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August 2015 P R A C T I C A L W I N E R Y & V I N E YA R D 63 W I N E M A R K E T I N G ing for regional, geographic, indigenous, personal or international brand name categories (Figure 5). Respondents indi- cated they would be less comfortable asking for animal brands and least com- fortable asking for humorous wine brand names. This result is interesting in that it does not appear to relate to the respon- dents' ability to pronounce the brand names. While indigenous and international brand name categories were those that the respondents' were least able to pro- nounce, they were nonetheless comfort- able asking for the brands in a retail store or restaurant. Conclusions This research provides some support for the notion that brand names matter to wine consumers. This is not surprising, as throughout the wine industry, build- ing brands and brand equity is often key to a firm's sustainable competitive advan- tage. What is very surprising is how well and how poorly some of the brand name categories performed. For example, if these results repre- sent widespread consumer sentiments, it would be a very brave winery that intro- duced a premium wine with a humorous brand name. We would expect that con- sumers would not be likely to purchase it, would think it was low quality, would not want to pay much for it and could not bring themselves to ask for it by name at a retail store or restaurant. Although animal brand names seem to be on the increase on wine bottles today, the results suggest that they fare better than humorous names, but not by much. This study suggests that wines with ani- mal brand names are perceived to be typi- cally low-priced, low-quality products. Conversely, an indigenous, personal or international brand name could help to present a new wine as being high in qual- ity, one that consumers would be willing to buy at a premium and be happy to ask for. The regional and geographic names performed respectably and were easy to pronounce so they could also be helpful for a new wine brand. It would be overstating the results to say that indigenous brand names will universally outperform humorous brand names. However, it may suggest that wines with animal and humorous brand names may have to work harder to get consumers to buy them. Once consumers experience a wine, the brand name will not have the same impact on subsequent purchasing deci- sions. The results of this study support the view that a brand name provides information to consumers. To put it simply, this research provides evidence that a brand name, in the absence of other product information, influences consumer perceptions of quality, price and their purchase intentions. While it is clear that consumers do not use brand names in isolation when pur- chasing a wine, this exploratory study highlights the effect of the attribute and suggests that future research using joint analysis would be useful in examining all major influencers on the wine-pur- chase decision. This research has attempted to use multiple examples for the brand catego- ries, multiple waves of data collection and multiple wine retailers to achieve a realistic coverage of the market, but the data collection was limited to New Zealand consumers, using an online questionnaire, and participants were directed from wine merchant websites. In addition, the sample was limited to customers from specialty wine stores, and thus it was likely that these respon- dents would have higher than average product involvement. Conservatively, the LOTUS: Breakthrough Pump Over Technology Lotus gently and uniformly distributes juice over the cap in tanks of any size without excessive bruising or misting. Lotus is compact, continuously adjustable, has few moving parts and is easy to install and clean. Three sizes available. Prices start at $650 The next generation of pump over technology is here. Napa Fermentation Supplies 575 Third St. Bldng. A Napa CA 94559 napafermentation@aol.com | 707-255-6372 www.napafermentation.com Pioneers in Polyethylene for Wine 25 Years of Experience Thousands of Tanks in Use 208-549-1861 • www.pascopoly.com Tanks 225 to 4500 Gallons QUALITY WINE ALWAYS TOP PRIORITY KiLR-CHiLR ™ Temp Control managed white wine fermentation, storage, and stabilization patented St. Regulus Automatic Fermentor patented managed red wine fermentation, self-pressing