Consumer preferences for different red wine styles and repeated exposure effects. (April 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Tempere, Sophie; Pérès, Stéphanie; Espinoza, Alejandro Fuentes; Darriet, Philippe; Giraud-Héraud, Eric; Pons, Alexandre
• Is Part Of: Food quality and preference. Volume 73(2019)
• Page Start: 110
• Page End: 116
• Publication Date: 2019-04
• Subjects: Wine -- Aroma -- Consumer evaluation -- Sensory analysis -- Experimental market; Food preferences -- Periodicals; Food -- Quality -- Periodicals; Food industry and trade -- Quality control -- Periodicals; Préférences alimentaires -- Périodiques; Aliments -- Qualité -- Périodiques; Aliments -- Industrie et commerce -- Qualité -- Contrôle -- Périodiques; Food industry and trade -- Quality control; Food preferences; Food -- Quality; Periodicals; 664
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2018.12.009
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0950-3293

Abstract

Highlights: This research investigated the effect of exposure on short-term appreciation for two wine styles. Consumers who appreciate high-sugar soft drinks enjoy wines with high alcohol levels, low acidity, and overriding jammy-fruit flavors. Differences in wine preferences and willingness to pay between the repeat-exposure and single-exposure groups were assessed. A reversal of preferences was observed between the two groups of consumers: consumer behavior and the hierarchies of preferences were directly impacted by wine exposure. Single measurements are not predictive values for future consumer choices. Abstract: As the complexity of wine flavor is strongly linked with grape quality, depending on grape-growing practices and winemaking procedures, winemakers are concerned to anticipate some stabilization of consumer preferences for specific, intrinsic, wine characteristics. The objective of our experiment was to compare the impact of tasting wine over time at home, with first impressions in a single tasting session under laboratory conditions on the preference for certain types of premium red Bordeaux wines available on the market. To assess the consistency of evaluation at home, half of the participants tasted two contrasting wines (fresh/jammy fruit, low/high alcohol) on several occasions. In both cases, traditional sensory analysis and experimental economic techniques were applied to evaluate the preferences of French consumers (N = 184) and their willingness to pay. This observation of the effect of repeated exposure to wines with high alcohol levels (15% vol.), marked by jammy fruit flavors, on the stability of appreciation of these wines clearly revealed the fragility of short-term preferences and the importance of giving consumers time to evaluate wines in a familiar atmosphere.