Non-Added Sulphite" wines through experimental auctions: a case study in Italy and Spain

Globalization is a phenomenon that continuously brings changes within worldwide markets. Within the wine markets, consumer behaviour and preferences have been affected with deep structural changes towards higher quality wines and healthier production processes. Although it is proven that a moderate wine consumption promotes health benefits such as improving glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity and hepatic steatosis, the scientific literature is still uncertain towards the real causes that can link the headache episodes with a moderate wine consumption. A growing proportion of consumers seem to address sulphites as a possible culprit. Hence, the objective of this study is to assess consumer preferences and estimate the willingness to pay for wine bearing a sulphites-free label in two traditional wine producing countries, Italy and Spain. The methodological framework is based on the specification of the Becker-DeGroot-Marschak (BDM) type of auction applied to consumers purchasing wine in the supermarket stores of both countries. A left censored Tobit model is used to analyse the bidding behaviour for conventional and “Non-Added Sulphite” (NAS) wine. Results in both countries show that consumers who link the headaches with the consumption of sulphite are willing to exchange the habitually consumed bottle of wine with a NAS wine and pay extra premium prices.