Follow the leader: How expert ratings mediate consumer assesment of hedonic quality

Within the context of sighted wine appreciation, previous studies indicate that extrinsic cues like price and area-of-origin have a marked effect on the sighted ratings proffered by tasting experts. While these expert ratings are widely employed by the wine media as proxies of genuine quality, it remains uncertain whether such expert ratings, in turn, serve to influence the public in their own sighted assessments of wine quality. To determine the influence of the expert rating cue in the public's sighted appreciation of wine, a tasting-room experiment was held in which 32 subjects assessed seven wines first blind and then sighted. During the sighted tasting the only (additional) cue-information made available was the expert rating conferred by the South African annual wine-guide known as John Platter. An interrogation of the resultant database of 224 paired blind and sighted wine assessments reveals the extent to which the expert rating cue consistently mediates the sighted appreciation of wine, this particularly within the younger, less experienced demographic. An examination of the meta-model's driving coefficients suggests that in explaining sighted quality, expert ratings appear to operate at five times the strength of the original intrinsic (blind) assessment. For marketers, this finding suggests (1) that the promotion of this extrinsic cue be targeted more specifically at wine "novices", and (2) that this narrowing of marketing focus implies a more judicious and effective employment of media budgets

The hedonic valuation of South African wine brands

Working with a set of 35 South African wine brands identified in Priilaid and Van Rensburg (2010a), this study presents two brand valuation techniques that combine non-ordinal wine valuation models with conventional methods of valuation. The first price-premium approach defines brand equity value as the difference between a wine’s price and a valuation of its intrinsic worth. The second quality premium approach defines brand equity value as the difference between a wine’s intrinsic value and, instead of price, the value of its perceived quality when sampled sighted.   With a set of assumptions regarding consistency in future wine quality, hectorage, price premiums, and sales volumes, brand valuations for each method are calculated as the net present value of the brand premiums paid per unit over the total cases sold. The consequent computations reveal how the price-premium method realises a mean valuation three times greater than the average derived from the alternate quality premium method. This difference is attributed to extreme valuations noted at either end of the price-premium sample, and suggests that this method is perhaps less conservative than perceived quality premium-based valuations. Additionally, the specification of perpetuity is observed to be too extreme. Alternate time scenarios are considered, with a period of ten years posited as perhaps more appropriate to such computations

Flies in amber: Capturing brand equity-effects in South African rosé wines

With previous wine marketing studies confirming the effect of extrinsic cues such as price, area-of-origin, and expert ratings on sighted appreciation, we report on a tasting room experiment aimed to determine the prevalence and impact of wine brands across user categories of education, gender, expertise and age. Here 83 subjects assessed six different entry-level rosé wine brands, first blind and then sighted. During the sighted round the only cue information made available was the brand of each wine. A database of 498 paired blind and sighted wine assessments was thus constituted. The subsequent statistical interrogation of those factors impacting on a wine’s sighted appreciation reveals (1) the extent to which certain wines present with significant brand effects, while others do not, and (2) how different brand assemblages accrue across certain user profiles. While two men’s brands were clearly identified, females, in particular, appeared to be more influenced by certain brands, as did those with higher levels of education. The methods and findings of this paper demonstrate how one might more cost effectively test for and deploy particular brands within particular user categories

The Hedonic Valuation of South African Wine Brands

Working with a set of 35 South African wine brands identified in Priilaid and Van Rensburg (2010a), this study presents two brand valuation techniques that combine non-ordinal wine valuation models with conventional methods of valuation. The first price-premium approach defines brand equity value as the difference between a wine's price and a valuation of its intrinsic worth. The second quality premium approach defines brand equity value as the difference between a wine's intrinsic value and, instead of price, the value of its perceived quality when sampled sighted. With a set of assumptions regarding consistency in future wine quality, hectorage, price premiums, and sales volumes, brand valuations for each method are calculated as the net present value of the brand premiums paid per unit over the total cases sold. The consequent computations reveal how the price-premium method realises a mean valuation three times greater than the average derived from the alternate quality premium method. This difference is attributed to extreme valuations noted at either end of the price-premium sample, and suggests that this method is perhaps less conservative than perceived quality premium-based valuations. Additionally, the specification of perpetuity is observed to be too extreme. Alternate time scenarios are considered, with a period of ten years posited as perhaps more appropriate to such computations

