Region Equity and Wine Purchase Decisions: Does The French Cachet Sell Chardonnay?

Abstract

American wine consumers reported purchase likelihoods for several fictitious wines based on brief verbal descriptions in an information display table. The information in the table was organized according to either region of origin or wine variety categories. Results indicated that the French Chardonnay had a higher purchase likelihood when the table also included a Texas Chardonnay rather than when it included a California Chardonnay. Moreover, the purchase likelihood of the French Chardonnay was higher when the wines were organized according to region rather than variety categories, whereas the reverse was true for the Texas Chardonnay. The purchase likelihood of the California Chardonnay was unaffected by the organization of the information in the table.