Health warnings on wine: a consumer perspective

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate consumers’ interest and preference for health warnings on wine label, and the key socio-demographic and attitudinal variables driving this interest.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were gathered, by a professional marketing company, through an on line survey with a sample of 300 Italians, aged over 18, consuming wine at least once a month.

Findings

Respondents were interested in receiving more information on nutritional and health features of wine through the label, and would also like to obtain information about the warnings about possible side effects related to excessive wine consumption. The most relevant variables influencing positive interest toward this information are gender (female), age (younger cohort), education level (higher), presence of children in the household and being the main responsible of grocery shopping.

Research limitations/implications

The research was limited by being conducted only in Italy, using explorative methodology.

Social implications

Outcomes provide useful evidence for advocates calling for the introduction of health warnings on wine labels and policy makers.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to analyze Italian consumer interest toward health warnings on wine label.

Citation

Annunziata, A., Pomarici, E., Vecchio, R. and Mariani, A. (2016), "Health warnings on wine: a consumer perspective", British Food Journal, Vol. 118 No. 3, pp. 647-659. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-08-2015-0300