Wine Critic Scores and Consumer Behavior in a Major USA Metropolitan Market

摘要

In this paper, we investigated three questions. First, to what extend do wine critic scores and descriptions influence consumer-buying decisions? Second, to what extent this influence varies with price? Third, how do demographics affect consumer decisions? The experimental design consisted of convenience samples from four different stores in a major United States (US) metropolitan market, with random assignment of consumers to different groups, who completed a total of 240 survey questionnaires. The dependent variable was likelihood to buy wine when presented with varying amount of wine critic information (a control group and three experimental groups with different levels of information). Independent variables included wine price, age, gender, wine interest, store type and location. Major findings include some surprises. For a $20 bottle of wine, the critic information was not a factor on likelihood to purchase, while critic information was a factor for a $50 bottle. These findings varied somewhat based on demographics such as wine club membership, gender, type store, and store location. The findings have implications for wine producer, distributor and retailer marketing methods.