Media Release
April 3 2006
$1.4 million to uncork wine export preferences
Australian wine producers are set to gain a competitive edge in burgeoning export markets, thanks to a $1.4 million grant for research into wine consumer preferences led by University of South Australia’s Wine Marketing Group (WMG).
The Grape and Wine Research Development Corporation has awarded the grant to WMG Director Professor Larry Lockshin to study the development of wines specifically aimed at markets such as China, India, Eastern Europe and South America. The Australian Wine Research Institute and the University of Technology Sydney’s Centre for the Study of Choice are key collaborators in the project.
Professor Lockshin says it is important to launch products with the best chance of succeeding in new export markets.
“Traditional tasting wines in standard bottles may not perform well in these new wine consuming markets,” he says. “This research will develop methods to determine the best characteristics for those products, including taste, packaging and the proper pricing strategy.”
Using online and tasting experiments, the project aims to develop systems to understand and predict consumer enjoyment and purchasing preferences. The methodology will be developed in Australia and then tested in a key wine export market to help determine what wine styles and packaging are best suited to that market.
“It is the first time these techniques, already trialled in the area of hi-tech products, will be used for wine packaging or for developing flavour profiles aimed at specific consumer groups,” Professor Lockshin says. “The results should enhance Australia’s position as the leading branded wine marketer in the world.”
Considered the world leader in understanding consumer purchase behaviour for wine, UniSA’s Wine Marketing Group supports a range of PhD students investigating aspects of the wine sector.
The Australian Wine Research Institute, led by senior research chemist Dr Leigh Francis, is a world leader in wine chemistry and sensory analysis of wines. The University of Technology Sydney’s Centre for the Study of Choice, led by Professor Jordan Louviere, is one of the world’s leading research centres studying how human beings make choices and consults to a wide range of industry clients, such as Telstra, Caltex, Motorola and Boeing.
Contact for interviews
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Professor Larry Lockshin office (08) 8302 0261 mobile 0417 891 732 email
larry.lockshin@unisa.edu.au
Media contact
- Vincent Ciccarello office (08) 8302 0578 email vincent.ciccarello@unisa.edu.au