Social Categories, Classification Systems, and Determinants of Wine Price in the California and French Wine Industries

Abstract

This study advances the sociological inquiry on social categories by synthesizing two lines of research in economic and organizational sociology—studies of industrial categories in market dynamics and neo-institutional analyses of social categories. It compares the classificatory schemes and structures in the California and French wine industries and investigates the impact of institutionalized categories on social evaluation via the lens of determinants of wine price. Empirical findings show that under distinct classification systems, similar categories and wine attributes have different significances and affect wine price differently. These findings shed light on the profound consequences of the organizations and structures of categories in classification systems. They also enrich the institutional analyses by demonstrating that institutional categories systematically differentiate market products and create social differences and hierarchies.

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