Filling the gap – How do sensory and marketing attributes interact in consumers’ wine choice?

When viticulturists and oenologists produced flavours and aromas that are positively perceived by consumers in blind tastings, the question remains how much they actually influence consumers’ wine liking, choice and repurchase intent in the presence of marketing attributes such as brand, packaging, region and price. While traditional consumer sensory research mainly focuses on blind sensory evaluation, in reality most consumers drink and evaluate wine in an informed condition, being aware of the price and label information. What is the relative impact of sensory and marketing attributes when consumers drink wine in realistic settings and which are the sensory attributes that cut through the marketing clutter? To provide first answers to these questions we report results from a two-stage experiment for Australian Shiraz wines, simulating the process of a consumer choosing a wine from the shelf, tasting the wine, and making a repurchase decision.