Most marketing researchers use rating scales to understand consumer preferences. These have a range of problems, which can be greatly ameliorated by the use of a new technique…
Abstract
Purpose
Most marketing researchers use rating scales to understand consumer preferences. These have a range of problems, which can be greatly ameliorated by the use of a new technique, best‐worst scaling (BWS). The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the BWS method by an empirical example, which demonstrates the steps to design and analyze a BW study.
Design/methodology/approach
A brief critique of ratings and rankings is presented. Then the basic concept of BWS is described, followed by how to use the BW method to explore how Australian and Israeli consumers choose wine in a retail store. The paper demonstrates the design of the questionnaire as well as the steps to analyze and present the results.
Findings
The BWS approach can be easily implemented for research in wine business especially for multicultural comparisons as it avoids scale confounds. After transformation of the best and worst scores of each respondent for each attribute, the data can be analyzed directly using various statistical methods and can be expressed as choice probabilities.
Research limitations/implications
The advantage of BWS is its ability to compare attributes using B−W and B/W scores. The BW method provides a better discrimination of the attributes analyzed.
Practical implications
The simplicity of the analysis and graphical presentation makes a significant contribution to practitioners as the B−W counts and probabilities of attributes are easy to obtain and understand.
Originality/value
This paper presents BWS method in a form that researchers and practitioners can use and adopt for research and market surveys. The paper presents an empirical example using BWS method to determine the importance of wine cues while consumers are choosing wine in a retail store.
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Eli Cohen, Francois d’Hauteville and Lucie Sirieix
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the difficulties raised by the question of cultural differences in consumption behaviour studies, and proposes the best‐worst method as a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the difficulties raised by the question of cultural differences in consumption behaviour studies, and proposes the best‐worst method as a tool for comparing data from a cross‐national survey.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from samples of wine consumers from Australia (n = 283), the UK (n = 304) and France (n = 147), using the BW procedure, where respondents have to assess what are the most and the least important attributes when choosing a wine at a restaurant.
Findings
Results show differences between the countries, with a clear contrast between the French, on the one hand, and the Australians and British, on the other. They confirm empirically the idea that the country may be a valid “culti unit” in cross‐cultural research.
Research limitations/implications
The authors suggest that the method works well in the context of this research, but does not avoid some of the uncontrollable biases of declarative data, nor the question of the relevance of some choice items in cultural contexts that can be very diverse (such as the role of a waiter in a restaurant).
Practical implications
The paper shows that the method can be used quite easily in a large number of studies where it is important to hierarchize choice cues and compare different segments of a population.
Originality/value
This fairly large scale study contributes to the marketing literature dealing with country of origin as a segmentation criteria, and exploring the concept and measurement of “cultural difference”. Finally, it fosters a scarce literature dealing with consumer behaviour in “on premise” situations.
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Leonardo Casini, Armando Maria Corsi and Steve Goodman
The purpose of this paper is to focus on measuring the importance of the attributes, which influence the wine choice of Italian consumers when they buy wine either in a retail or…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to focus on measuring the importance of the attributes, which influence the wine choice of Italian consumers when they buy wine either in a retail or an on‐premise setting, identifying significant behavioural differences across geo‐demographic subgroups of the sample.
Design/methodology/approach
The best‐worst (BW) method was applied together with simple statistical methods to measure the degree of importance given by respondents to attributes, avoid rating bias problems, and compare potential market segments.
Findings
A general analysis of BW scores showed that direct, personal and sensorial experiences are the most important attributes when choosing wine. The statistical analysis evidenced that, while choosing wine in retail stores, the level of involvement respondents have toward wine, the age of the interviewees and the geographical provenance of the respondents showed the greatest differences in attribute importance. Respondents in the on‐premise sector were more similar across the socio‐demographic groups compared to the retail respondents, with differences in the age and involvement having the greatest effect compared to other variables.
Originality/value
The BW method has never been applied in Italy so far. Moreover, it has never been used to measure preferences of Italian consumers for wine, either in the retail or in the on‐premise setting. The BW method allowed researchers to identify the attributes able to influence consumers choices for wine at most (and at least). Compared to other methodologies, this has been done avoiding problems of rating bias, favouring a cross regional comparison of the way diverse populations judge similar attributes.
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This study aims to use product attributes and retail display information to develop cross‐national segments.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to use product attributes and retail display information to develop cross‐national segments.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses consumers' choice in wine stores to develop segments of consumers, based on the relative importance of 13 factors consumers use for the retail purchase of wine. Data are collected from 11 countries, using seven languages on five continents. Best worst scaling (BWS) and latent class analysis were used to develop the clusters.
Findings
A three‐cluster structure provides a straightforward and robust segmentation across the 11 countries. This model fits better than one based on 11 single country segments. The three segments reveal different ways in which consumers choose wines: cognitive‐based, assurance‐based, and in‐store promotion‐based.
Research limitations/implications
The samples are convenience‐based and do not represent the population of wine drinkers in each country. Choice criteria, including retail communications, can be used to develop useful and robust segments cross‐nationally.
