Wine as a symbol of social

statusand the effect of this on the marketing and consumption

of wine.

CONSUMERISM Wine consumers have a plethora of information and literature available to them that can influence their decisions when purchasing a bottle of wine. This consumerism effectively revolves around a not only person’s choice of wine, but the implications of their choice- the decision to invest in or consume it is quite often based on a consumer’s social status, wealth, environment and personal preference. This kind of thinking is maintained in research papers, articles, advertising and marketing of wine, as well as news articles such as the one below from the Daily Mail (Gye, 2012), where your taste in wine is said to tell people about your personality, career, mini-break preferences and salary! Fancy that.

Wine and the classes: a brief history.

Wine had religious, medicinal and social roles that set it apart from other Roman cuisine. Wine, like in Greek culture was mixed with water, and both cultures held banquets, where wine was used to show off wealth and prestige.

As Rome entered its golden age of winemaking and the era of expansion, a "democratic" approach to wine started to emerge. Wine was increasingly viewed as a necessity of everyday life rather than simply a luxury enjoyed by the elite. Cato believed that even slaves should have a weekly ration of 5 litres, nonetheless citing the dietary health of the slaves and the maintenance of their strength rather than personal enjoyment

In Medieval Europe, wine was a common drink amongst all social classes in the south, where grapes were grown and cultivated, however was consumed more by the higher classes in the north due to its relative expense compared to beer and ale. Wine was required during Catholic masses, so supply was crucial and generally indiscriminate.

“Vineyards have been the properties of kings and lords for centuries in Europe, labelling wine as the elite beverage. ” (Bardet, 2013).

So, is wine considered as a social status in modern times?

The development of pricing in the wine industry during the 20th

century Until the 1960s, rare Bordeaux wines were very expensive while the rest of the population was drinking cheap wine (Bardet, 2013).

After the increase in quality during the 1970s (the production of protected regional names in France and other countries tripled while cheap wine production decreased by 50%) (Dimmson, Rousseau & Spaenjers, 2014), anybody could access better wine for a reasonable price.

Since the late 1990s top notch wines have dramatically increased, leading to a very large gap between the top 10 and the rest of the production. Rich people have more and more of a tendency to invest in wine: first as a social status (most bottles will never be opened) and as a solid investment.

Not only are there investment opportunities in the rising prices and status indicators associated with wine, but with all sorts of research and medical journals throughout the 20th century touting wine as a “health booster”, the elite flocks to the good stuff even more, and no wonder, what with news clippings like the one below from Milwaulkee Journal Sentinel (Bellandi, 2001) which links health, and therefore wine, to education and socioeconomic status.

Investments and returns in wine A study conducted on the price of wine by Elroy Dimmson, Peter L. Rousseau, and Christophe Spaenjers in 2014 unearthed interesting

trends and figures when comparing the investment returns and pricing of wine over the latter half of the 20th century. This sort of information would have been major encouragement for wine investment, which therefore would have encouraged those with money, status and power to invest in wine, further perpetuating the idea that wine is synonymous with

The table shows the evidence that investment in wine is not only lucrative in the long-run, but actually more lucrative than assets such as art and bonds, and up in the same realm as equities.

The graph shows the development of this evidence, showing that in the early 1900’s, wine was a fairly good but average investment opportunity, outdone by art, stamps and equities on a regular basis. However as time as progressed, so has the investment value of wine as an asset, corresponding with the price hikes and symbolic nature of wine in society and the wealthy class.

Among wealthy individuals, fine wine is a mainstream investment. A recent survey by Barclays (2012) indicates that about one quarter of high-net-worth individuals around the world owns a wine collection, which on average represents 2% of their wealth. To satisfy increasing investment demand, several wine funds have sprung up. In light of the long-standing yet rising status of high-end wines as an investment—and given the debate on the role of alternative investments in portfolio choice more generally (e.g., Swensen, 2000; Ang, Papanikolaou, and Westerfield, 2013)—a study of long-term price trends in this market and a comparison with more mainstream assets is timely.

