Positioning Mapping of Red Wines Positioning Mapping of Red Wines

Abstract

Abstract Positioning is the way a firm designs and presents its image to potential customers such that the target audiences understand what the firm offers relative to other firms in the same marketplace. Constructing a map that reflects the positioning of a commercial entity allows managers to be able to find "open" spaces in the competitive environment and can enhance the ability of managers to improve their business and attract and retain customers. We implemented factor analyses to wine characteristics scores derived by blind tasting of four generic wines to constract the positioning map based on the factor scores. The next step was identifying an ideal vector that represents the relative effect of the two factors on the desired positioning of an ideal wine. This was done by regressing the factor scores against the preferences of consumers for the four different wines. We conducted these analyses for both the aggregate and disaggregate levlels. Segmentation show different positioning map for male and female. Our results indicate that there is heterogeneity in consumers' perceptions with respect to four different red wines. There is, however, homogeneity in consumers' ideal combination of the wine characterisitcs as reflected by the position of the ideal vector in the various maps. Several marketing implications regarding the different positioning of the different wine among different consumers segments are dicussed