• 1 M. Miele, “Consumption culture: The case of food”, In Cloke, P. J., Marsden, T., Mooney, P. H. (Ed (...)
• 2 M. Featherstone, Consumer culture and postmodernism, London, Sage, 1991 ; M. Miele, Op. cit.
• 3 U. Beck & M. Ritter, Risk society: Towards a new modernity, London, [Eng.], New Delhi, Newbury Par (...)
• 4 V. Fournier, “Insights from wine’s amateurs for wine tourism”, Paper presented as invited speaker (...)
• 5 D. Hall & KTH, “Exploring wine knowledge, aesthetics and ephemerality: Clustering consumers”, Inte (...)
• 6 V. Do, B. Patris & D. Valentin, “Opinions on wine in a new consumer country: A comparative study o (...)

1Consumers often have numerous options within a product category, which affords them the ability to selectively choose products based on individual preferences shaped by individual experiences. Enjoyment of a product is often a multi-faceted sensory experience, which can make it difficult for consumers to articulate why they like, or do not like something. Scholarly approaches to the culture of consumption examine the meanings, beliefs, and social structures that give shape to consumption, including those aspects of culture that impact preference and choice1. As affluence and choice increase in societies, consumers are able to choose products that are reflective of their individuality2 and, identify products based on individual preferences that is an expression of an outward identity, and also a search for self-identity3. Wine is an important and appropriate way to study this form of consumption culture. While choices are numerous, all wine is made from the same thing, fermented grape juice; everything else, including the symbols and meaning of wine, relate to culture4 and related modes of consumption. Wine consumers often attach symbolic value to specific qualities during the purchase process, and consumption based on their own personal experiences5. This symbolic achievement can be an internal process as individual wine drinkers choose products based on their own self-identity formed through their cultural experiences6.

• 7 R.L. Gluckman, “A consumer approach to branded wines”, European Journal of Marketing, 24(4), 1990, (...)
• 8 M. Miele, Op. cit.
• 9 B. Dubois & P. Duquesne, “The market for luxury goods: Income versus culture”, European Journal of (...)

2Wine labeling also plays an important role in the consumption process. When a prospective wine drinker walks into a wine store, there may be thousands of options available to choose from. To narrow down the choices, wine drinkers often rely on the label to make assumptions about the wine inside the bottle7. With so many unique labels available, consumers can draw on past information, experiences, and sensory cues to help make a product selection. Therefore, the wine label also plays an important role in the culture of consumption as consumers look for symbols and meaning that they personally identify with8, and choose products that are reflective of a desired identity9.

• 10 S. Askegaard & J.T. Linnet, “Towards an epistemology of consumer culture theory: Phenomenology and (...)
• 11 Idem., p. 381.

4To understand how wine drinkers are shaped by their experiences to develop associations with sensory cues that create biases that influence how the wine will taste, this study uses consumer culture theory (CCT) as a theoretical framework. CCT views consumers as individual identity seekers navigating opportunities in the marketplace that provide a message that embraces who they are based on personal experiences10. In terms of wine consumption, CCT enables researchers to examine contexts in which the consumer acts as an explorer constructing their own identity based on market-based resources11.

• 12 J. Delwiche, “The impact of perceptual interactions on perceived flavor”, Food Quality and Prefere (...)
• 13 J. Goode, I taste red: The science of tasting wine, Oakland, California, University of California (...)
• 14 C. Spence & O. Deroy, Crossmodal mental imagery, In Lacey, S., Lawson, R. (Ed.), Multisensory imag (...)
• 15 J. Goode, Op. cit.

5As a multi-faceted sensory experience12, wine can illustrate cultural differences while exposure to a variety of stimuli can lead to cross-modal sensory associations when consuming a product like wine13. Cross-modal associations occur when senses overlap until one sensory experience is systematically associated with a resulting sensory experience14. As consumers have more experiences with wine they want to consume, these exposures generate sensory cues for consumer preference that create an expectation for how the wine should taste15. As a result, methods in sensory evaluation were critical to addressing the research questions in this study and understanding how one sense can impact another.

• 16 J. Hoegg & J.W. Alba, “Linguistic framing of sensory experience: there is some accounting for tast (...)
• 17 J. Hoegg & J.W. Alba, “Taste perception: more than meets the tongue”, Journal of Consumer Research(...)
• 18 L.S. Lockshin & W. Timothy Rhodus, “The effect of price and oak flavor on perceived wine quality”, (...)

6When evaluating wine options, the label is often the first thing consumers see and is used to make a judgement on product trial. Each individual will make associations between the visual cues they are viewing and different experiences they have had with wine (Parr et. al., 2003). When labels become associated with specific sensory values, they are used to discriminate between choices16 and these sensory associations may impact preferences for different sensory qualities17. This research focuses on visual cues that have extrinsic variables, which are the verbal and visual cues that can be changed on a label without changing the product18. This includes items such as colour, design, images, or characters that help form the brand image of the wine.

