Factors Influencing Acceptable Wine Price Ranges Among Chinese Consumers

Abstract

Consumer price evaluation is important for differentiated agri-food products such as wine, for which quality is difficult to assess before consumption and market prices vary substantially. This study examines the factors associated with acceptable wine price ranges among Chinese consumers and investigates whether these associations differ across price levels. An acceptable wine price range is defined as the price category consumers regard as acceptable when purchasing a standard 750 mL bottle of wine and is treated as a complementary measure to conventional willingness to pay. Based on 441 valid questionnaires, ordered probit and ordered logit models were estimated to assess the overall associations between socioeconomic resources, wine-related experience, purchase-related evaluations, and acceptable price ranges. An exploratory multinomial logit analysis was further conducted across low (≤RMB 200), middle (RMB 201–500), and high (>RMB 500) price tiers. The ordinal models show that income, education, and brand importance are positively associated with higher acceptable price ranges, whereas price and taste importance are negatively associated with price acceptance. The exploratory heterogeneity analysis indicates that income is positively associated with high-price-tier acceptance, while brand importance distinguishes both middle- and high-price tiers from the low-price tier. Educational attainment shows a positive but statistically non-significant association with high-price-tier membership after robust standard errors are applied. Price importance is negatively associated with high-price-tier acceptance. Wine drinking frequency and positive first tasting experience show no consistent associations. These findings suggest that consumer price evaluation is heterogeneous across price levels and highlight the distinct roles of socioeconomic resources and product-related cues in shaping acceptable prices for a differentiated agri-food product in an emerging market.

The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Agriculture, 2026 · DOI ↗