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Preferences for eco certified wines in the United States

Daniel Moscovici (Department of Environment and Sustainability, Stockton University, Galloway, New Jersey, USA)
Rana Rezwanul (Department of Economics, Faculty of Business, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Australia)
Radu Mihailescu (Department of Economics, NHL Stenden Hogeschool, Leeuwarden, The Netherlands)
Jeff Gow (Department of Economics, Faculty of Business, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Australia)
Adeline Alonso Ugaglia (Department of Economics and Management, Bordeaux Sciences Agro, Gradignan, France)
Lionel Valenzuela (Department of Industrias, Universidad Tecnica Federico Santa Maria, Valparaiso, Chile)
Azzurra Rinaldi (Department of Economics, Universita degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza, Roma, Italy)

International Journal of Wine Business Research

ISSN: 1751-1062

Article publication date: 10 August 2020

Issue publication date: 25 May 2021

494

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to analyze the wine industry’s response to changing societal attitudes towards the environment. Environmental considerations are now an increasingly important factor in both production and purchasing behavior. While many eco-certifications exist, there is still consumer confusion between the multitude of eco wine certifications, lack of clarity about what consumers think about the wines, and not enough data about their willingness to pay (WTP) for these environmental characteristics.

Design/methodology/approach

This study clarifies what the various wine eco certifications are, quantifies consumer knowledge and ascertains their WTP for five environmental or sustainable wine certifications, namely, biodynamic, fair trade, organic, natural and sustainable. The authors surveyed 456 wine drinkers in the USA.

Findings

The authors found that millennials, women, unmarried individuals, those purchasing eco-certified foods, low-income individuals and those looking to celebrate a special occasion have a higher WTP for eco-certified wines compared to respondents who are older, male, married, do not buy eco-certified goods, have higher incomes and are purchasing the wine for a regular occasion. They recommend marketing and targeting those in the former group for environmental or sustainable wines.

Originality/value

The study is the only research project, of this kind, to evaluate five types of eco-certifications for wine in a single WTP analysis.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the three anonymous reviewers and the associate editor. Their comments/suggestions helped improve and clarify this manuscript.

Citation

Moscovici, D., Rezwanul, R., Mihailescu, R., Gow, J., Ugaglia, A.A., Valenzuela, L. and Rinaldi, A. (2021), "Preferences for eco certified wines in the United States", International Journal of Wine Business Research, Vol. 33 No. 2, pp. 153-175. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJWBR-04-2020-0012

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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