Insights into organic wine consumption: behaviour, segmentation and attribute non-attendance

Abstract

Several studies have focused on the behaviour of consumers towards organic wine, finding varying and sometimes conflicting results. Some scholars have noted that consumers may perceive wine labelled as organic to be of a lower quality, whereas others have found that consumers are willing to pay a premium price for it. Starting from these discrepancies found in the literature, this study seeks to investigate how the organic certification influences consumers when purchasing a bottle of red wine, evaluating the possible presence of attribute non-attendance (ANA) behaviour. A choice experiment was carried out on a sample of Italian wine consumers. Findings highlight that although, on average, consumers do not prefer organic wine, there is a relevant niche in the market consisting of consumers who benefit from purchasing it. Moreover, we have found that the majority of the sample ignores the organic attribute when choosing a bottle of wine, which reveals ANA behaviour.