Battle of the nations: consumer perceptions of wine origins

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine whether purchasers identify a wine’s country of origin and what their perceptions are of products originating from various wine producing nations. Design/methodology/approach: An interviewer‐administered questionnaire was used to examine the views of 399 consumers as they made actual purchase decisions inside stores in New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Findings: The results indicate that the majority of consumers can identify the origin of the wine they purchase (83%). In addition, the perceptions of wine that consumers hold do vary based upon a wine’s country of origin. Practical implications: These results suggest that country of origin perceptions differ across wine producing nations and that these differences are likely to be associated with a financial cost or benefit to wine producers. Originality/value: Few previous country of origin studies have asked consumers, at the time of purchase, if they can identify the origin of the product they have chosen. This study adds to current knowledge by providing evidence that wine purchasers are likely to know the origin of the wine they purchase and that their perceptions of these origins will indeed vary.