U.S. wine consumer preferences for bottle characteristics, back label extrinsic cues and wine composition

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine what factors and assortment of factors on wine back labels, representative of those found in the US market, appealed to consumers. Moreover, what changes to wine bottle characteristics and standard wine composition appealed and could affect their purchasing decision. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected through an online survey of 910 wine consumers who resided in Metropolitan Philadelphia and New York City. Findings – Based on conjoint analysis, averaged importance for food-wine-pairing information on wine bottle back labels was greater than both how to contact and connect with the winery and winery background information. Within the pairing information factor, description of food-wine-pairings and symbols of food-wine-pairings received positive utility values, indicating consumers preferred these options more than having no pairing information present. Consumers who purchased wine at least once a week were more positively impacted by the alternatives presented, with influence decreasing as purchasing frequency declined. Wine purchasing frequency is related to the number of wine drinkers living in a household and wine consumption within a household is most often a shared consumption activity. More females drink wine but the consumption frequency of males is higher. Practical implications – Producers considering changing either the wine composition or a bottle characteristic should note that, based on frequency of wine purchasing, changes that may invoke a positive response are: decreased calorie content, wine made from “sustainably farmed” or “naturally farmed” grapes, and producing USDA Certified Organic wine. Originality/value – This study is the first to investigate what changes to extrinsic cues in the form of wine bottle and back label characteristics and to the wine composition (taste) intrinsic cue appeal to consumers in the US market and might influence their purchase decisions.