Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.
Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
PLoS One. 2022 Apr 27;17(4):e0267198. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0267198. eCollection 2022.
While there is evidence of consumers' interest in wine sustainability, acceptance of innovations in wine production is not guaranteed. The current study addresses this issue by analyzing consumers' acceptance of fungus-resistant grape (FRG) wines, a sustainable innovation that can substantially reduce the need for chemical inputs in viticulture. To do so, by means of an online survey including large samples of regular wine drinkers in Italy (N = 752), the UK (N = 858) and the USA (N = 856), the study compares individuals' preferences for conventional wines with preferences for FRG wines. The study also explores whether FRG wine acceptance is influenced by informal or formal purchase occasion, by different types of information regarding the product, and by individual attitudinal characteristics. The findings show a general acceptance of FRG wines among consumers. In particular, consumers' preferences for FRG wines on formal occasions are not significantly different from their preferences for conventional wine, whereas on informal occasions, consumers prefer FRG wines over conventional wines. Regarding the impact of information on participant choice, participants informed about the potential effects of FRG on sensory wine characteristics had lower preferences for FRG wines than those who read an information script regarding crop biodiversity. Last, individuals' sustainability concerns and food technology neophobia had positive and negative influences on FRG acceptance, respectively. Overall, this research provides wineries, nurseries and policy-makers with important insights concerning the market potential of FRG wines in three key markets.
尽管有证据表明消费者对葡萄酒可持续性感兴趣，但对葡萄酒生产创新的接受并不一定得到保证。本研究通过分析消费者对抗真菌葡萄（FRG）葡萄酒的接受程度来解决这个问题，这是一种可持续创新，可以大大减少葡萄栽培中化学投入的需求。为此，本研究通过一项在线调查，包括意大利（N=752）、英国（N=858）和美国（N=856）的大量普通葡萄酒饮用者样本，比较了个体对传统葡萄酒和 FRG 葡萄酒的偏好。该研究还探讨了 FRG 葡萄酒的接受度是否受到非正式或正式购买场合、关于产品的不同类型的信息以及个体态度特征的影响。研究结果表明，消费者普遍接受 FRG 葡萄酒。特别是，消费者在正式场合对 FRG 葡萄酒的偏好与对传统葡萄酒的偏好没有显著差异，而在非正式场合，消费者更喜欢 FRG 葡萄酒而不是传统葡萄酒。关于信息对参与者选择的影响，与阅读有关作物生物多样性信息脚本的参与者相比，了解 FRG 对感官葡萄酒特征潜在影响的参与者对 FRG 葡萄酒的偏好较低。最后，个人的可持续性关注和对食品技术的恐惧对 FRG 的接受度分别产生了积极和消极的影响。总的来说，这项研究为酒庄、苗圃和决策者提供了有关 FRG 葡萄酒在三个关键市场的市场潜力的重要见解。
