New Our new corporate identity
Consumers are influenced not only by the look of the wine label, but also by its feel.
Eisenstadt, 26 August 2025 - It's not just the content that counts, but also the surface. Anna Nutta's master's thesis from the International Wine Marketing master's programme impressively demonstrates that the haptic experience of a wine label can have a significant influence on how a wine is expected and judged. If you want to position your wines holistically in terms of sensory perception, you should not only pay attention to colour and lettering in future - but also to how they feel in your hand.
The study was carried out on site at the Burgenland University of Applied Sciences in Eisenstadt. 71 consumers interested in wine took part, 60% female and 40% male. The labels were experienced haptically using the so-called "blind touch" method - i.e. exclusively by touch, without visual or content-related information.
Three different label materials were tested: smooth & glossy, rough & embossed (embossing) and matt with a textile-like surface (velvety).
The age structure of the participants was heavily dominated by young people: More than half (54%) were under 30 years old, with a further 28% aged between 30 and 44. Around 16% were in the 45 to 59 age group and only one person was over 60 years old. The results therefore primarily reflect the perspective of a young, wine-loving target group.
The origin of the participants was clearly characterised by Eastern Austria and therefore a realistic reflection of the target group for many wineries in the region. Around 42% came from Burgenland, a further 20% from Lower Austria and around 19% from Upper Austria. Salzburg and Tyrol were represented with 8% each, while Carinthia was only sporadically represented with just under 3%.
60% of the participants are low-involvement wine consumers - i.e. people with little wine experience and low involvement when buying wine. Nevertheless, the study showed that the effect of label haptics on taste expectations was independent of involvement.
Haptics influence everyone, whether wine connoisseur or occasional drinker. This finding is particularly exciting: we were able to show that the haptic experience of a label alone shapes the perception of a wine's flavour - even before the first sip is taken. Producers can therefore emphasise the value of a wine with haptically designed labels.
Bettina König, supervisor of the Master's thesis
The results provide clear recommendations for wine marketing and label design:
- Smooth labels are suitable for modern, youthful white wines
- Velvety labels appeal emotionally and work particularly well in the red wine segment
- Embossed labels suggest high quality - ideal for the premium segment
Ms Nutta's work is an excellent example of how we promote interdisciplinary thinking - between sensory marketing, consumer psychology and wine knowledge - in our International Wine Marketing degree programme. We enable our students to play an active role in shaping the future of the wine industry - scientifically sound and practically orientated.
Head of degree programme Marcus Wieschhoff
Information and the opportunity to register for a remaining place at www.hochschule-burgenland.at.
Enquiry notes:
Gianina Wallner, BA MA
Marketing & Communication
Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften Burgenland GmbH
T: +43577054514
E: gianina.wallner@hochschule-burgenland.at
# Gepostet in:
News,
Presse,
Aktuelles
