REGIONAL WINE REPUTATION: HOW IT INFLUENCES TRADE AND CONSUMER PURCHASING BEHAVIOR

Abstract

Regional Wine Reputation: How It Influences Trade and Consumer Purchasing Behavior Joseph Bernard Ostrander What are wine trade buyers and wine consumers willing to pay for a bottle of wine based on the reputation of the grape growing region apart from existing corporate branding reputation, variety popularity, or accolades from industry periodicals and celebrity wine critics? Results from a previous study discovered how attitudes about place-of-origin influenced consumer perceptions regarding the quality associated with the wines from that region. Related research also looked at how wine prices depended on the quality associated with a wine region’s reputation when linked to older, and better known wine regions from different countries. The purpose of this research was to examine the attitudes of wine trade buyers and wine consumers to determine how much of an influence American Viticulture Areas (AVAs) have on their purchasing decisions. A trade survey was conducted during November and December 2014 and sent via email to 1,778 wine trade contacts that were provided by a well-known winery in San Luis Obispo County. Final responses numbered 152 (8.5%) from trade businesses located in the U.S. The majority of participants were from Florida (24%) and California (22%), with 71% being on-premise sales channels while 29% were retail off-premise outlets. Respondents to the trade survey were asked to rank eight different desirability factors about the wines they selected for resale. The two most desirable features indicated were: 1) Quality product; and 2) Reputation of wine region. However, the choice of wine From a well-known AVA, was only a somewhat to very desirable trait. This could suggest that the wine trade is either unaware or unsure of what an AVA is. Of the 152 wine trade respondents that were asked how often they make a decision to purchase one wine versus another based on where it was produced, 43% indicated they always, or very often do so. Moreover, 81% of the trade respondents indicated that a wine’s place-of-origin did influence their purchasing decision at least somewhat often. A related survey involving 302 wine consumers was conducted in San Luis Obispo County during October 2014 and February 2015. Responses were collected outside selected grocery stores using the personal interview method. The survey demographics of those consumers that participated in the study were similar to the MRI+ statistics of domestic wine consumers, although there was a higher proportion of younger respondents in the current

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