Sustainable Wine Labeling: A Framework for Definition and Consumers’ Perception

Abstract

In the last twenty years there has been a large interest in sustainable winegrowing initiatives worldwide. As a consequence, the wine sector has seen the growth of “environmentally-friendly” and ethical claims according to specific eco-certification schemes and labelling programs. Thus, sustainable claims are becoming credence attributes that compete with other quality indications on a wine label and might influence the choice, the quality perception and willingness to pay (WTP). The objective of this study is twofold: first, to explore the concept of consumers’ perception of sustainable wine and second, to investigate different cluster groups based on three factors identified (belief about environmental protection, beliefs about sustainable wine certification and attitude towards sustainable labelled wine) and WTP.