of wine industry productivity rate (Π*), the wine industry performance rate (ΔΠ), the wine cargo expansion rate (Δϛ), and the wine industry technological change adaptability rate (ϕ) on wine industry network efficiency (WINE-Index). This new model, “The Wine Industry Network Evaluation Model (WINE-Model)” is intended to offer policy makers and researchers an additional analytical tool to study the impact of dynamic changes such as international trade trends and technological shocks on wine industry performance from a new perspective.
The WINE-Model can be applied to the study of any wine industry and is not constrained by geographical area or development stage of the industry. The WINE-Model is thus simple, flexible, and versatile. The authors appllied the model to the wine industries of Spain, Italy, France, Chile, Argentina, and Greece. Perhaps the WINE-Model’s biggest strength is its ability to capture and measure industry performance from a dynamic perspective.
Exploring consumer behavior and policy options in organic wine adoption
Organic food has important environmental and health benefits, decreasing the toxicity of agricultural production, improving soil quality, and overall resilience of farming. Increasing consumers’ demand for organic food reinforces the rate of organic farming adoption and the level of farmers’ risk acceptance. Three behavioral theories – theory of planned behavior, alphabet theory, and goal-framing – describe individual food purchasing decisions in response to policies. In this study wine sector was used as an example to calibrate and validate the model for the case study of Sydney, Australia.
Social cues and the online purchase intentions of organic wine
This study investigates how online store atmospherics (i.e., social cues) affect consumer purchase intentions of organic wine. A between-subject experiment with a quantitative survey conducted among German consumers reveals that the mere presence of social cues (i.e., a chat box) on a wine sellers’ online platform positively affects the intention to purchase organic wine from this online store because social cues elicit perceptions of social presence that translate into trust in the online store and brand trust. The latter promotes purchase intentions. Internal (i.e., familiarity with organic wine purchases) and situational (i.e., goal-directedness of shopping) factors do not moderate the effects of social cues
The role of attitudes and tolerance of ambiguity in explaining consumers’ willingness to pay for organic wine
This post summarizes a study carried out to explore if consumer tolerance of ambiguity may explain the relationship between consumer attitudes toward organic food and willingness to pay for organic wine. Results show that the positive influence of consumers’ healthy attitude on their willingness to pay for organic wine is weaker in individuals less tolerant of ambiguity. Furthermore, no evidence signaling that consumer tolerance of ambiguity had a significant effect on the link between tasty or eco-friendly attitudes and willingness to pay was found. These findings highlight the role of consumer tolerance of ambiguity in explaining organic wine purchase behaviors. Hence, these results offer suggestions to winery managers concerning marketing strategies that could potentially enhance consumer willingness to pay for organic wine.
COVID-19: Initiatives From the Wine Sector
This post reports some initiatives from wine sector during this pandemic situation. A study on the behavior and attitudes of European wine consumers from European Association of Wine Economists. A solidarity action aiming to distribute disinfectant gel produced from wine spirit carried out from The Association of Port Wine Companies. Science & Wine propose the creation of a working group to prepare 2020 grape harvest.