Practical implications
The three segments found in this study provide clear guidelines for wine marketers depending on whether they work for small or large wine companies. The use of choice attributes and BWS show the utility of this method in cross‐national research.
Originality/value
This research demonstrates that product attributes and retail communication devices like labels and displays can be used for cross‐national segmentation. Applying BWS and Latent Class Clustering to choice criteria leads to clear, usable, and robust segmentation across a wide range of cultures and product use histories.
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The purpose of this paper is to present the results from a 12 country study mapping the influencers on the choice of wine for purchase in the retail store environment. It…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present the results from a 12 country study mapping the influencers on the choice of wine for purchase in the retail store environment. It demonstrates the usefulness of the best‐worst choice method in multi‐country research to map similarities and differences across market borders.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a choice set of 13 attributes (influencers) that was developed from the literature and pilot studies, the B‐W choice method was used to conduct choice experiments related to what influenced consumer choice for the last bottle of wine they purchased in a retail store (in the context of “to have for dinner with friends”).
Findings
The key influencers of previous trial and recommendation were highly important across most markets, with the exceptions in some markets of influencers such as “brand” (China and Brazil), “food matching” (France and Italy), “origin” (France) and “grape variety” (Austria).
Research limitations/implications
The research analysis needs to be extended to conduct market segmentation comparisons of markets with whole of sample similar results to ascertain to what extent the market sub‐segments are similar or different in order to examine if there are any truly “global” market segments or how individual segments differ across borders, cultures, New World:Old World divide and other regional influence factors.
Originality/value
This paper presents choice influencer results for a twelve country study. It demonstrates the ability of the method to be used in multi‐country research and its usefulness in identifying similarities and differences in consumer choice across different cultures and markets.
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The purpose of this paper is to apply a very simple but powerful analysis of the variance‐covariance matrix of individual best‐worst scores to detect which attributes are…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to apply a very simple but powerful analysis of the variance‐covariance matrix of individual best‐worst scores to detect which attributes are determining utility components and drive distinct consumer segments.
Design/methodology/approach
First an analysis of variance and covariance is used to find attributes which are perceived to have different importance by different consumers and which jointly drive consumer segments. Then we model consumer heterogeneity with Latent Clustering and identify utility dimensions of on‐premise wine purchase behaviour with a principal component analysis.
Findings
Four consumer segments were found on the UK on‐premise market, which differ in the relative strength of five wine choice utility dimensions: ease of trial, new experience, restaurant advice, low risk food matching and cognitive choice. These segments are characterised by sociodemographics as well as wine and dine behaviour variables.
Research limitations/implications
Attributes with high variance signal respondents’ disagreement on their importance and indicate the existence of distinctive consumer segments. Attributes jointly driving those segments can be identified by a high covariance. Principal component analysis condenses a small number of behavioural drivers which allow an effective interpretation and targeting of different consumer segments.
Practical implications
This paper's analysis opens new doors for marketing research to a more insightful interpretation of best‐worst data and attitude scales. This information gives marketing managers powerful advice on which attributes they have to focus in order to target different consumer segments.
Originality/value
This is the first study considering individual differences in BW scores to find post hoc segments based on revealed differences in attribute importance.
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Hervé Remaud and Larry Lockshin
The purpose of this paper is to discuss how a wine region should develop and position its brand using the best worst scaling (BWS) approach. A better understanding of the features…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss how a wine region should develop and position its brand using the best worst scaling (BWS) approach. A better understanding of the features that characterize a wine region is critical when raising the profile of a region and trying to capture wine consumers’ share of mind.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, the degree of importance was measured of 13 features that can represent and characterize a wine region currently perceived as commodity‐based, using a questionnaire designed for the BWS approach.
Findings
The results mainly showed key similarities between the consumers and wine professionals regarding the features that can activate to raise the profile of the region. Findings also contradict the positioning recommended by industry groups and consultants.
Research limitations/implications
Using an original way to assess and measure features that would support regional brand salience, these findings confirmed the importance given to geographical names as well as activating a set of features.
Practical implications
The paper's findings suggest that the Riverland or any commodity‐based wine region would benefit from using a set of features in order to build their brand salience than relying on one single feature.
Originality/value
This paper provides preliminary findings showing the relevance of using the BWS approach when developing the key positioning messages for a wine region, or for other brands.
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Inside every great business leader—whether CEO or shop steward—is a great teacher. And the leader's job is to develop others throughout the company.
This chapter shares work carried out to use the discipline of Informing Science as a lens to carry out an analysis of the discipline of entrepreneurship. Focusing first at the…
Abstract
This chapter shares work carried out to use the discipline of Informing Science as a lens to carry out an analysis of the discipline of entrepreneurship. Focusing first at the level of the entrepreneurship discipline itself, recently advanced frameworks for practice-as-entrepreneurial-learning and for the scholarship of teaching and learning for entrepreneurship (SoTLE) are built upon using Gill’s work on academic informing systems to develop a framework that encourages viewing the entrepreneurship discipline as a system that informs entrepreneurial practice. While this may sound self-evident, we will explore how it implies something quite different from the teaching–research–scholarship paradigm to which most of us are accustomed.