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Consumer likeability and willingness to pay (WTP) for two Italian sparkling wines, (Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco DOCG and Prosecco DOC) are evaluated through a non-hypothetical Becker-DeGroot-Marschak (BDM) auction during a wine-tasting experiment. The purpose of this paper is to estimate individual WTP and relate it to likeability for both wines, with and without supplying additional information on their features.

Data were collected in May–June 2019 from a sample of 99 consumers in Northern Italy. A non-hypothetical BDM auction in a wine-tasting experiment was implemented.

The results show that the additional information plays a significant role in widening the WTP gap between the two geographical indications (GIs), while the blind tasting narrows this gap. The “superiority” of the Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco DOCG is confirmed but relies more on its better reputation than its better taste.

The authors are aware of two main limitations in the study. The first is the territorial composition of the consumer sample. The second is the selection of the Prosecco bottles used in the experiment. The results are considered pioneering and need to be verified by additional experiments with different consumer and bottle samples.

Promotional suggestions for the Tutelary Consortia of the two GIs stem from the results. The Prosecco DOC should primarily stress its likeability, while the Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco DOCG should primarily emphasise the reasons for its “superiority”.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, no previous study has related likeability and WTP for similar GI wines produced in contiguous areas. Moreover, the current research has applied a non-hypothetical BDM auction in a wine-tasting experiment.

The European Union (EU) has strongly rearranged the management of EU wine policy by introducing actions for promoting wine in third countries. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate factors affecting the knowledge of Italian wines in foreign consumers, i.e., to what extend wine promotion actions can improve the consumer’s awareness or the reputation of Italian wines. As a consequence, these activities may increase the wine consumption as well as wine exports in emerging markets.

Data have been collected through survey questionnaires where information about wine tasting, sensory satisfaction and preferences about Italian wines have been collected. The sample survey collects preferences of wine market operators in both EU and third countries. The survey, carried out from 2009 to 2011, includes 3,579 interviews classified according to four promotion actions: press conference, wine tasting, tasting course, knowledge of Italian wines. Data have been analyzed through a nonparametric combination (NPC) of dependent permutation tests to evaluate differences between and within country groups and to assess the consumer perception about Italian wines through the Keller’s model.

So far, Italian wine promotion activities, supported by EU wine policy, are fragmented among in many small and sometimes low effective actions. Research results may be helpful in designing more effective promotional strategies on third countries. In particular, promotional activities which should be focussed on consumer’s appreciation of Italian wines as a brand instead of promoting specific wines or wineries.

The NPC method is a nonparametric tool which does not measure the structure of consumer’s preferences, i.e, it does give any measure of relationships among consumer’s utility and factors affecting it as it happens when a modeling approach is applied.

Targeted promotion and information actions strongly focussed internal and external wine attributes can increase the level of knowledge in foreign consumers. It can make more efficient the marketing activity oriented to the export market.

The NPC method offers an innovative, flexible and well-tested approach for the analysis of multivariate hypothesis when we are dealing with complex problems in wine market.