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News
Branding not important for UK wine consumers
UK consumers are generally un-swayed by branding when it comes to picking a wine off the shelf, according to a new report.
Figures from the Wilson Drinks Report (WDR) show that only 3% opt for the brand over any other factor.
“What is also very interesting is that grape variety is more important in shoppers’ decision making than either country of origin or brand,” said Tim Wilson, managing director of WDR.
According to the research, 9% of shoppers said they decide on their choice of wine by grape variety, while 6% went for country of origin.
The quarterly WDR report claims that 47% of British adults who buy wine for themselves or others in supermarkets or off-licences said that the first thing they decide upon is colour.
Price was also found to be important, with 18% shoppers saying that it was special offers that initially drew them to a particular bottle and 13% said they chose the retail price primarily.
Research findings were gathered through a monthly online consumer panel run by YouGov of approximately 2,000 British adults.
Alan Lodge, 16.02.2011
Who does this research assist? Supermarket brands! Divide and conquer. Not that I have anything against supermarkets, but if the trade wants stronger business then it has to create brands for consumers to follow. There are none currently so no surprise in the research, grape varieties are a crutch on which consumers fall back on and come with no guarantees. How many do most consumers know – 1,3 – 5 at most? And are they brands or something else? This report only goes to show mass confusion and should be helpful in creating new strong, simple directions for the trade rather than negative cues.
Could this be a case of seriously flawed research? I don’t have access to the report, but the statement above regarding colour of the wine as a primary factor suggests the wrong question has been asked. Assuming that I have decided I wanted a red wine, made from pinot noir, for less than £20 a bottle, then at that exact point in the process you ask: does brand or origin matter?
If you have a choice of ALL hot and cold beverages available, you also have to make multiple decisions before you end up with a can of coke. I can probably structure a questionnaire that says 47% of consumers think that deciding whether to have a hot or cold drink is the primary decision and imply that branding does not matter in soft drinks?
Good points both, Snout and Tai-Ran. This is, of course, how people are elected, minds shaped, countries wizened. Most bicycle wheels have 32 spokes, all absolutely true for maximum efficiency. Take any one, or several of those spokes…they’re absolutely true, yet would you ride Le Tour de France with only those? Unfortunately, media have us by the hub…
Tai-Ran – to answer your point raised about did we ask the right question, the next level of research response shows that having chosen colour, the most popular 2nd level of decision was grape variety and special offers (both 27% of respondents). Country was only 14%. Colour-grape-country was slightly more popular than colour-grape-price which is where I think you were going with your pinot noir at < £20. At all stages of the research, brand hardly featured in consumers minds which I think is a big issue. Thoughts?
It might be seen as a big issue that consumers are not buying brands for those companies who are supporting the wine brands and trying to justify continued marketing investment into the brand rather than investing into the wine that goes into the bottle. It is, however, very positive to see that consumers are not giving too much attention to brands as they’re much better off giving their attention to what happens in the vineyards and wineries of the best producers who focus on creating a quality product. Wine is not about a brand. It’s about a natural product that when produced the right way tastes great and is rich in natural goodness. That’s why we launched Vinopic just a short while ago to bring this to consumers’ attention.
Tim, I think it would be useful if you actually posted the question you asked. As Tai-Ran and others point out, shopping for wine (and most other things for that matter) depends on a hierarchy of needs. At the top might be something basic like hot or cold drinks; in wine this is normally colour (eg red or white). What tends to happen in wine at the next level of the hierarchy is more complex: some consumers use brand as their navigation tool, others use country, and many use varietal. The next level down may involve different cues – price, alcohol levels, or whether the product is on offer or not. Our research (Wine Intelligence) finds that brand is important or very important to around 65% of consumers in their purchase decisions. FYI our question asks UK consumers (1,000 respondents per survey, 10 surveys/year) to rate 11 attributes (incl. brand, country, varietal etc) in terms of the importance they attach to each (1-5 scale). The stat I quote above is the proportion of respondents who rate brand as “important” or “very important”. If your question doesn’t permit respondents to articulate this hierarchy of needs, then the research method would indeed be flawed and the findings would lack credibility.
Richard, I agree with the method you’re using. Please list the other attributes used in your survey.
our attribute list is as follows (randomised order)
Promotional offer
Grape variety
A brand I am aware of
Recommendation by friend or family
Country of Origin
The region of origin
Alcohol content
Appeal of the bottle
Recommendation by shop staff
Recommendation by wine guide books
Medal or award