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Should It Be Told or Tasted? Impact of Sensory Versus Nonsensory Cues on the Categorization of Low-Alcohol Wines*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 May 2015

Josselin Masson
Affiliation:
University of Haute-Alsace, EA 7317 CREGO-CERMAB, IUT Techniques de Commercialisation, 34 rue du Grillenbreit, 68008 Colmar, France; e-mail: [email protected].
Philippe Aurier
Affiliation:
LabEx “Entreprendre,”University of Montpellier, MRM - Montpellier Research in Management, Place Eugène Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier, France; e-mail: [email protected].

Abstract

We use the expectation-disconfirmation and categorization theories to study the effects of sensory versus nonsensory cues relative to a transformed attribute on categorization and typicality judgments relative to a new food product. In an experiment involving 51 participants and low-alcohol wines (new products), we show that categorization and typicality judgments differ according to sensory versus nonsensory cues. The new transformed product is categorized more often in its original category—wine—and perceived as more typical in the nonsensory compared to the sensory condition. (JEL Classifications: L66, M31)

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © American Association of Wine Economists 2015 

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Footnotes

*

The authors thank the editors and the reviewers for their constructive comments, which helped us to improve the article.

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