So does this mean that with wine representing a large, successful part of the investment market, with many high-class, wealthy investors, it represents social status as well? Does the consistent investment in wine, the trend of rising high-end wine prices, and the constant studies on the health benefits and social wellbeing of wine consumers perpetuate its symbolic significance?

Wine as an exotic beverage- does the mystery match the history? In general terms, imported or ‘foreign’ drinks have a higher status than ‘local’ beverages. Thus in Poland, for example, wine is regarded as a high-status, middle-class drink, while native beers and vodkas are ‘ordinary’ or working-class (Rationis, 2015). In a comparative study, Polish university students were found to drink eight times as much wine as their American counterparts, reinforcing their status and specialness as the ‘nation’s elite’ through their beverage preference (Engs et al, 1991).

Most restaurants will display a wine list, but the most elite and expensive restaurants and bars will feature a wine list that not only celebrates local wines but makes available exotic or hard-to-find wines from foreign countries in order to flesh out and add interest to their wine list. This can associate the choice of foreign, high-end wines with wealth and therefore social status and prosperity.

The importance of atmosphere Drinking, as we have already noted, is essentially a social act, subject to a variety of rules and norms regarding who may drink what, when, where, with whom and so on. Drinking does not, in any society, take place ‘just anywhere’, and most cultures have specific, designated environments for communal drinking (Bardet, 2013).

From the glitz and chrome of an American cocktail lounge, or the scruffy charm of a French provincial bar-tabac, to the mapalu in Zaire (Bardet, 2013) - merely a small clearing in the forest, dedicated to the consumption of palm wine - the ‘drinking-place’ appears to be an essential feature of almost all alcohol-using cultures. The nature and role of the public drinking-place may be seen as an extension, or even a physical expression or embodiment, of the role of drinking itself (Rationis, 2015).

The specific link of the wine list and environment to social status appears to revolve around where one is seen and what one is seen drinking- if a person is seen by their peers at a popular bar frequented by wealthy people of high social status due to the interesting, exotic wine list, then that person is perceived as successful or at the very least, affluent, by-proxy.

All of this is all well and good in terms of consumerism in the wine industry and the symbolic nature of its ingestion among peers and society, but how does all of this affect the marketing of wine, and how do its producers capitalize on its role as a social status symbol?

MARKETING 1. SOCIAL SUCCESS 2. SEX APPEAL 3. ENDORSEMENT

The winemaker’s benchmark: authenticity and prestige

The main goal in marketing wines in modern society is to advertise it as a product that is capable of achieving the appearance of social success and affluence for everybody in every class.

This is achieved, according to an article by Klaus Heine and Francine Espinoza Petersen (2015), by maintaining a balance of authenticity and prestige in the marketing campaigns for wine. Luxury brands have spent decades, and sometimes centuries, cultivating the perfect mix of authenticity and prestige to remain successful among their peers.

Prestige is closely related to status, which refers to “social standing” or the relative position in the social hierarchy. Common criteria that influence people’s perception of prestige include occupation, income, wealth, education, and lifestyle (Heine & Peterson, 2015).

Authenticity makes prestige available to the average consumer- it is a perception, “a socially negotiable concept that is relative, contextually determined, and ideologically driven.” As a result, carefully crafted marketing measures can be used to enhance perceptions of authenticity, and therefore, prestige (Heine & Peterson, 2015).

A comparison of authenticity and prestige focussed

campaignsAuthenticity: In the first campaign, for Penfolds, authenticity is presented as a love of the land and terroir, and evident in the muddy boot and shovel- an ordinary man producing a high-end product. The moral authenticity (“for love, not money”) is also important here.

Authenticity: In the second campaign, for Moet & Chandon, authenticity is entirely different in that it is presented as the French culture, evident in the architecture. Endorsement from an actress can also be seen as authenticity, providing a human edge to the campaign while maintaining prestige.

Prestige: In the first campaign, prestige is noted by the age of winemaking (“160 years of winemaking”), the success of the winery itself and the focussed career and name-dropping of its subject.

Prestige: In the second campaign, the prestige element is simply oozing from it. The dress, colours, make-up, elegance and aesthetic appeal of the campaign adds to its prestige, but also its use of flagrant excess (how many people would be coming to her party to consume all those glasses?) and the use of Scarlett Johanssen, while being part of authenticity, is also a huge addition to its prestige, in that she represents fame, admiration and beauty in society.

