Consumers are faced with an increasing number of sustainable food labels. These different labels may be complementary or add to the increasing competition of product information in consumers' minds. We investigate: (1) the perceptions that consumers in the UK have about sustainable labels vs. other labels, such as origin or nutrition labels; and (2) consumers' reactions to combinations of different sustainable labels. Overall, the findings from two focus groups conducted in the UK indicate that consumers have positive perceptions of organic and fair trade labels but tend to be sceptical about unfamiliar labels and general claims such as 'climate friendly'. The results also indicate the importance of familiarity, trust and fit between combinations of labels as well as between associating a label with a brand. While the combination of certain labels can enhance the value of a food product, this study also indicates that other label combinations (e.g. private and sustainable label) can detract from a label's value. Implications and recommendations are suggested for managers to counter the image of greenwashing, and for policy makers to facilitate sustainable food choices

Purpose -This study aims to investigate how strongly Generation Y consumers differ in their values, attitudes and wine and alcoholic beverage consumption behaviour from older generations. The comparison spans seven culturally different markets. Design/methodology/approach -Large representative samples totalling 11,622 wine consumers responded to a standardised survey. A factorial analysis of variance was used to determine the main and interaction effects of markets and generations. Findings -Although significant differences were found between generations, their explained variance is very low. There were significant trans-cultural similarities in generational differences for values and wine consumption behaviour: Gen-Y is more oriented towards hedonic success and status and less towards social values; Gen-Y is more likely to consume white and rosé than red wine and is most promiscuous in its alcoholic beverage consumption. A number of noticeable differences appeared between countries: wine involvement and consumption increases with age in traditional European wine markets, while they decrease in North America; environmental concerns and purchase channel usage hardly differ between generations but vary strongly between markets. Originality/value -This is the first study to quantify the effect size of generational differences using large representative samples across countries with different cultural backgrounds, including traditional and established wine consumption nations.

PurposeThe study seeks to assess the impact of two different corporate social responsibility (CSR) claims, relating to social and environmental dimensions, on consumers' wine choice across international markets. It analyses how point of purchase CSR claims compete with other food claims and their awareness, penetration and consumers' trust are examined.Design/methodology/approachA discrete choice experiment with a visual shelf simulation was used to elicit consumer preferences and to estimate marginal willingness to pay for CSR and other food claims across the UK, France, Germany, the US East Coast, the US Midwest, and Anglophone and Francophone Canada.FindingsCSR claims relating to social and environmental responsibility have a similar awareness, penetration and consumer trust, but differ in their impact on consumer choice, where environmental corporate responsibility claims benefit from a higher marginal willingness to pay. Consumer valuation of CSR claims significantly differs across international markets, but is consistently lower than for organic claims.Originality/valueThis is the first cross‐national study that analyses the impact of CSR claims on consumer food choice relative to other food claims using large representative consumer samples. The strength of the paper also pertains to the utilisation of innovative choice experiments covering a large range of choice relevant product attributes.

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This research investigates and compares some of the strategic choices made by small wine firms from two different New World wine producing countries, Australia and New Zealand, and one traditional wine producing region of France. This research was first conducted in 2003 in France with 98 wine firms being interviewed and then in Australia and New Zealand, with a total of 68 wine firms interviewed in 2004. In order to explain the differences in business practices, an effort to match wine sector perspectives and strategic management profiles is presented through a hierarchical cluster analysis. Some complementary explanations for the clusters found can be suggested: business practices are clearly dependent upon the business activity (bottled wine versus bulk wine), and the main goal of the owner-manager (improving business economic performance versus increasing market share). [EconLit classification: L190, L210]. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Agribusiness 22: 405-416, 2006.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discuss how a wine region should develop and position its brand using the best worst scaling (BWS) approach. A better understanding of the features that characterize a wine region is critical when raising the profile of a region and trying to capture wine consumers’ share of mind.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, the degree of importance was measured of 13 features that can represent and characterize a wine region currently perceived as commodity‐based, using a questionnaire designed for the BWS approach.FindingsThe results mainly showed key similarities between the consumers and wine professionals regarding the features that can activate to raise the profile of the region. Findings also contradict the positioning recommended by industry groups and consultants.Research limitations/implicationsUsing an original way to assess and measure features that would support regional brand salience, these findings confirmed the importance given to geographical names as well as activating a set of features.Practical implicationsThe paper's findings suggest that the Riverland or any commodity‐based wine region would benefit from using a set of features in order to build their brand salience than relying on one single feature.Originality/valueThis paper provides preliminary findings showing the relevance of using the BWS approach when developing the key positioning messages for a wine region, or for other brands.

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