LAUSR

Abstract Several studies have been conducted on organic wine consumption, but no specific study has yet fully explored how the set of attributes explored by existing research affects the additional price for organic wine. To fill this gap, the objective of this paper was to examine whether and to what extent consumers are inclined to pay for buying organic wine and what are the attributes that significantly influence the additional price of organic wine compared to conventional one. With this aim, a quantitative study over a representative sample of wine consumers in Sicily (Italy) was carried out. Results allowed to observe that consumers attached greater importance to personal motivations such as environmental protection, distinctness and curiosity as well as to explicit label information such as brand renown and local production. In addition, male gender and income are positively correlated to the willingness to pay an additional price for organic wine. Our results have important implications for the actors involved in the wine sector as the adoption of marketing practices explicitly related to the label and motivations attributes can lead to value augmentation of organic wine that could increase consumers’ valuation for it.