Towards development of a Wine Neophobia Scale (WNS): Measuring consumer wine neophobia using an adaptation of The Food Neophobia Scale (FNS)

•WNS contained 8 items, rated on a 9-point scale, giving a maximum score of 72.•WNS was tested on 1000 Australian wine consumers.•Wine neophilics scored lower than 27 and wine neophobics scored more than 39.•WNS was able to accurately predict expected consumer behaviour.•WNS can be used as a tool for pre-screening and segmentation of wine consumers.

A Wine Neophobia Scale (WNS) was created from The Food Neophobia Scale (FNS) modified by substituting the word 'food' with 'wine' and discarding one item. Respondents (n = 207) completed the WNS in order to identify scale items. Analysis indicated that the item “I am very particular about the wine I drink” should be removed. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) followed by Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) provided a unidimensional model that was internally reliable. The final WNS contained eight items, rated on a 9-point scale, and giving a maximum score of 72. The WNS was test/retested, checked for reliability and validated using a cohort of 471 Australian wine consumers and was then applied to 1000 Australian respondents who had consumed wine in the past two weeks. WNS scores were split into quartile segments and respondents who scored 39 or more were identified as wine neophobics.The degree of wine neophobia increased with age, but decreased with higher education and greater income. The demographic categories where wine neophobics predominated were: in the older than 55 years of age group; having no tertiary education; and an average household income of less than AUD$75 K. Wine neophilics were mostly younger than 54 years of age, with a tertiary education and an average household income above AUD$75 K. These results confirmed the potential of the WNS to be used as a tool for pre-screening and segmentation of wine consumers.