Abstract
Wine quality perception involves both intrinsic and extrinsic attributes and is related to consumer liking and acceptability of a product. The main purpose of this paper is to evaluate the actual role of the region of origin cue on the experienced, expected, and perceived quality of wine, as well as on the discrepancies between them. Using an experimental design set up, real tasting sessions were applied to elicit consumer quality perception in three different information conditions: (1) blind tasting (2) labelled tasting (region informed evaluation); and (3) wine tasting under full information. In total, 136 wine consumers stated their preferences through liking score. The results from the assimilation-contrast framework show that region of origin affects the experienced, expected, and perceived quality, as well as the agreement between them. Thus, the region of origin may offer a good predictive value of the product, increasing the consumer expectations. These results have important implications for producers as they demonstrate that the region of origin may be used as a brand.
Highlights
Increased competition between food suppliers, especially in terms of price and product differentiation [1], [2] has enhanced the complexity of the consumers’ choice task.The concepts of expected, experienced and perceived quality have been widely reported in the literature pertaining to food quality [3,4]
The region of origin cues influence the consumer evaluation of food products as far as it can act as a quality cue to other features of the good and/or it can affect the liking of food through its symbolic or affective meaning
This is especially important for wine as it is an information-intensive product offering multidimensional decision challenges for consumers
Summary
The concepts of expected, experienced and perceived quality have been widely reported in the literature pertaining to food quality [3,4]. Cohen and Basu [5] defined expected quality as the expectation or belief regarding the anticipated performance of a product. It can be compared with true evaluation of quality obtained through blind tasting, designated by experienced quality [6]. Perceived quality can be defined as the subjective response to several explicit features of a product and should be seen in relation to the perceptions and expectations of consumers [7]. Consumer liking and acceptability of the product can be influenced by the available information which in turn affects expectations
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