A holistic view on quality perception triggers of wine: 'Quaffers vs Snobs'

Abstract

This exploratory, qualitative study investigates commonalities and differences in perceptions of cues to wine quality between highly involved, premium wine drinkers and consumers of value wine products. Results of blind taste testing indicated that neither group could accurately identify common and popular red wine varietals, an important intrinsic product cue. This result supported commonly held beliefs across both groups that extrinsic cues such as price, brand, label style and packaging are amongst the strong indicators of high quality. Conversely, bold 'gimmicky' labels and cask/can packages were commonly believed to indicate low quality, overcoming the presence of high quality cues in overall assessment.