• 19 C.A. Boudreaux & S.E. Palmer, “A charming little cabernet: Effects of wine label design on purchas (...)
• 20 H. Chiu, Y. Hsieh, & Y. Kuo, “How to align your brand stories with your products”, Journal of Reta (...)
• 21 S. Sherman & T. Tuten, “Message on a bottle: The wine label's influence”, International Journal of (...)
• 22 M.B. Beverland, “Crafting brand authenticity: The case of luxury wines”, Journal of Management Stu (...)

7Within this study, the verbal and visual variables that make-up the extrinsic variables on a label were measured using four main categories that have been shown to influence consumer preference. This includes brand personality19, Label narrative20, design style21, and conveyance of luxury22. The verbal and visual extrinsic variables that can be measured using these four categories are referred to as visual sensory cues (Figure 1).

• 23 M.A. Amerine, & E. B. Roessler, Wines, their sensory evaluation (Rev. and enl. -- ed.), New York, (...)

9Using the procedure outlined by Amerine and Roessler23, a one-way, or single classification analysis of variance was conducted. To determine which means were significantly different, a multiple comparison technique, Fisher’s least significant difference test (LSD) or a t-test of proportions was conducted using Minitab®18 software.

• 24 M.C. Meilgaard, B.T. Carr & G.V. Civille, Sensory evaluation techniques, CRC press, 2006, p. 358-3 (...)
• 25 M.A. Amerine, & E. B. Roessler, Op. cit.

11To understand the degree of association between a label identified with, and both willingness-to-pay and anticipated taste, a correlation analysis was conducted following the procedure outlined by Meilgaard, et al.24. To test the strength of the relationship, the correlation coefficient (r) was calculated and evaluated to determine if it was statistically significant. Additionally, the mean willingness-to-pay for labels identified with or not identified with are compared to typical spend on wine. A total of 1,476 label views were evaluated and a single classification analysis of variance was conducted in Microsoft Excel to determine any significant difference between two or more means25.

• 26 L. Poste, D. Mackie, G. Butler & E. Larmond & Canada. Agriculture Canada. Research Branch, Laborat (...)
• 27 Op. cit.

13Phase 4 of the research is designed to effectively understand if consumer label identification can impact the perceived taste of the wine. A consumer affective test with central location was used following the procedure outlined by Poste et al.26 and Meilgaard et al27. The same wines from Phase 3 and two labels from Phase 1 that had unique attribute profiles (Table 2) were used. The research partner, ©Terrabella Ltd., enabled potential participants to be intercepted at one of their wineries, Perseus Winery. Each participant received two coded samples with approximately 12.5 ml of wine in each glass that were aligned with two labels according to a randomization plan. Starting with the sample on the left, they were then asked to indicate how much they believed each label was “for someone like me” to establish if they identified with the label, overall like/dislike, how much they would be willing-to-pay to compare to typical spend, and purchase intent for comparison. A total of 92 participants that identified with a label and liked at least one wine were used for analysis. As compensation, participants received a complimentary wine tasting, a $5 CDN value.

• 28 M.A. Amerine, Op. cit.
• 29 Op. cit, p. 331.

14For analysis, the mean willingness-to-pay for labels identified with or not identified with were compared to typical wine spend. A single classification analysis of variance was conducted in Microsoft Excel to determine if there was a significant difference between two means28. Secondly, the proportion of respondents that spend more than typical when they identify with the label, was compared to those that spend more than typical when they do not identify with the label. Following the procedure outlined by Meilgaard et al.29, a t-test of proportions was conducted using Minitab®18 software. Third, using a t-test of proportions conducted in Minitab®18 software, the proportion of respondents that liked the wine in the label they identified with was compared to the proportion that liked the wine in the label they did not identify with. Fourth, a single classification analysis of variance was conducted in Microsoft Excel to determine if there was a significant difference between the overall liking score for wines with labels identified with and wines with labels that were not identified with.

• 30 A. Warde, “Consumption, Identity-Formation and Uncertainty”, Sociology, Volume 28, issue 4, 1994, (...)

24The results of this research use consumption culture to go beyond the impact of the label on purchase intent and appeal, to show how individual experiences drive consumers to find something they personally identify with. Individual consumers use past experiences to seek products they can identify with, to represent who they are and/or the image they want to convey through the cultural meanings they associate with their consumption30. Through five phases of research, the results of this research demonstrate that when visual sensory cues on the wine label represent a wine drinker’s identity, a cross-modal association may bias the actual taste of the wine. Therefore, the label does impact the taste of the wine as consumers seek to “drink what you are”.