The Professional Language of Wine: Perception, Training and Dialogue

Herdenstam, Anders P.F.; Hammarén, Maria; Ahlström, Richard; Wiktorsson, Per-Axel

doi:10.1080/09571260902978543

Cited by 33 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…In the West, naming odors and flavors is also important for some people. Like perfumers, wine experts have years of training and experience in appreciating and describing odors, as well as flavors [ 25 ]. This is illustrated by “tastings”, during which experts describe and discuss wines, and compare notes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Not All Flavor Expertise Is Equal: The Language of Wine and Coffee Experts

2016

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People in Western cultures are poor at naming smells and flavors. However, for wine and coffee experts, describing smells and flavors is part of their daily routine. So are experts better than lay people at conveying smells and flavors in language? If smells and flavors are more easily linguistically expressed by experts, or more “codable”, then experts should be better than novices at describing smells and flavors. If experts are indeed better, we can also ask how general this advantage is: do experts show higher codability only for smells and flavors they are expert in (i.e., wine experts for wine and coffee experts for coffee) or is their linguistic dexterity more general? To address these questions, wine experts, coffee experts, and novices were asked to describe the smell and flavor of wines, coffees, everyday odors, and basic tastes. The resulting descriptions were compared on a number of measures. We found expertise endows a modest advantage in smell and flavor naming. Wine experts showed more consistency in how they described wine smells and flavors than coffee experts, and novices; but coffee experts were not more consistent for coffee descriptions. Neither expert group was any more accurate at identifying everyday smells or tastes. Interestingly, both wine and coffee experts tended to use more source-based terms (e.g., vanilla) in descriptions of their own area of expertise whereas novices tended to use more evaluative terms (e.g., nice). However, the overall linguistic strategies for both groups were en par. To conclude, experts only have a limited, domain-specific advantage when communicating about smells and flavors. The ability to communicate about smells and flavors is a matter not only of perceptual training, but specific linguistic training too.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Not All Flavor Expertise Is Equal: The Language of Wine and Coffee Experts

2016

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“…Dimara and Skuras (2005) argued the relevance of food labels as an important marketing strategy, concluding that food labelling should be carefully designed to effectively communicate relevant quality attributes to the consumer in order to create a need. The wine industry is a good example of this; they have established a sensory language and methods for describing the product's sensory characteristics (Herdenstam et al, 2009). This type of language is used in marketing in many ways to influence and communicate, for example in advertisements, on bottle labels, on restaurant menus, by sommeliers, in beverage stores, and so on.…”

Section: Sensory Description Labelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sensory description labels for food affect consumer product choice

Swahn

Mossberg

Öström³

et al. 2012

European Journal of Marketing

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PurposeThis observational study set out to investigate the effect of sensory description labels on consumer choice of apples in a grocery retail store.Design/methodology/approachAn independent observation study was conducted in a retail grocery store setting. A total of 1,623 consumers were observed over a four‐day period in four different sessions, each using three apple varieties (JONAGOLD, INGRID MARIE, and ELISE). Marketing strategies differed between the sessions as follows: sort name labelling only, sort name and sensory description labelling, sort name and sensory semantic description labelling, and sort name labelling and allowing consumers to taste the apples before choosing.FindingsConsumer product choice was affected by the sensory description labels. When only the sort name was given on the label, the consumers tended to choose INGRID MARIE, which has a strong sort name. With the addition of sensory description labels, the consumer choice shifted to ELISE, which had been chosen with a low frequency when only sort name was given, but was chosen with a high frequency when sensory description labelling was used.Research limitations/implicationsThe study was limited to red apples and one national market.Practical implicationsPractitioners, managers, and marketers may benefit from using proper sensory labelling as a marketing tool for various food products, such as apples, in a grocery retail store.Originality/valueThis study shows the importance and value of sensory description label marketing for food products in grocery retail stores. Little attention has previously been paid to the research area within sensory marketing communication concerning the interplay of sensory perception of food and the formulation of marketing labels, or taste marketing. This paper also addresses the possible interaction between the disciplines of sensory and marketing science.

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“…Descriptive food names have been shown to influence consumer liking and function as a signal of food quality (Wansink, van Ittersum & Painter, 2005). Furthermore, signalling sensory characteristics has been shown to influence food choice (Swahn, Mossberg, Öström & Gustafsson, 2012), which is a practice frequently used by the wine industry (Dimara & Skuras, 2005;Herdenstam, Hammarén, Ahlström & Wiktorsson, 2009). Depending on context, descriptive food names, flavour descriptors and names of food dishes and ingredients may signal credence and create expectations, in turn affecting hedonic liking.…”

Section: Descriptive Food Namesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Credence and the effect on consumer liking of food – A review

Fernqvist

Ekelund

2014

Food Quality and Preference

398

256

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Credence characteristics play an important role in the modern food marketing system. Consumers' food choices are increasingly influenced by credence cues, as other links of trust and direct relations with the producers have vanished within the globalised food system. Labels and information signalling credence are thus important search attributes. While credence cues cannot be accurately evaluated by consumers, the expectations they generate have an effect on consumers' perceived quality and sensory experiences. This paper reviews relevant literature from the period 2003-2012 and summarises research concerning the effect of credence cues on consumers' hedonic liking of food. A conceptual model based on a framework of consumers' quality perception process is presented and applied. Seven main categories of credence characteristics can be identified in the literature: a) health; b) organic food; c) origin; d) brand; e) production methods; f) ethics; and g) descriptive food names and ingredients. Theoretical and practical limitations and possible trajectories to future research are discussed.

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The Professional Language of Wine: Perception, Training and Dialogue

Abstract: Access to the published version may require subscription. N.B. When citing this work, cite the original published paper.

Cited by 33 publications

References 18 publications

Not All Flavor Expertise Is Equal: The Language of Wine and Coffee Experts

Not All Flavor Expertise Is Equal: The Language of Wine and Coffee Experts

Sensory description labels for food affect consumer product choice

Credence and the effect on consumer liking of food – A review

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