Bursting the Bubble: Understanding Australian Consumer Preferences for Sparkling Wine Styles

Abstract

This research investigated Australian consumers’ preferences for Australian sparkling wine styles. Firstly, focus group thematic analysis examines consumer opinions concerning different sparkling wine styles, in addition to discussion about the importance of country of origin, occasion, price, and sensory attributes as purchase drivers (Chapter 2). Findings suggest producers could benefit from marketing a range of sparkling wines to cater to different tastes, occasions and gift purchases. Results also confirm the importance of marketers pursuing opportunities to obtain and promote favourable expert reviews for their sparkling wines, and of identifying and promoting regional distinctiveness. Chapters 3 and 4 investigate the influence of wine involvement and knowledge, on consumer preferences for Australian sparkling white (made via carbonation, Charmat, transfer and Méthode Traditionelle), sparkling rosé, sparkling red, Moscato and Prosecco compared to French Champagne. Consumers were segmented into three distinct clusters (‘No Frills’, ‘Aspirants’ and ‘Enthusiasts’) using the Fine Wine Instrument (FWI). Chapter 3 found that the majority of No Frills consumers were female and typically consumed sparkling wine once per month. Almost 55% of Aspirants were male with a household income of more than AU$75,000. Enthusiast consumers were also predominantly male and well educated, and 64% were under the age of 35 years. Sparkling white wine and Champagne were generally the preferred styles for each consumer group, followed by Moscato and sparkling rosé wine. Interestingly, Moscato scored favourably with both No Frills and Enthusiast segments. Almost 25% of respondents indicated they were not familiar with Prosecco, while sparkling red wine was perceived similarly by male and female consumers. Furthermore, Chapter 4 provides a detailed examination of the results from descriptive analysis of representative wine samples using a trained panel; an online survey where participants were segmented into FWI clusters; and blind wine tasting preference testing. Consumer perceptions, preferences and liking were measured using 9-point hedonic scales and compared via statistical analysis. Consumers anticipated liking Champagne and sparkling white wine the most, and Moscato and Prosecco the least, but on tasting, could only readily identify the Moscato and sparkling red wines, i.e. the most contrasting wine styles. As such, liking scores for the Champagne and sparkling white wine were significantly lower based on tasting scores (median scores were 6.0, compared with 9.0 and 8.0 for survey responses, respectively). These results suggest consumers’ pre-conceived expectations of different sparkling wine styles clearly influence their purchasing and consumption behaviour. Aspirants and Enthusiasts were more likely to pay a higher price per bottle for Champagne and sparkling white wine than other sparkling wine styles, and consumption of these sparkling wines was most frequently associated with celebratory occasions such as anniversaries, birthdays, Christmas, New Year and weddings. This insight will be used to identify and evaluate sparkling wine styles and/or marketing strategies which might influence consumers’ purchasing decisions in favour of Australian sparkling wine. This will in turn, enable the Australian wine industry to capture a greater proportion of sparkling wine sales within existing and emerging markets internationally, thereby delivering economic benefits to sparkling wine producers.