Editorial

Citation

Orth, U.R. (2008), "Editorial", International Journal of Wine Business Research, Vol. 20 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijwbr.2008.04320daa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: International Journal of Wine Business Research, Volume 20, Issue 4.

This is the last issue of this year with four articles, three of them originating in papers presented during the 4th International Conference of the Academy of Wine Business Research (AWBR) in Siena, Italy this summer. Again, the authors contributed to the journal from around the world this time with a focus on New World locations including Australia, New Zealand and the USA.

The first article, a collaborative work by researchers from Italy and the US, took home the award for the best paper presented during the AWBR Siena Conference. Drawing from a sample of family wineries in Italy's Tuscany region and California, the paper focuses on management characteristics promoting or hindering innovation. The authors modestly label their work an exploratory research but this paper does a role-model job in outlining how an extensive literature review and interviews are combined to develop a model for subsequent tests. The article's managerial and strategy focus sets it apart from other studies in this issue as does its cross-country perspective. Sonoma State University's Wine Business Program must be applauded for financially supporting this quality research.

The second article is another result of Texas Tech University's highly productive team of wine business researchers. Segmenting local residents by their attitudes towards local wines the authors focus on differences between segments in recommendation behavior. Managerial interest in this research should be particularly strong as “local enthusiasts” and “local advocates” represent two groups of endorsers who promote local wines to others. This behavior including its underlying drivers is especially relevant for small and emerging wine regions as virtually no cost are incurred for this promotional tool. Texas may be an emerging wine region but with a population of fervent advocates its wine industry is on a promising path.

The third paper by economists Schiefer and Fischer challenges the usefulness of expert-based wine awards commonly highlighted in consumer publications on wine and in wine labeling. Drawing from a sample of German consumers, the authors apply an econometric model for examining how consumer experience, their sensory skills and their knowledge about wine influence the degree of correlation between their preferences for and expert ratings of Riesling. The findings indicate that a sizable number of consumers arrive at preferences different than the one underlying expert awards. The authors suggest a revised awards system which is modeled more in accordance with consumer sensory evaluation and wine expertise.

The fourth article is a runner-up for the best paper award at the AWBR Siena conference. Australian author Roberta Veale also tackles the issue of wine extrinsic cues. However, different than the previous article, she focuses on how consumer knowledge and self-confidence interact with sensory evaluations in influencing consumer reliance on price and country-of-origin for unwooded Chardonnay. Findings of a conjoint experiment indicate extrinsic cues exert a strong influence on quality perception even when consumers are experienced and confident. This result cautions wine marketers against assuming that intrinsic product attributes (i.e. taste) will be weighted and interpreted accurately by consumers. Apparently even “knowledgeable” consumers let themselves be guided to a considerable extent by price and origin cues.

Ulrich R. Orth