On the importance of wine quality attributes among non expert consumers

Consumers‟ opinions of quality are generally formed, both before and after purchase, through the evaluation of intrinsic and extrinsic product attributes. Perception of these attributes changes among consumers according to their involvement level. In this study, it has been aimed to answer to question which quality attributes are more relevant among non-expert consumers. In achieve that aim; I used a method of research which starts out by reviewing the literature of food quality, experienced and expected quality of food, product involvement, and quality elements in wine. The quality perception process with consumers was discussed in detail with particular reference to wine. Wine quality attributes have been focused in order to see which attributes are more relevant among non-expert consumers. Applied to exploratory analysis and literature searches to research how the variable has been defined previously. 21 attributes that make up the domain of the wine quality were found. The questionnaire has been built to collect data. According to frequency of drinking wine and wine knowledge level some of the questionnaires are eliminated and obtained 321 valid questionnaires. Cronbach's alpha was used as the index of reliability. According to that analysis, it was figured out the internal consistency and average correlation of items in the questionnaire to gauge its reliability. Factor analysis was applied to figure out the correlations among variables in terms of a relatively small number of factors. I demonstrated that wine quality has a dimensional structure among non-expert consumers. These dimensions are named as sensory/gustatory characteristics of wine, appearance, reputation and supportive factors and can be measured by using an 18 item scale that has been satisfactorily validated among nonexpert consumers.