So what does this mean for marketing wine?

It is important to note that the use of any product – including wine – to signify status has two functions. The first is about exclusion: it marks the individual off from those in other social groups whose lifestyle is considered undesirable- usually, although not invariably, wine is used to differentiate the individual from ‘lower’ social classes. The second status-related means of using wine is inclusive. In this way it serves to ally the individual to others who share similar interests and perhaps a similar social, economic and educational background- in that sense it acts as a form of self-classification (Charters, 2006).

This is why the “authenticity and prestige” theory in wine marketing is important- the two combined make the advertisement both relatable and desirable.

As wine is moving from being a sophisticated elite drink or an everyday bulk beverage to a lifestyle product, the focus of the modern wine consumer is evolving. Wine is a complex product, and a wider product choice is offered than for most other products. This complexity has led to the increasing importance of external cues which ‘help’ the consumer make a selection. Therefore, focussed wine marketing strategies have used and capitalized on wine’s historical and modern importance as a social status symbol.

This extends to the promotion of not just wine as a product, but wine touring holidays & tourism, wine clubs, literature and award ceremonies. This means the role of wine critics and writers are becoming more influential, with the high levels of respect and admiration for experts such as Jancis Robinson and Bob Campbell verging on the fanatic- this is more evidence that wine is used as a symbol of social status.

It is important to remember, however, that the external cues and wine-writer-fever, which enable the consumer to make a more informed choice on which brand to buy in order to further their social status or promote themselves to peers, are primarily used by “high-involvement drinkers only” (Charters, 2006). Low-involvement consumers are likely to avoid information-seeking activity, and rely on more established marketing devices – extrinsic cues such as brand, price, distributor recommendation or label – to inform their choice (Charters, 2006).

Therefore, does this mean that wine is only really used to further social status by those who already possess social status and affluence, or is it a phenomenon observed across all classes of society?

Conclusions: The world of wine is a vast one, encompassing a complete range of people. The aficionado with a cellar of 10,000 bottles

worth over a million dollars in Remuera, the teacher in Christchurch who manages the family’s 1 ha vineyard in Canterbury at weekends, the Italian aristocrat whose ancestors have been making wine for many centuries and the Portuguese peasant who has been drinking cheap red wine, made by his neighbour, daily for all his life. What does social status mean to each of them? And how does consumerism and marketing of wine as a stimulant of social status affect their choices of which wine to consume, and where, and with whom?

It is clear that what each person drinks is not merely the result of their choice, but the result of political, economic and social influences and constraints.

While wine is most definitely a symbol of social status in many high-income cultures, and is consumed and marketed that way, it plays a much larger role as a symbol of cultural and economic status in a lot of lower-income societies.

The social status that a consumer possesses at the time of consumption will no doubt influence the choice of their wine, and wine is evidently more important as a symbol of social status to those who already have money, wealth and power. Those who do not, will not as readily engage in the marketing strategies or the perception of wine as a marker of success.

The wines that each of us enjoy depend not just on our taste preferences but also on what is technologically acceptable, what is fashionable, what reputation it has, what scarcity allows us to afford and what is politically appropriate. All of these factors in turn are subject to the ebb and flow of historical circumstance.

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Bardet, T. (2013, June 11). Is Wine a Social Status ? - Wiine Me. Retrieved from http://www.wiine.me/is-wine-a-social-status/

Bellandi, D. (2001, August 13). Wine linked to social status. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, p. 2A.

Charters, Steve. (2006). Wine and Society: The Cultural and Social Context of a Drink. Burlington: Elsevier.

Dimmson, E., Rousseau, P. L., & Spaenjers, C. (2014). The price of wine. Retrieved from http://www.cam.ac.uk/sites/www.cam.ac.uk/files/the_price_of_wine.pdf

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Yarrow, A. (2009, August 1). The Travesty of Wine and Social Class in America - Vinography: A Wine Blog [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.vinography.com/archives/2009/01/the_travesty_of_wine_and_socia.html