Flies in amber: Capturing brand equity-effects in South African rosé wines

With previous wine marketing studies confirming the effect of extrinsic cues such as price, area-of-origin, and expert ratings on sighted appreciation, we report on a tasting room experiment aimed to determine the prevalence and impact of wine brands across user categories of education, gender, expertise and age. Here 83 subjects assessed six different entry-level rosé wine brands, first blind and then sighted. During the sighted round the only cue information made available was the brand of each wine. A database of 498 paired blind and sighted wine assessments was thus constituted. The subsequent statistical interrogation of those factors impacting on a wine’s sighted appreciation reveals (1) the extent to which certain wines present with significant brand effects, while others do not, and (2) how different brand assemblages accrue across certain user profiles. While two men’s brands were clearly identified, females, in particular, appeared to be more influenced by certain brands, as did those with higher levels of education. The methods and findings of this paper demonstrate how one might more cost effectively test for and deploy particular brands within particular user categories

Are consumers’ quality perceptions influenced by brand familiarity, brand exposure and brand knowledge? results from a wine tasting experiment

CITATION: Priilaid, D., et al. 2017. Are consumers’ quality perceptions influenced by brand familiarity, brand exposure and brand knowledge? results from a wine tasting experiment. South African Journal of Business Management, 48(2):45-54, doi:10.4102/sajbm.v48i2.27.The original publication is available at https://sajbm.orgTheory posits that, over time, placebo-type brand-equity effects may develop through the process of wine purchase and consumption. This being so, the extent to which factors like brand familiarity, brand exposure and brand knowledge combine to inform and reinforce such brand-equity effects remains still largely unexplored. With the aim of modelling this potentially mediating dynamic, we present a two-stage wine tasting experiment employing the combined reportage of fourteen experimental groups, each consecutively tasting seven Sauvignon Blanc wines first blind, and then, afterwards, sighted. Results demonstrate how brand familiarity mediates the effect of brand exposure on the sighted assessment of wine both directly, and via its relation to brand knowledge. This novel finding extends the literature on the consumer response to brand information, suggesting that conventional mass media marketing strategies aimed merely at imparting brand knowledge may prove insufficient unless they also create a degree of brand familiarity in the minds of their customers.https://sajbm.org/index.php/sajbm/article/view/27Publisher's versio

Investigating the female role in the wine sector. Business administration perspective on a Decade of Research (2010–2019)

Wine is one of the most traditional products and bears a high symbolic value, and for some countries of the world, it is the bearer of the knowledge of the community, which contains tangible and intangible assets. It also generates income, employment, economic and social value. Starting from the results of a previous study by the authors (Paoloni et al., Knowl Ecosyst Growth 1132–1156, 2019), this work aims to fill the gaps that have emerged in the literature on the subject of female entrepreneurship in the wine business scenario. To comply with the objective of the document, a bibliographic search was conducted on Scopus, using a series of selected keywords. The literature identified was then analysed using a structured literature review (SRL) proposed by Paoloni and Demartini (Palgrave Commun 2(1):16094, 2016). This paper helps to extend international literature by building a global framework on female entrepreneurship in the wine sector which, starting from the state of the art, highlights the contribution of the female role in the sector, as it provides different inputs for future research and analysis. The main implication of the paper is to advance knowledge and practice on the role of women in the economy and on the contribution of female entrepreneurs to the growth of the country, focusing on empirical researches, theoretical developments, practice and current issues. Taking into account that female entrepreneurship is considered central to the development of economies, the deepening of knowledge on how female entrepreneurs manage relationships – both internally and externally – in their business can help improve policies aimed at promoting the participation of women entrepreneurs in the economy