Perception of wine quality according to extrinsic cues: The case of Burgundy wine consumers

The value consumers put on specific products depends on the information they can get from experience and from the commercial description of the products. For wine, this information derives mainly from tasting (intrinsic factors) and from the packaging of the bottles (extrinsic factors). The main purpose of this work is to compare different methodologies able to disclose the extrinsic factors playing an important role in wine quality perception of consumers. Twenty-four Chardonnay commercial wines were selected according to different criteria such as origin, denomination of origin and information provided in the label or back label. Forty-eight participants living in Burgundy took part in the study. Two incentive-compatible marketing and economic based purchase methodologies were compared: choice and auction approach, as well as a laboratory categorization task based on sensory analysis methodology at three quality levels (low, average and high quality). In all cases wines were evaluated by examination of the bottles with no tasting. Relative choice and willingness to pay (WTP) ranking for samples were consistent across both purchase methods (choice and auction approaches) however, consumers gave higher prices in the choice approach. The categorization task gives similar results as the two purchase tasks. Results show that it exists an important trade-off in quality perception among different extrinsic cues such as origin, denomination of origin (1er Cru vs vin de pays), label aesthetic (classical vs modern), bottling (estate vs cooperative bottled), the presence of awards as well as different cues commonly linked to tradition such as “special cuvée” or being produced by independent winemakers or being perceived as a wine with a potential for ageing.

► The presented methodologies examine the main extrinsic drivers of wine quality perception.
► Auction and choice approaches lead to similar results, but auction gives more accurate WTP price.
► Categorization task provides results comparable to purchase methodologies, and is less costly.
► There are important trade-offs in quality perception among the different extrinsic cues.
► Origin, label aesthetic, bottling, awards and tradition cues are the main drivers of quality.