Grapevine

Women more likely to choose wine with feminine labels, study finds

To appeal to the majority of consumers, winemakers may want to pay as much attention to what's on the bottle as what's in it.

A three-part experimental study led by Washington State University researchers found that women were more inclined to purchase wine that had labels with feminine gender cues. The more strongly the participants identified with other women, a phenomenon called "in-group identification," the greater this effect was. A feminine label also influenced their expectation that they would like the wine better.

With women representing 59% of U.S. wine consumers, the male-dominated field of winemaking might want to pay attention to the perceptions of this understudied group, said Ruiying Cai, lead author of the paper in the International Journal of Hospitality Management.

"When you look at the market segments, women are actually purchasing a lot of wine. They are a large group," said Cai, an assistant professor with WSU's Carson College of Business.

"We found that feminine cues speak to women consumers. They have more favorable attitudes toward the label and the wine itself. They were also expecting their overall sensory experience to be better, and they were more likely to purchase the wine."