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Abstract
This work focuses on measuring the importance of the attributes which influence
the wine choice of Macedonian young wine consumers when they purchase wine in
wine stores. Our goal is to identify significant behavioral differences across genderdemographic
subgroups of the sample, in order to give marketers an instrument to
develop more efficient marketing strategies. Most marketing researchers use rating
scales to understand consumer preferences. These have a range of problems, which
can be ameliorated by the use of the new technique, the best-worst scaling (BWS).
The objectives of the paper are twofold: first, to explore the preferences and gender
differences of Macedonian young urban adults towards wine attributes; and second,
to present the best-worst scaling method and to demonstrate its empirical use. A
total of 100 Macedonian young consumers between the age of 25 and 34 purchasing
wine in wine stores participated in a face-to-face interview preformed in three wine
stores in Skopje and one in Bitola. The best-worst scaling method was applied to
measure the level of importance to a list of most common attributes used in a choice
of wine. The study results shows that young urban adults in their selection of wine
give more importance for the wine attributes: type of wine (red/white), brand, grape
variety and price. The attributes less preferred were alcohol content, medal/awards
and country of origin. Moreover, the study showed that genders differ in their use of
wine attributes. Young males prefer more barrel aged wines, while females put more
attention to wine type and bottle design.