The concept of wine in the perception of supply and demand. An exploratory analysis at international level

Wine business has a strong tendency towards internationalization. Recent data provided by OIV, referring to 2015, show that as much as 43% of all the wine consumed in the world (approximately 240 million hectoliters) comes from a different country from the one where it is drunk. At the same time, it is a very complex field, which recent competitive dynamics produced relevant changes both on the supply and the demand side. This work, after a brief analysis of the main trends in consumer behavior, shows the results of an exploratory survey about the perception of the ‘wine’ concept at an international level, from both the supply and the demand perspectives. The aim of the survey was to build and compare two concept maps based on the keyword ‘wine’ for each of the following countries: USA, France, Germany, Italy, Argentina, Spain, Australia and Chile, which, together, account for 73.8% of global production and 53.1% of global consumption. From a methodological point of view, we first built the supply perceptual map (WOW – Words of the Wineries) of the wines belonging to some key players selected for each country. These maps, despite being an extreme synthesis tool, are intended as proxies of the key concepts through which the promotion of wine in the world takes place, by each country. Then, we created the demand perceptual map (WOC – Words of the Consumers) by collecting the threads on the main social networks and forums visited by wine lovers. This map is intended as proxy of the logics through which consumers, all over the world, experience the processes of purchase and consumption of wine. The content analysis of the different sources allowed the construction of a complex data base from which we gathered information about the perceptual proximity/distance both at intranational level, and, even more interesting, at international level.