From Marcel Merz
, at 01. April 2011 07:51
PRICE is the factor on which most people base their wine choice, experts say. And the bulk of shoppers pay little attention to finer details on labels, UniSA Professor in Wine Marketing Larry Lockshin said. While wineries seek awards and medals, such praise also rated low when it came to what the average consumer looked for in their choice of wine, he said.
“Research suggests it takes just 45 seconds for most people to select a wine after walking into a shop,” he said. “Labels do play a part, but only usually in terms of colour or the logo. Very few people look at anything more than this.”
The Advertiser last week reported Barossa Valley winery Schild Estate had been criticised for changing the wine in one of its best-selling brands while labelling it virtually the same product.
When supplies of the highly-rated 2008 shiraz started to run low, the winery sourced wine from outside its own resources to fill the gap.
Professor Lockshin said although Australian law allowed wineries to do this, it was an area which could be seen as blurring ethical lines.
“But it’s difficult to know how common or widely used this is. What we do know is a lot of consumers just don’t worry about it,” he said.
“We’ve done research across 11 countries that show there are three distinct type of buyers and those looking at price have the biggest numbers,” he said.
Dr Steve Goodman, a senior lecturer in marketing at the University of Adelaide, agreed there were ethical issues with labelling, but that they had no direct impact on most consumers.
“We are a bit more liberal than France or Italy with labelling, but it’s not something people generally pick up on,” he said.
Dr Goodman said despite a desire for the lowest price, cleanskins were levelling out in popularity.
“Branded wines are dropping their prices to keep up and Woolworths and Coles are producing their own options,” he said. Hahndorf resident Tim Middleton, 38, said price determined his wine choices and he would probably spend up to $19 on a red wine. www.wine-business-international.com
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