Analysis of the perceptions of wine consumers toward environmental approaches: Support for the management of environmental strategy

Abstract

For several years now, the protection of the environment has become a priority for public authorities and the agricultural sectors. On one hand, this has led, in Europe and in the world, to the challenge of modifying or redesigning farming itineraries. On the other hand, it has also caused a multiplication of environmental approaches and environmental product labeling across all sectors. Several studies clearly show that French consumers are increasingly sensitive to environmental information and are in favor of mandatory environmental labeling. These elements tend to encourage agricultural value chains to develop environmental communication strategies as a key factor of differentiation and competitiveness. However, few studies address the joint evaluation of environmental and quality labeling of products under a quality sign, especially for those with a strong image of AOC (“Appellation d'Origine Contrôlé” or “Controlled Origin Denomination”) such as wine. This approach is even more important since the publication of the 2016 decree giving to AOC wines the possibility to integrate agro-ecological measures into their specifications. Through the analysis of consumers' representations and perceptions regarding environmental approaches, the objective of the work is to provide professionals in the wine sector i) objective elements to support changing viticulture practices at the individual farm level and ensuring their commercial valorization among consumers ii) information enabling an AOC union to define an environmental strategy and support integration of agro ecological measures in its specifications. The work conducted by USC GRAPPE since 2014, across the French territory with more than 3,700 consumers, has identified a number of trends. First, there is a clear general lack of awareness among consumers regarding the majority of the existing environmental labels besides the AB logo (“Agriculture Biologique” or “Organic Agriculture”), which is the only one they known. The results obtained show different consumers' perception of the link between a “wine's category” and its “environmentally friendly production”. Overall, AOC wines are perceived as significantly more respectful of the environment compared to the IGP (“Indication Geographique Protégée” “Protected Geographical Indication”) wines which at the same time, are better perceived than the VDT (“Vins de France” or “Wines of France”). In addition, the reputation of an AOC can have an influence on the perception of its environmental respect. The results also confirm the importance of integrating consumers' segmentation according to their level of involvement with the product versus the involvement with the environment. Finally, wine consumers' representation of the environmental impact of different practices throughout the wine bottle production process, was addressed through a qualitative and quantitative approach and confirms the importance given to the phase “vineyard production”. This work provides insights into consumers' perceptions of the possible links between the signs of quality and an environmentally-friendly production. These elements, coupled with an eco-design based work, can identify the most relevant practices to be changed from an environmental and consumer point of view.