A Multinational Study of Gender Wine Preferences

Wine has become an international business, and the difference in wine preferences based on consumer’s gender and how these differences vary from country to country are important issues that should be considered in wine product development. We examined consumer’s preference for the type of wine and wine packaging, consumer’s information search behavior, and consumer’s coping mechanism among wine consumers in the USA, Australia, and New Zealand. A t-test was conducted to distinguish the gender difference among wine consumers in those countries, and the results showed that the pattern of gender preferences was fairly consistent from country to country—which indicated that gender was a salient basis for segmenting the wine market. The results also implied that in order to better serve customers, retailers should pay close attention to wine packaging and provide enough product information, knowledgeable staff, and point-of-sale advertising since these could help consumers adopt a new wine product.