Abstract
Wine consumers’ willingness (wine neophilia) or reluctance (wine neophobia) to try new wines represent, respectively, an opportunity or barrier for product innovation and market development in the wine industry. Here, we first sought to validate and optimize the Wine Neophobia Scale (WNS) in a large sample of 1269 Canadian wine consumers. Both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses showed that a seven-item scale was optimal. This modified WNS (mWNS) was then used to investigate demographic and behavioral correlates of wine neophobia. Using lower and upper quartile values, 316 neophiles and 326 neophobes were identified. Wine neophiles and neophobes did not differ with respect to gender or age; however, neophobes had lower household income, education, and wine involvement, and reported consuming fewer wine styles than neophiles. Interestingly, while neophiles drank wine considerably more frequently than neophobes—a finding that is mediated by wine involvement—total annual wine intake did not differ between the groups. Importantly, the price typically paid per bottle of wine also varied with wine neophobia. We recommend adoption of the modified mWNS as a useful tool for more fully understanding the drivers of wine behavior and providing guidance to wine marketers.
Highlights
Infants have already begun to develop distinct taste preferences [1]
We conducted a series of 2 × 2 factorial ANOVAs with Scheffe post hoc analyses to determine whether the relationships between wine neophilia/neophobia and annual intake frequency, annual wine intake, price paid per bottle, and consumption diversity were influenced by the level of wine involvement
At a higher price category (CAD 15–19), there were significantly more neophiles than neophobes. This pattern of results held when we examined whether neophilia/neophobia and wine involvement interacted to explain price paid per bottle
Summary
Infants exposed to sweet or umami tastes will show facial expressions associated with liking (e.g., turning up the corners of the mouth), whereas those exposed to bitter or sour tastes may exhibit expressions of disgust (e.g., grimacing; [1]). These early taste preferences, combined with genetic and environmental influences, help shape food preferences over the lifespan [2]. They begin to experience food neophobia, which is the fear or rejection of novel foods [3]. Most individuals will experience some degree of food neophobia throughout their lifespan
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
