Region- versus brand-based reputation framing and willingness to pay for Hungarian Tokaji wine among urban Chinese consumers

As international wine trade expands, reputation becomes central in markets where consumers have limited familiarity with foreign wine regions. This paper examines how region-based and brand-based reputation framings affect consumer valuation of imported wine. Using data from 1,000 urban Chinese respondents recruited through Dynata in February 2026, we analyse willingness to pay (WTP) for Hungarian Tokaji wine under alternative reputation narratives. Respondents were randomly assigned to four information treatments in a 2 × 2 design varying reputation type and China-specific contextualization, and WTP was elicited using double-bounded contingent valuation. The factorial analysis shows that brand-based framing generates higher WTP than region-based framing in the absence of China-specific contextualization. China-specific contextualization significantly increases WTP under region-based framing but has no statistically detectable effect under brand-based framing, resulting in a significant interaction between the two treatment dimensions. These findings demonstrate that the value of reputation-related information depends on both signal type and destination-market context, with implications for product differentiation and export-market communication strategies.