Best-Worst Scaling: A simple method to determine drinks and wine style preferences

Abstract

Wine marketers are continually involved with measuring consumer preferences usually by means of surveys or consumer purchase panel data. In this paper we provide initial results using a relatively new and very straightforward method for measuring consumer preferences. The best-worst scaling method (also called max-diffs) simply asks consumers to look at sets of products, attributes, or other factors to be compared and choose from each set the best/most favourable and the worst/least favourable. A simple count and manipulation results in a single preference scale, where the differences may be compared as distances rather than rank order. Managerial implications of the importance of wine attributes that influence consumer drinks purchasing and wine style selection are discussed as well as suggestions for future research. The goal of this paper is to demonstrate the practical and a scholarly usefulness of this approach and present a call for replication in other markets in an ongoing manner.