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The mechanism by which organic labelling affects consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for wine is not yet fully understood. Organic labelling not only transports information about environmental benefits, but may also influence consumers’ perceptions of quality and taste. The purpose of this paper is to separate the information effect from the perception effect of an organic label on WTP.

Taste and quality perceptions of 110 German consumers and their WTP for white and red wines were collected in a second-price auction in conjunction with a blind tasting. Each measure was recorded under two experimental conditions: with and without organic labelling. Serial mediation analysis is used to identify the information and perception effect of an organic label on WTP. A moderating effect of commitment to organic consumption is considered.

Wines marketed as organic are perceived as tastier and of higher quality and value. The organic labelling effect is stronger for committed organic consumers. Mediation analysis confirms perceived better taste as a key driver for WTP, especially for less committed organic consumers. The findings highlight perceptions of wine quality as the main mediator through which organic labelling affects WTP for red wine and for committed organic consumers.

This paper adds to the literature by decomposing the signalling mechanism of organic labelling and by emphasising the role of individual characteristics in determining its magnitude and pathways. Implications from a marketing and wine industry’s perspective are discussed.

Corporations in all industries recognize the demand for responsible business behavior and have developed corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs accordingly. This paper examines to which extent sustainability practices – unrelated to the actual ingredients of a consumable product – affect brand equity, taste perceptions, and perceived emotional value. In an experimental setting, effects were determined of the presence or lack of a sustainability-marketing message within a beer brand’s promotional material. The constructs were measured in a survey, and a PLS-SEM was used to analyze the results. In the factor model, all constructs proved to be sufficiently reliable and valid. The experiment’s results indicate that taste perception is positively influenced by the presence of a sustainability message.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influences of the interactions of taste, colour and labelling on sensory perception, liking and identification of saffroned products.

The consumer and discrimination tests (N=120, 18, 25, 78, for Experiments 1–4, respectively) were conducted. The analyses of discrimination tests were performed using the Thurstonian model and R-index. The results from consumer studies were analysed using the Kruskal–Wallis test, penalty analysis and correlation matrix.

The study revealed that saffron can interact with the perception of sour and bitter taste and has no significant effects on the sweetness. The colour and labelling generated expectations for quality and sweetness of the samples. When the disparity between the expectation and actual experience was occurred resulted in contrast/assimilation effects on the hedonic ratings and negatively impacted consumer acceptability of the product.

This study showed that the visual cues can modulate the expectation for particular sensory perceptions and also affect the hedonic experiences. Saffron adulteration can be identified by the consumers and can result in a significant decrease in the acceptability of the products. Hence, the practice of substituting saffron with ingredients with a similar colour in these products can be detrimental for business. Additionally, it was revealed that saffron colour is associated with the expected and actual sweet taste perception. Therefore, it is possible to manipulate yellow colour cues to reduce sweeteners in different food products that contain saffron.

The sensory characteristics and consumer perception of saffron have been rarely studied. This study revealed that flavour perception and quality determination of saffroned foods involves the combinations of different sensory modalities and cognitive (expectancy) inputs.

In order to encourage customers to try experience virtual tourism, researchers and practitioners pay more attention on how to improve customers' perception of authenticity.

Using the theory of cross-sensory compensation, through 4 experiments, this study examines the impact of social interaction and cross-sensory strategies on the relationship between virtual reality (VR) and improving customers' perception of authenticity and customer experience.

Through experimental research, this paper finds that (1) VR immersion has a significant positive impact on perception of authenticity, which in turn acts on customers' virtual tourism experience. (2) In addition, social interaction strengthens the relationship between VR immersion and customers' perception of authenticity. (3) The cross-sensory compensation has a positive effect on VR immersion to enhance customers' perception of authenticity.

The research conclusion provides a direction for further discussion on how to improve customers' perception of authenticity and provides theoretical guidance and reference for the virtual tourism industry.

The purpose of this study is to examine the attitudes of Millennial wine consumers and determine if positive evaluations of the winery's web site lead to increased trust in the winery and perceptions of product quality, higher levels of brand equity, and increased purchase intentions. The tasting room experience will be evaluated for consistency with the image created by the web site and the meeting of Millennial expectations during the web site visit.

In total, 122 young people (Millennials) with an average age of 23 were asked to visit winery web sites and then evaluate the web sites for quality and perceptions formed relating to the overall image of the winery and its products. The participants were then asked to visit the winery and evaluate their winery experience and its products.

Web site quality was a significant predictor of increased trust in the winery and perceptions of the quality of the wine. Web site evaluations of brand equity carried over to influence evaluations of brand equity after the tasting room experience. When visiting the winery, the more the customers' expectations were exceeded, the higher the level of customer satisfaction with the tasting room experience.

The research findings were based on a small convenience sample of 122 undergraduate US business students from Northern California. Future research should study larger and more diverse samples of the Millennial consumer.

