Shortlisting before ranking: perception of wine region quality by Ontario consumers
A choose-all-that-apply (CATA) question allows respondents to select multiple answers from a list. A technique called answer piping displays the respondent’s selections as possible responses in a subsequent question. Answer piping was used to allow consumers to shortlist wine-producing regions before ranking those regions for quality in a Chilean red wine consumer study conducted in fall 2007. Red wine consumers were recruited on 11 occasions in the aisles of five LCBO stores in Toronto and nearby cities. 614 consumers whose in-store shopping activity revealed particular purchase intentions were invited into tasting rooms to evaluate 3 red wines. During delays between samples, consumers were asked demographic, attitude, and usage questions as part of the web-based questionnaire presented on tablet computers. The Compusense at-hand questionnaire used answer piping on several occasions. In one CATA question, consumers selected the wine-producing regions which they associated with high quality wines. Consumers then ranked the wine regions that they had selected as producing high-quality wines. Ties were allowed. Rank sums were calculated from the recoded and merged ordinal data. Consumers reduced the average number of wine regions to be ranked from 14 to 4.93 (s=2.91). The median number of wine regions ranked was 4. The mode was 2 (144 consumers); 4 consumers selected all 14 regions. Results indicate that overall the consumers perceived Australia highest for quality, followed by France, Italy, Canada, California, and Chile. California was ranked higher for quality by consumers who had shortlisted 5 or more wine regions than by those consumers who shortlisted fewer wine regions. These 6 wine-producing regions were listed as consumers’ top regions for purchase. LCBO sales data indicates that top wine regions by net sales and volume for 2007-2008 were Canada, Italy, Australia, France, U.S. and Chile. Canadian wines were sold at the lowest price per volume.
Castura, J. C. (2010). Shortlisting before ranking: Perception of wine quality by Ontario consumers. In Conference of the Society of Sensory Professionals. 27-29 October. Napa, CA, USA.