Consumer’s expectation for Sangiovese red wines: influence of production area on hedonic judgements

Expectation plays an important role in food consumption since it may influence the perception of a product, even before it is tasted. Expectation is strongly related to consumer’s satisfaction and dissatisfaction and may depend on several factors. Information about production area is undoubtedly an important issue when judging a product such as wine. The aim of this study was to investigate how the information about territory of origin can influence preference judgements expressed by consumers. Experimental design included six products, which were obtained from Sangiovese grapes (Brunello di Montalcino, Chianti Classico and Sangiovese di Romagna wines). Wines were tested by 100 regular red wine consumers under different conditions: a) blind condition: consumers tasted the wines and expressed their preference without any information about product origin and type; b) expected condition: preference judgement was expressed without tasting, after viewing an image and reading a piece of information about wine type and production area; c) actual condition: consumers tasted the wines and expressed their preference after viewing an image and reading the information about wine type and production area. No significant differences were found under the blind condition, whereas under the expected condition Brunello di Montalcino wine was the preferred product followed by Chianti Classico and then San Giovese di Romagna wines. Significant differences were found also in the actual condition: Brunello di Montalcino received the higher hedonic score but results were more mixed. A disconfirmation of expectation was found for Brunello di Montalcino and Chianti Classico wines, as both products were less liked than expected. Disconfirmation was associated with an assimilation effect, meaning that information affected hedonic scores since consumers tended to modify their perception towards their expectation. However, hedonic discrepancy between expected and actual liking was not totally assimilated, suggesting that information about production area can’t fill the liking gap.