Wine brands attempting to attract the Millennial customer should consider paying close attention to the design, development, and maintenance of a web site that appeals to the savvy Millennial consumer.

The potential for web sites to impact young adults' perceptions of the winery's image, trust in the winery, perceptions of wine quality, and intentions to visit the winery based on these perceptions has not previously been examined.

Prevention of chronic diseases by means of dietary modification can be achieved by consuming healthier foods with lower sugar content. However, reducing sugar content causes significant impact on the sensory quality and consumers’ acceptance towards local healthy products. This study aims to evaluate the effects of cross-modal interactions of Aroma-Taste-Texture (ATT) in yoghurt drink.

Fifteen sugar reduced yoghurt drinks [S, sugar percentage (0%, 2%, 4%); T, stevia dosage (0%, 0.01%, 0.02%); P, pectin dosage (0%, 0.3%, 0.6%)] based on ATT were evaluated by 300 consumer panellists on aroma, taste, texture and overall acceptability on a nine-point hedonic scale while sweetness intensity was measured using a seven-point just-about-right (JAR) scale. Interactions between ATT were determined.

Significant interaction was found between sugar and stevia, with F14 (4S0.02T0P) rated as sweeter than F4 (0S0.02T0P) (p = 0.003) and higher overall liking score than F11 (4S0T0P) (p = 0.001). Similarly, significant interaction was found between sugar and pectin, with F2 (0S0T0.6P) rated as significantly lower overall liking score and less sweet than F1 (0S0T0P) (p = 0.0001). Likewise, significant interaction was found between stevia and pectin, with F2 (0S0T0.6P) rated as significantly lower overall liking score and less sweet than F1 (0S0T0P) (p = 0.0001). Overall, F5 (0S0.02T0.6P) scored highest in overall liking and closest to the ideal sweetness (JAR = 4) indicating the possibility to apply 100% sugar replacement.

Application from the present study could be great potential solution in developing healthier range products while meeting consumer preference. The present study concluded that interactions of ATT of yoghurt drink will induce desirable changes in sensory and sweetness perception.

Chapter 4 presents the research into the attributes of a stimulus, which the brain uses to construct a perception of the external stimulus. The processes used in all five senses are examined and compiled into a collective model of the processes the perceptual system uses to discriminate and understand an external stimulus. While there are many commonalities across the senses, the structure of the discipline (energy) each system processes yields unique insights into the processes of the total system.

Taste is defined in a variety of ways, and arises from physiological processes which are influenced by social factors. Explanations of taste therefore require information from biological, sociological and cultural perspectives. Discusses the contribution made to our understanding of taste by the biological and social sciences, with reference to recent sociological and social anthropological research and writing. It argues that food is a particularly powerful medium for the realization of social relationships and the creation of individual identity. The social context therefore has an indirect but causal relationship with individual tastes. The cultural context is also crucial, as the socially constructed meaning of a food can influence taste perception itself. Explanations of taste therefore require an understanding of the social and cultural contexts of food‐related behaviour.

Describes how and where we perceive the sense of taste, the traditional four basic taste sensations, and why different parts of the mouth are more or less sensitive to a particular one. Outlines types of compounds having a particular taste with some relationships between and anomalies of their chemical structure and the taste sensation they elicit, together with individual variation in tasting sensitivity and factors affecting this, such as adaptation. Summarizes interesting taste phenomena including: taste blindness; taste modification; the role of heavy metals in taste perception. Describes the additional taste sensations that have been proposed such as: umami; water‐taste; metallic; alkalinity and other gustatory effects such as pungency (burning sensation), cooling and astringency.

The research on consumerism has been dramatically rising in recent decades. However, in the food industry, little research has been empirically conducted in the beverage industry. This research empirically tests the consequences of consumer perceptions: perceived price (PPR), perceived quality (PQ), perceived packaging (PPG) and perceived taste (PT) on repurchase intention (RI) particularly; it unveils the consumer attributes, e.g. gender, age and ethnicity between consumer perceptions and RI of the consumers.

The data were collected from 403 consumers of the beverage industry (e.g. Nestle, Mitchell's Fruit Farms, Murree Brewery and OMORE) in Pakistan. The researchers used online survey questionnaires followed by a cross-sectional approach because data collection physically was not possible due to COVID-19.

Data were analyzed by Smart partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) 3.3.3, and the results supported the significant influence of consumer perceptions separately, e.g. PPR, PQ, PPG and PT on RI. Additionally, gender, age and ethnicity were found to have a moderating role between consumer perceptions and RI, so, the truth of having consumer attributes has been revealed.

The managers of beverage industries should provide ethical and operational strategies to tackle consumer's problems based on cultural norms. Furthermore, they should make sensible measures for the quality branding of the beverage products. In this way, the consumers will have a better experience of quality, price, taste and packaging, in turn, to RI.

This research targeted the beverage industry that needs facts and figures based on consumer attributes, e.g. age, gender and ethnicity. This research also disclosed the behaviors of consumers according to their gender, age and area of residence.